Let's talk wheelbarrows

[CWP1616L]

Anyone ever use a two wheeler? I need a new one and am leaning that way. Getting older every day, thank goodness.

I'm thinking they might not fit through a 30 inch doorway.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Jackson makes one, just for going through a narrow door. Single tire though.

 

[rick carpenter]

I like steel one-wheelers. Rinse off each time and oil lightly. I don't like two-wheelers, they're unstable on bumpy ground.

 

[Outlawmws]

Two wheelers are good if you have issues balancing the load on a one wheeler. (I have one) I agree the one wheelers are better overall UNLESS you have a top heavy load. Then not so good.

You definitely DON"T want a solid tire/wheel on either! Phneumatic, or the flatless type so the tire can give a bit going over the lumpy stuff, like the occasional 2x or sheet of heavy ply, heck even the edge of the drive where it meets the gutter.

Half the battle with any barrow is getting the load where it belongs and not over loading it. My son about killed me one time overloading the back half of a barrow with bricks, I then made HIM try... then made him re-position the load. they learn faster that way!

 

[Ign]

Fingers indicate just some of the weld points

Any production wheelbarrow I've seen relies on the tub to keep the handles spaced apart; this is less than ideal and should not be the case. By fully welding the frame stands alone and the bucket just rests on it, just like a truck body on a frame.

I use this one generally to transport small batches of firewood and got tired of firewood soup so I intentionally drilled a lot of drain holes in it. I have a steel tub I use for stuff that I don't want leaking.

Quoting myself (attached pics in post #25), I got time to re-hab a couple more wheelbarrows I got for free. This time I added two additional crossmembers: one at the front of the legs, and one in the frame just behind the bucket. As the wood wedges were shot on this Jackson I also opted to mimic them in steel. This is a frame, not a single bolt is present in this photo.

The factory crossmember at the rear of the legs had held up pretty well over the years, but it was a bit flimsy so as an afterthought I grabbed a piece of scrap, did a bit of dimple die stupidity and added it to the factory crossmember.

 

[7echo]

^^^ looks good!

I have always liked these ones...

http://www.jescraft.com/concrete/high res/jb-80.jpg

 

[HubbaBubba]

Jackson here! I spray paint small items on a screen that sits on top of the tub. Overspray protects the inside and no problem with rust! Also, swap all hardware for stainless and use a burlap sack over the wheel to protect from sun!

 

[rick carpenter]

The main advantage of two wheels is stability while pushing but if stability is a problem, then you have overloaded it. The solution for getting older is to put less weight in the wheelbarrow and make more trips or get the grandchildren or neighbors to help.

I don't like two-wheelers, I find them generally more unstable than singles. On lumpy or sloped ground/cement, they are more tippy and you use a lot of energy overcoming that. And it's easier to run a single wheel up a 2x6 ramp.

 

[Fugio]

I found two OLD ones in a dumpster that I still use. Replaced the single wheels with 4 recycled garbage can wheels (2 on each side) and a HUGE axle. They work amazingly well.

One was rusted through so I glued/bolted an old 19-wheeler mud flap to the bed. Works great. I've been considering bedliner for the other, although there's enough dried concrete to protect it pretty well right now.

 

[PT Doc]

For someone in the trade that has mastered the balance and loading of a 1 wheeler, they are great. For a homeowner, a 2 wheels narrow will save lots of frustration. A heavy single wheel that you try to save from going over sideways but don't actually save, could result it a bent frame. Two wheels are more stable. I bought a large yellow plastic tub from Home Depot years ago and like it. Converted it to two wheels and it works great.

 

[Ign]

I went thru this AM Leonard for a landscaper friend. The company did some things right like using nyloc nuts and fasteners with really big heads. But their poly buckets are super flexy.

Here's the frame

Finished product

They tried by placing these cheeseball straps under the bottom of the tub. The soft tub still just dropped out enough and bent the sad attempt at straps. I replaced with angle, and added one additional at the center of the tub bottom (see top pic)

The tub was flexing enough that it literally allowed these front straps to bend this much!

