The Little Red Wagon

I remember several years ago driving to Camp Edgewood to pick up Benjamin from Boy Scout Camp.  It was hot.  We ate a meal in the un-air-conditioned mess hall and then the scouts swept and cleaned everything up.  Despite the heat and after sleeping in tents with mosquitoes for a week, the boys were all in great spirits.  I don't know if I ever saw Benjamin smile that much.  He had a blast at summer camp and learned a lot, too.

They began singing camp songs with hand motions with all joining in in unison. One of them was called "You can't ride in my little red wagon" and it went like this:

You can't ride in my little red wagon

The front wheel's broken and the axle's draggin'

You can't ride in my little red wagon anymore today HA HA HA!!

2nd verse same as the 1st but a whole lot louder and a whole lot worse!!

In fact, Miranda Lambert has a country song out right now that references that camp song.  Perhaps you've heard it or sang the song yourself at a summer camp.

Well, I had that camp song stuck in my head when the lyrics became reality this week.  We have a red utility wagon that was given to me by my neighbor about 12 years ago.  It has performed its job admirably over the years.  I cannot even begin to tell you how many loads of sticks, leaves, grass, hay and dirt this wagon has hauled.

The left front wheel finally gave out and broke on me.  It had been patched numerous times until no more patching would work.  I needed a new wheel and like the song the front wheel was broken and the axle, as you can see below, was dragging!

You can't ride in my little red wagon

It was a simple fix, though.  I pulled the cotter pin out with a pair of pliers, and pulled the wheel off.

A quick trip to Harbor Freight to purchase a new wheel, install it, grease it up, and I was back in business.

That enabled me to load it up with hay and get our job done.

The little red wagon's axle's not draggin' anymore.

We don't have much in the way of equipment, but little maintenance jobs to keep everything operating are always on-going.  So much so, that we must prioritize to determine which projects we'll undertake each week with limited time and budget. I'm sure you know how that goes!  Keeping things in good repair and running is very important.  You can't haul hay if your axle's dragging.