Fat ferret
Established Member
Couple of years ago I asked on here about wheelbarrows as I was trashing them renovating my house, concreting, laying gravel roads, moving stone around ect.
My muttered response to all your suggestions of what to buy was "bought it, trashed it, flung it." Not trying to be disrespectful but it was the truth. I had had all the cheap barrows, and the not so cheap at 50-60 quid. Supposed builders barrows crumpled under the weight not lasting more than a few months.
I bought this. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=s...ved=0ahUKEwid5_L-55nQAhVKJsAKHSFbAm8Q_AUIBygC
2 years of use and I thought I'd do a quick review.
It arrived and it my goodness it was solid. It was as if the designer had looked at all my broken barrows and strengthened them where they had broke.
The main frame is oval in cross section so stronger and makes more comfortable handles. The whole thing is more comfortable to use, the handles are a decent height and it balances more over the wheel so a lot of weight feels lighter than in a cheaper barrow. The legs are reinforced where they touch the floor.
The front of the tray is supported so it doesn't sag when tipping. The tray is plastic but there is plastic and then there is plastic. This is around 5mm thick similar feeling material to plastic fish boxes you find on the beach. You can throw stones in it and rather than denting like a metal barrow it just bounces. It does get scratched which makes it a bit harder to clean but we are nowhere near through the tray 2 years on. Replacement trays are available.
The wheel is a good size and runs on bearings. No punctures so far. Tyre still fine. One annoyance is the holes in the ends of the handles. If you stand it outside up rain gets in these which if left would rust the frame from the inside, not a major point but easy to fix by the manufacturer I would have thought.
I have used it loads. I carted 80 barrow loads of stone from my large veg patch with it. I barrowed 7 tons of concrete 30 yards for the conservatory foundations. I laid 30 yards of gravel road and a small car park which used 20 tons of 3" bottoming and 20 tons of 1 1/2" sub base. I have moved countless tons of stone with it while building dry stone walls. Used it for hand mixing post concrete and carting posts when fencing.
It did cost £180 which is a lot but it's worth it, I recon I would have killed at least 4 of the 50 quid barrows with the work it's done and it's a bit scratched and scuffed but still works like new.
If you are a barrow slayer you need one of these. It helps keep you going as it's a lot easier to use so better for your body and you get more done. I asked the saleswoman if it would last longer than me when I was ordering it at age 22. She told me it would and I laughed, now I'm not so sure :wink: .
My muttered response to all your suggestions of what to buy was "bought it, trashed it, flung it." Not trying to be disrespectful but it was the truth. I had had all the cheap barrows, and the not so cheap at 50-60 quid. Supposed builders barrows crumpled under the weight not lasting more than a few months.
I bought this. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=s...ved=0ahUKEwid5_L-55nQAhVKJsAKHSFbAm8Q_AUIBygC
2 years of use and I thought I'd do a quick review.
It arrived and it my goodness it was solid. It was as if the designer had looked at all my broken barrows and strengthened them where they had broke.
The main frame is oval in cross section so stronger and makes more comfortable handles. The whole thing is more comfortable to use, the handles are a decent height and it balances more over the wheel so a lot of weight feels lighter than in a cheaper barrow. The legs are reinforced where they touch the floor.
The front of the tray is supported so it doesn't sag when tipping. The tray is plastic but there is plastic and then there is plastic. This is around 5mm thick similar feeling material to plastic fish boxes you find on the beach. You can throw stones in it and rather than denting like a metal barrow it just bounces. It does get scratched which makes it a bit harder to clean but we are nowhere near through the tray 2 years on. Replacement trays are available.
The wheel is a good size and runs on bearings. No punctures so far. Tyre still fine. One annoyance is the holes in the ends of the handles. If you stand it outside up rain gets in these which if left would rust the frame from the inside, not a major point but easy to fix by the manufacturer I would have thought.
I have used it loads. I carted 80 barrow loads of stone from my large veg patch with it. I barrowed 7 tons of concrete 30 yards for the conservatory foundations. I laid 30 yards of gravel road and a small car park which used 20 tons of 3" bottoming and 20 tons of 1 1/2" sub base. I have moved countless tons of stone with it while building dry stone walls. Used it for hand mixing post concrete and carting posts when fencing.
It did cost £180 which is a lot but it's worth it, I recon I would have killed at least 4 of the 50 quid barrows with the work it's done and it's a bit scratched and scuffed but still works like new.
If you are a barrow slayer you need one of these. It helps keep you going as it's a lot easier to use so better for your body and you get more done. I asked the saleswoman if it would last longer than me when I was ordering it at age 22. She told me it would and I laughed, now I'm not so sure :wink: .
