Which Wheelbarrow?

[katynewbie]

???

I need to buy a new wheelbarrow. The old one, which was made of solid rust, has finally bitten the dust.

Plastic looks good, durable, light and it comes in colours!
Galvanised ones make me think of solid, proper gardeners.

Which one have you chosen, and why?

All advice and comments welcome!

;)

[katynewbie]

[grotbag]

have only got old one but if I was you Id go to garden centre,and try em all out (put a bag of compost or something in it ),Get the one that suits you.

[telboy]

I love my old(1971 rescued from a tip) one.
However I bought one for a customer from B&Q last year which I must admit has been brilliant. About £30 I seem to remember.

[mc55]

Hey Katie, I got mine from Wilkos last year, half price in their end of season sale, so was around £8.00.  Its got a 'solid' wheel.  Thought it was great until I borrowed Nick's, next door, to move some manure.  He has a really old, rusty one BUT it has a proper inflated wheel. 

Differences I noted were that mine is slightly bigger, lighter but his is without doubt easier to move heavy loads around uneven ground.  Mine gave me some nasty bruises where I had to force the load over a lumpy bit of something.  But for £8.00 I'm not complaining.

If you are near to W Yorks I know someone who is trying to give a rusty one with inflated wheel away.
mc

[Roy Bham UK]

I had one bought me for Christmas, it's steel, light weight with a plastic wheel and inflatable tyre, it does the biz and I think cost around £23. ;D

Low and behold I spotted one in our road whilst the Council were resurfacing the pavements, it had a flat tyre so I asked a workman if it was theirs, he said they'd disowned it as it was past its sell by date, so now it's mine at the cost of an inner tube. 8)

[supersprout]

A Which? report was issued on wheelbarrows in April 2002, dated but some thoughts about getting it right - it's such an important piece of kit.

Wheelbarrows On Test
Given the overwhelming popularity of the token wheelbarrow, we rounded up a selection of 13 widely available models. These ranged from a basic builders' barrow to the latest Fort Cosmo Classic - a new version of our previous Best Buy, the now-discontinued Fort FK90. All were given a thorough off-road test by 71 users, roughly half men and half women. They each tried out three barrows, carrying light and heavy loads on terrain ranging from gravel paths to soggy grass, steps, slopes and bends. They also tried getting each barrow through a typical shed door-sized opening. There really isn't much to a wheelbarrow, though our user panel found some important differences.

The wheel made a huge difference. Our volunteers did not like solid wheels. Consider one only if you'll just be using the barrow on flat paths. For all other surfaces, a pneumatic tyre is well worth the extra cost. Not only did these cope better with rough or soft ground, users complained of vibration through the handles with some solid wheels. The Haemmerlin 4075G has two pneumatic wheels. Although it is more stable, the panel found no particular advantage in use.

Bin capacity
There's nothing more frustrating than trying to move a large, bulky load with a small barrow. We measured the capacity of the bin using water and then calculated the maximum capacity of loose material such as compost. These two volumes do not necessarily relate to those stated by the manufacturers, but our figures (see Table) should give a better idea of how they all compare. The material of the bin, plastic or steel, did not seem to influence our panel. Galvanised or plastic bins will not rust no matter how much they are abused.

A tipping bar
The bar that projects forward over the wheel makes for easier emptying. The four barrows with solid wheels did not have one; neither did the Fort Townie or the two-wheeled Haemmerlin. A tipping bar is also useful if you want to store the barrow standing up.

Hand grips made of moulded plastic, are a good feature, though users found some more comfortable than others. This is something to check yourself, before you buy. The three with no hand grips were marked down by users - the B&Q;, Homebase and Wickes own brands. A nice touch was the extension on the Haemmerlin 5100G Landscape, to protect your knuckles going through narrow gaps. Unfortunately the grips were too short and too smooth for some users.

Leg room
Check also that you won't catch your shins on the back of the barrow when walking, especially if you are tall. The B&Q, Beldray Chieftain and Homebase were the worst in this respect.

The width of the barrow can be crucial. Our volunteers struggled to get the wider models through the shed door-sized opening. The two-wheeled Haemmerlin was hardest, followed by the Fort Cosmo, Haemmerlin 1051G and Beldray Chieftain.

Comfort is important if you use a barrow often. The Beldray Chieftain, Fort Cosmo Classic and Townie, Haemmerlin 1051G and 5100G and Chillington Chasseur were all rated good for comfort in use. Least comfortable were the three cheapest models - B&Q, Beldray Boxer and Homebase.

Self-assembly
Most had to be assembled - this involved bolting the bin and the wheel to the frame - which makes them easier to fit in the car. All three Haemmerlins, the Wickes and the Chillington were ready assembled.

