Big wheels return to Empire Museum

From staff reports

Over the years Mother Nature again took her toll on the giant wheels displayed in front of the Empire Museum Complex. After many years of patching, and replacing rotting parts by Pat and Dave Taghon, Leigh Payment, Bill Bolton and others, it was decided that they were beyond repair.

After searching for any company or group that did wagon repair, the late Dave Taghon discovered an Amish group in Dalton, Ohio, called “Weaver Wagons” who were only one of two companies in the United States that still do this type of work.

So on December 15, 2024, a group of Empire men went to work building a wooden “A” frame on a trailer to hold the “Wheels” and the axle for transporting. Skip Harriger was the lead in this endeavor and his background in construction and access to his heavy equipment was paramount to the success of this project. The next day, Dave and Dennis Taghon left for Ohio, with the ‘Big Wheels’ in tow, and the day after that they were delivered to Emery Weaver of “Weaver Wagons.” Because of the extensive wood rot they had to be almost totally rebuilt. Fortunately, the Weaver’s and their crew were up to the challenge and did a terrific job in the rebuilding process.

On May 11, Dennis Taghon and Leigh Payment picked up the completed ‘Wheels’ and brought them back ‘home’ to Empire. The last challenge in this project was to get them painted and back on display at the museum. After a lot of searching, Reagan Frixen, owner of Precision Collision in Frankfort, agreed to do the job and he decided to use a material used to coat bed liners in pick-ups to paint them. On May 28, Mike Bolton, Dennis Taghon, and Leigh Payment picked up the trailer with the Big Wheels from the Bill Bolton barn and delivered them to Precision Collision in Frankfort.

After a month of extensive work, Reagan called to say they were done with the painting and ready to be picked up. They were disassembled so Mike, Dennis, Reagan, and Leigh decided it might be easier if they put them together at Precision Collision to transport them back to Empire.

On the sunny morning of June 25, they all arrived at Precision in Frankfort and began the difficult task of getting the wheels (which weigh several hundred pounds each) back on the axle (which also weighed a great deal) without marring the beautiful paint job that Reagan and his crew had completed. After several hours of strategizing a plan of attack was decided and executed, and the monsters were on a trailer and strapped down, ready for transporting back home to the Empire Museum.

At around noon, after an arduous trip at around 35 to 40 miles per hour, the caravan of Mike in the lead, Leigh with the trailer and wheels, and Dennis bringing up the rear, they arrived in Empire.

As they approached the museum, Skip Harriger and Tom Lanham, with the ‘Sky Reach’ fork truck greeted them with horns blowing and ready to unload their beautiful cargo. After a couple of hours the mighty “Big Wheels” were back home for all to enjoy. CDs will be created to document the entire process and should be available at the Museum later this year.