How to Build a Barrel Top Wagon

The barrel-top wagon is an ancient and colorful Gypsy wagon design from 17th century Eastern Europe. It was originally constructed of discarded 8-foot diameter wooden wine casks. With the bottom cut off and joined to a cask with its bottom intact, it could easily be converted into a wagon body. Cutting a one-fourth section out of the combined wine casks yielded a completed frame that needed only a rolling undercarriage to make it fully functional. Recent interest in antiques and green power has yielded hand-made peddler wagons of similar design using modern materials.

Things You'll Need

  • Calculator
  • Tape measure
  • Permanent marker
  • 2 7-foot-by-4-foot wooden hot tub bodies
  • Power drill
  • Circular saw
  • 2 7-foot-by-4-foot wooden hot tub bodies
  • 1/4-inch-by-1-inch wood screws
  • Power screwdriver
  • Reciprocating saw
  • 1/4-inch plywood
  • Hammer and nails
  • 1-inch wood screws
  • 2-inch-by-12-inch common lumber
  • 2-inch-by-4-inch common lumber
  • 4 1-inch-by-2-inch threaded U-bolts
  • 4 30-inch wooden Amish wagon wheels
  • 2 1-inch-by-48-inch steel Amish wagon axles
  • 2 1/2-inch wood screws
  • 12-inch-by-18-inch aluminum window
  • 28-inch-by-42-inch wooden door, frame and hardware
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Instructions

    • 1

      Calculate the circumference of the hot tub body by multiplying its diameter by 3.1416. Multiply that number by .25 to get the width of the removal section of the body. (A standard 84-inch hot tub body's removal section will be 66 inches.) Mark a spot at any point on the top metal strapping. Measure and draw two cut lines, each 33 inches from the center point. Drill a quarter-inch hole through both marks and the wood slats behind them. Screw quarter-inch-by-1-inch flat-head wood screws through the metal strapping and into the wood slat. Repeat this procedure on both sides of the cutout for all the straps on both tubs.

    • 2

      Use a reciprocating saw to cut the entire quarter section out of each hot tub body. (If the tub were standing upright, these cuts would be made vertically.) Connecting the precut strap to the ending tub board keeps the tub structure intact after the removal section has been cut out. Measure and cut out a 28-inch-by-42-inch section of the bottom of one of the tubs for the door. Cut a 12-inch-by-18-inch section from the bottom of the other tub for a back window.

    • 3

      Measure and cut 16 4-inch-by-12-inch pieces of quarter-inch plywood for each tub. Drill quarter-inch holes at 3-inch intervals 1 inch from the edge on both sides of each piece. Place the cutout tub bodies bodies together open end to open end. Nail scrap plywood on the outside to keep them in place. Working inside the wagon body, drill and screw 1-inch wood screws through the cut plywood pieces, held across the seam between the hot tub bodies. Do this all around the inside of the structure.

    • 4

      Construct an undercarriage from 2-inch-by-12-inch and 2-inch-by-4-inch common lumber and plywood. The unit should measure 40 inches by 72 inches and 16 inches deep. It will be sitting on the axles with the hot tub body assembly of the wagon attached above it. Cut a half-inch-by-40-inch-by-72-inch piece of plywood. Cut seven pieces of two-by-four lumber and nail them flat across to the width of the plywood piece — one on either end and five inside them at 12-inch intervals. Cut four 2-inch-by-12-inch boards 72 inches long and nail them on edge (like rafter joist), one on either edge of the plywood and the other two equidistant between them. Cut seven more pieces of two-by-four lumber and nail them across the tops of the 2-inch-by-12-inch pieces. Measure and cut another 40-inch-by-72-inch piece of plywood for the top of the assembly and nail it to the top two-by-four boards.

    • 5

      Drill four pairs of double holes through the top of the unit for the U-bolts to attach to the axles. The pairs of holes should be 2 inches apart and 8 inches in from the edge on two lines, each horizontally drawn across the top of the unit, 12 inches from either end. Insert the four U-bolts down through the pairs of holes and tighten the bolts from underneath the carriage. Cut two plywood sideboards 16 inches by 72 inches and nail them at the edges of the top and bottom plywood boards.

    • 6

      Grease the insides of the wagon wheels. Insert the axles through the U-bolts and then through the wagon wheels and attach the external caps. Invert the rolling carriage of the wagon and place the connected tub-assembly body squarely on the undercarriage. From inside the wagon body mark and drill six quarter-inch-by-1 1/2-inch holes 2 inches from the edge of the hot tub body and into the undercarriage below. Drive 2 1/2-inch flat-head wood screws though the wagon body and into the undercarriage. Do this on both sides of the cutout.

    • 7

      Insert a 12-inch-by-18-inch aluminum RV replacement window in the back end of the wagon. Drill, frame and hang a 28-inch-by-42-inch front door. It can be purchased or fashioned from 1-inch plywood, framed with quarter round. Fashion and attach a rolling handle that meets the needs of the wagon owner. It can be a straight-end pole, connecting a crosspiece of 2-inch dowel to a 6-foot piece of dowel hinged to the front of the undercarriage. It could even be an RV hitch or other designs that suit the wagon's intended use.