This original John Deere wagon had already been cleaned and sealed after we purchased it into our inventory, so it was ready to be converted to a collectible chuck wagon when our customer came to us looking for a unique horse-drawn vehicle.
As with most of our chuck wagon "restorations", our focus was to find the perfect foundation wagon for the customer and then determine which additional components should be incorporated on the wagon to ensure that the completed chuck wagon suited their purpose and budget. This particular customer wanted to use the chuck wagon both for giving rides on his ranch and as a fully functioning outdoor kitchen. We started by adding an extra seat for additional passengers along with bows and canvas for protection from the elements. A chuck box, jockey box and water barrel completed the basics of a chuck wagon, but we expanded storage by adding a hand-forged pot rack on top of the chuck box and a custom pan boot built using the original grain gate from the wagon. Other essentials for setting up camp included a "wheel" table and lanterns with hangers. A lantern box was added to back of the chuck box for secure storage. Special care is always taken when installing the components to ensure that the historic relevance and value of the wagon is protected.
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