Spare tyres
If your pneumatic barrow tyre gets a puncture, you can buy a replacement for Fort and Haemmerlin models. An alternative is to try a tyre centre (the kind of place you'd take your car) and ask for a trailer tyre. These are heavier duty, will fit most barrows and are less likely to be punctured. Expect to pay around £15-£17.

Buying guide
Look for a wheelbarrow with a pneumatic tyre, a tipping bar and comfortable hand grips. Of those that were rated highly by both men and women, the Chillington Chasseur, £33 represents the best value for money. It is currently available from some Focus DIY stores and independent builders' merchants.

Sorry it's a bit long, can anyone tell me how to just post a link?

[katynewbie]

;D

Dont apologise, Sprout!! Excellent info and thanks all!! So its any that have a pneumatic wheel and the rest is personal choice, feel like i know what I am looking for now!

;D

[pntalbot]

Bought mine from B & Q ,One year ago--colour orange-£30 --Perfect, no rust ,hardened plastic.

[tim]

Great stuff there, Sprout!

Only a couple to add:
1. If you're barrowing & carrying a child - two wheels!

2. If you go for plastic, don't leave it for ever in the sun or frost & then blame it!!

We have a lugging, builder's barrow & a plastic' ladies' one.

[euronerd]

Mine also succumbed, but the wheel was ok and I had an old pallet, so being the original tight@rse, made this thing:



For soil and loose compost I have a big plastic container that I strap on, which to empty I just heave off sideways but for most jobs it's ok as it is. I have since come across a conventional barrow which my OH prefers.

Geoff.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you have a pneumatic tyre (which is infinitely better) it's worth investing in a tube of green slime from Halford's. You find it in the cycling section; put it in the tyre, and it'll preserve it from punctures. I find it vital with paths right under my thorn hedges.

[redimp]

I have one of these:

or one of these:

Don't know which.  I bought it last year when I was really skint from Wickes.  It was one of the cheapest metal barrows with a pneumatic tyre (both features very important) that I could find and it is very good.  Got the builder's version as it was slightly bigger (I think that is right).  It is a Chillington.

having thought about it a bit and had a second look, mine is the second one as it doesn't have the rounded corners.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Mine's very like the second; it came from B&Q, and I think it cost £25. My only grumble was that the tyre wasn't as thick as that on my old builders' job, which I had nicked. The result was, it was unusable as every time I tried to use it, I got punctures from the thorns lying about the place. Green slime saved the day, and I've had no further problems.

[redimp]

Not had a puncture yet but may well invest in some of that stuff.

[adam04]

i got one from B&Q, there own bog stnadard builders one. £25 i think

metal is better IMHO, stronger etc. also get one with a typre as apose to a piece of plastic, thye seem to feel better and are usually smoother.

builders ones i think are better than gardneres ones, usually cheaper and preety much exactly the same. think there a bit less shallow, for mixing concrete etc, but to me shallower is a bit better for getting out soil and compost.

[tim]

With a pneumatic tyre, you can 'bump' the thing over quite a big step, rather than having to turn it around!

[derbex]

I have a plastic one -it had a pneumatic tyre -which didn't last as I have lots of thorns around, so I replaced it with a dinghy trolley wheel -which is wider than the normal solid wheels (a bit wider than the old pneumatic tyre) as it's designed to go over sand shingle &c. I just happened to have the wheel -but it'd be worth thinking about if you need a replacement.

[Garden Manager]

When i first moved to my current garden 9 years ago i got a pretty basic plastic wheelbarrow, with a solid wheel and no tip bar. That said it did a good job and have lost track of the bags of rubble, soil, compost etc it has carried over the years. I say this in past tense because this winter just gone one of the handles finaly gave in to a bad case of rust and snaped.

However replacing it had proved harder than expected. I suppose the specifications required are a bit exacting. i want one thats made of plastic  not metal, since it has to stay out in all weathers, i'd like a tip bar this time to make life a little easier, and i want one thats not too big to get around the fairly narrow paths in my garden and veg plot. I also want it fairly lightweight to go up and down the hill that is my garden but i also want it to be inexpensive yet durable.

Bit of a tall order that, exacerbated by the fact that the range available in local garden centres, builders merchants and diy stores is a bit limited. The nearest Garden centre for example has a nice one, fitting the criteria, but fore what it is is a bit expensive. Conversely the local DIY place has reasonably priced barrows - made of metal only.  You see the problem. i think some form of comprimise is needed here.

In the meantime I am making do with whats left of the old one and mark one body, until i can find a barrow i like.

[adam04]

i still say consider a B&Q one. if you get one thats coated then when you leave it outside turn it over and it wont rust as the water runs straight off it.

i leave my metal one outside and its finnnnneeee