 

[gungatim]

As we get older we loose strength.

Consider a 2 wheeled wheelbarrow.

This!

Quick story: I haven't been to a junkyard in a very long time (like 15 yrs), but was there back in March at a pick and pull helping a buddy get a motor. They had wheelbarrows where they took the front tire off, and replaced it with an axle and two temp spares. looked like they just cut off the rear axle from a mini-van, shortened it, and clamped it to the wheelbarrow. the two 13" temp spares made moving a 400 lb engine a piece of cake!

Anyway, my next wheel barrow will be 2 wheeled one. don't know if anybody makes one with big tires like that, but I would think if they hold up to junkyard duty, they would be better than those thin little 8" tires that come on most of them...

 

[Ign]

8" wheels, a 4.80/4 - 8 specs at 16" (8" wheel + 4" sidewallx2) but in reality tends to be 15.5"

 

[volleyball]

I have 2 6 cube wheelbarrows. One is single wheel, the other is two wheel. For some stuff and places, the two is much better as more stable. The single wheel is better for some uneven terrain such as going across the hill.
My single wheel has a higher pressure tire. It needs it. It would flatten that 30 psi tire with a heavy load.
Mine stay outside. I think it is just as cheap to replace tires sooner than to pay to build inside storage. I am limited as how much building I can have.

 

[Ign]

Just re-habbed a couple more. Here's the frames in my fancy paint booth

 

[AP2TUDE]

I have a steel tubbed Jackson that I am super happy with. I stupidly didn't get the one with the solid tire, and I put a huge thorn through it literally the first time I used it. I replaced the whole front wheel with a Jackson Flat Free tire, and I love it now.

I figure that I am going to use it until it the paint is nearly gone, and then I am going to Rhino Line the inside of it. I figure it should be near indestructible after that.

 

[ilovevocs]

This is what all wheelbarrows should be.

http://garlockequip.com/catalog/product/view/id/5235/s/little-giant-bundle/


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[-Brent-]

This thread is actually pretty awesome! Nice work, fellas!

 

[turbodave]

I bought a no-name imported two wheeled one with a plastic tub 14 years ago. I needed it after moving into my house in the fall and local stores had already stashed the wheelbarrow inventory for snowblowers and christmas trees so it was the only thing I could find locally.

Pros: The plastic tub has held up great, sits flipped over outside all the time and no cracks or other issues. Has been used for hauling heaping loads of dirt, bricks, mixing cement etc, no complaints.

Cons: Two wheels means it's twice as likely to have a flat tire as a traditional wheelbarrow. Also means that it's twice as expensive to switch it to flat free tires. The original chinese tires rotted out pretty fast and the best move was installing tubes and replacing the tires with some heavier ply ones.

 

[dutchgray]

We use these haemmerlin wheelbarrows here, they are about the best widely available here but thats not saying much, I regularly put 250Kg of bags of cement in them if pushing on a decent hard surface so its fair to say they get major abuse. They are nothing like the old folded tub heavy barrows, complete with with bearing blocks for the axel. The tyres are the biggest let down now, nothing but cheap Chinese rubbish.
View media item 69666

 

[cashishift]

I have a Jackson, steel, flat free tire.

I replaced all the bolts with stainless bolts and nylok nuts. I might take it apart this summer and sand and paint the handles so they dont get all messed up.

 

[ilovevocs]

You guys using single wheeled barrows are missing the boat. The second wheel should come on all of them.


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[Eslader]

2 isn't enough either. Ever since we got our 4-wheeled Gorilla dump cart, the wheelbarrow's been sitting in the shed unused. The thing will take a ridiculous amount of weight. I even used it to move an 850 pound rock fountain last year.

I'm actually thinking of selling the wheelbarrow. It's just taking up room at this point.

 

[M6erfan]

2 isn't enough either. Ever since we got our 4-wheeled Gorilla dump cart, the wheelbarrow's been sitting in the shed unused. The thing will take a ridiculous amount of weight. I even used it to move an 850 pound rock fountain last year.

I'm actually thinking of selling the wheelbarrow. It's just taking up room at this point.

