The axles ran through holes in the bare wood.
"Epistles-from-Pap-Letters-from-the-man-known-as-The-Will-Rogers-of-Indiana"
Durham, Andrew Everett
He went back to his car and drove it desperately at the slope, only to bury the rear wheels to the axles; and as he dug them out the sand from the wave crest began to whisper and slip and slide.
"Shadow Mountain"
Dane Coolidge
With the first plunge into the bed of the stream the water rose to the axles, and then it crept up to the shafts, so that the surgeon could feel it lapping in about his feet, while the dogcart began to quiver, and it seemed as if it were to be carried away.
"Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush"
Ian Maclaren