Big +1...

I got one like this about 5 years ago. I'll never go back to a "regular" wheelbarrow

 

[SuperCat]

I have both the 4-wheel Gorilla dump cart and the usual homeowner grade wheelbarrow. They both get the job done. My first homeowner grade (cheap) wheelbarrow is still in the backyard but the bolt holes in the pan have rusted through. No more cement mixing for that one. Got a cheap HF tire replacement tire for it, going to try to fix it soon. It will work fine for lighter, bulkier items like mulch. The dump cart is ok, my spouse likes it more than me. I'm not impressed with the sturdiness of the cart, but I was very impressed with how much the tires reeked when I took it out of the box to assemble. The tires stunk up my garage so bad, I had to banish the cart to the backyard permanently. I could smell it in the house! Reminded me of HF.

 

[nollij]

2 isn't enough either. Ever since we got our 4-wheeled Gorilla dump cart, the wheelbarrow's been sitting in the shed unused. The thing will take a ridiculous amount of weight. I even used it to move an 850 pound rock fountain last year.

I'm actually thinking of selling the wheelbarrow. It's just taking up room at this point.

That is exactly what I had in mind. I think I will try out the GOR6 as the GOR10 seems absolutely massive. Added bonus is that it will hook up to the lawn mower and the lovely lady of the house can't complain it is too heavy to move around.

 

[Eslader]

I got the 6 as well. The 10 is more than 30 pounds heavier than the 6, and only adds 300 pounds of weight capacity. With the exception of hauling that fountain, I mainly haul dirt and mulch in it, so it's pretty unlikely I'll ever get up to the 1200 pound weight limit.

I have a pretty small yard, so I don't have a lawn tractor, and would rather not lug 30 extra pounds around that isn't cargo when I don't have to.

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubberma...cu-ft-Plastic-Yard-Cart-FG564200BLA/100344354

Since I bought this one, I'd never go back to a standard wheelbarrow, or anything with standard sized wheels. This thing is so well balanced and rolls so much easier than anything else I've ever tried.

 

[Ign]

4 wheel carts on our uneven property here are a disaster. Inevitably a wheel drops in a hole or gets hung up on a rock or root and you're pulling your arm off to get the damn thing to move, to the point the cart will pop a wheelie rather than move forward.

 

[Git]

I have the guerilla cart as well. It has served me well, but one of the wheels is shot from dry rot and I am looking to get a new one. If someone sees a deal on these, please make sure to post it

 

[dutchgray]

I know I couldn't wheel a twin wheel barrow or 4 wheel cart up a plank ramp into the back of the truck, or maneuver them around through internal doors in houses.

 

[Outlawmws]

This is what all wheelbarrows should be.

http://garlockequip.com/catalog/product/view/id/5235/s/little-giant-bundle/


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I have one of those. Pretty nice.

 

[drink]

I bought a wheelbarrow from home depot about 6-7 years ago. It was one of the nicer ones they sold at the time, think it was around 75 bucks or so. It's a plastic tub, think 6 cu ft and I've worked it pretty hard. I bought it originally when I had to dig up the yard to fix a basement leak. It sits leaned up against the garage most of the time but when I have yard work to do it gets used for moving dirt, stones, sticks, or whatever I can throw in it and for mixing cement. The legs had gotten a slit bend in one of them a couple years back, more of a twist or something but nothing that affected using it. Today I was using it to mix some cement for some fence posts and after the first batch I noticed the plastic tub had developed a crack in it. Not exactly sure what caused it. The only thing I can think of is I was hauling about 6 bags of 60 pound concrete mix in it and going over some rough terrain. Wouldn't think that would have cracked the plastic tub but who knows.

Anyway, I am now in need of a new wheelbarrow. I'll keep this one and retire it as the back up. So looking for a wheelbarrow that will stand up to some rough duty. I didn't think I pushed my last one to bad, like I said it only gets used a few times a year but when I use it I load it up with a few hundred pounds and run it across bumpy terrain. I will use it for moving dirt, rocks and mixing cement unless I can convince the powers that be that we need a cement mixer since after mixing 15 bags today I don't ever want to mix another bag! But don't think that's going to happen. So what are the pros/cons of steel or plastic tubs? Obviously plastic won't rust but as I found out today it does crack. So I'm leaning towards a steel tub but not sure since I would think gravel or mixing concrete would scratch it pretty good and leave it able to rust away. Also one or two tires? Anything else I should consider? Just want something that will last a longtime.

Years ago I got really tired of having to pump up the tire on my (orange) wheelbarrow and decided to buy a new Flat-Free wheel from Northern Tool. I would think that a lot of you would not be willing to spend the money to replace a flat wheel on an old wheelbarrow but I did. After I did I really liked having it ready to work as needed without a delay. I also had a really old, worn out steel wheelbarrow that had rusted out (gray plastic). One day I found some used parts off of a plastic version and installed them on the heavy steel frame along with a new Flat-Free wheel. After I did all the work and spent the money on the wheels the wheelbarrow mfg's began selling new wheelbarrows with flat-free wheels. Now you can buy a new one with a flat-free wheel cheaper at a big box store like HD or Lowe's.

 

[Outlawmws]

I know I couldn't wheel a twin wheel barrow or 4 wheel cart up a plank ramp into the back of the truck, or maneuver them around through internal doors in houses.

Dual ramps!

 

[theoldwizard1]

I replaced all the bolts with stainless bolts and nylok nuts.

I thought I was the only one crazy enough to do that !

I garbage picked a wheelbarrow last year. Wobbly as hell and some of the braces were a bit bent and the wood handles are quite dried out. I pulled all the hardware off and upsized them 2 time including adding some large fender washers to the inside of the tub. I straighten a couple of braces and bolted it back together.

I am going to put a couple of coats of boiled linseed oil one the wood handles once the weather warms up. I should get a foam filled tire or at least a tube. If I get inspired, I might paint it, but the tub is really not that bad.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

I had a standard 6 cu ft steel wheelbarrow with a slow tire leak. A little Green Slime and it's MUCH better about losing air.

I then went to a garage sale and bought another 6 cu ft steel wheelbarrow with a replacement Flat-Free tire for $25.00. The tire itself is worth more than that!
So I had 2 . . .

I was garbage picking and saw a 6 cu ft poly tub wheelbarrow with a Flat-Free tire at the curb. I bought a pair of replacement handles from HD for $28.00. So I have 3 . . .

I have 8 yards of wood chips coming tomorrow. Unfortunately I don't have 3 folks coming over to help me fully utilize my fleet of wheelbarrows while spreading it . . .

I keep the poly in the shed to keep it out of the UV - that and treating it nicely should help it live a long life. The steel ones live outside and get abused.

Jim

 

[theoldwizard1]

If I ever buy another wheel barrow (I have 2 now) it will have 2 wheels. That rubbermaid cart looks nice, but I don't think it could really haul too many 600 ls loads.

 

[Ign]

Just re-habbed a couple more. Here's the frames in my fancy paint booth

Assembled!

 

[KEH]

Good job on the frames, Ign. I have never bought a new wheelbarrow. I have dumpster dived a couple, including one in pieces from someone's yard by the roadside. Allsteel tubs. One from the flea market in pieces. Bought new wheels and tires for about the same money as a new tire. The best thing I did was to bandsaw new handles from oak 2 x 4s. I marked out the shape of the handle with the wedge on it so that I have a one piece handle, not the separate wedges that always get beat up and loose. The usual thing also is that the carriage bolts that the factory install wallows out the square holes in the steel tubs so the bolt can't be tightened (or loosened) so I use machine bolts and large flat washers with lock washers. A little oil on the handles to protect against moisture and I call it good. Haven't tried the flat free tires yet.

KEH

 

[Toymeister]

28 years ago when I bought a steel single wheeled Jackson there weren't as many options. It turns out that has been a pretty good thing, wouldn't you say? I just replaced my third set of handles. I add air every couple of years or so. Stored outside 24/7/365/28years.