| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| yummersetter |
wheelbarrowsit's twenty years old, full of holes and cement encrusted, the tyre keeps going down and the bolts are seized - it's the end of the road for my favourite barrow.What's your favourite/worst barrow like and where's the best place to buy one? My replacement one will need to be quite narrow for getting between the raised beds and not so deep as to be unliftable when fully loaded. |
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| vegplot |
We have a small second had wheel barrow called Wilbur. It's shifted tonnes of rock (literally) for which is was never design for and has generally had a very long long with almost no maintenance. It's battered and tired and is now not really fit for purpose. | ||
| earthyvirgo |
...and it was my Dad's before we had it, and he NEVER throws anything away, so it could be 30+ years old 
Poor old Wilber, I'll probably plant him up with herbs when he's retired. EV |
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| judith |
Re: wheelbarrows
We inherited one like that (but without the holes) when we moved here. It is occasionally still pressed into service as an overspill barbeque! |
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| gardening-girl |
Try Bradfords for a heavy duty one.I had one for a birthday pressie(how sad is that) yonks ago, and its still fine.
Countrywide farmers in Crewkerne had some on offer at £30 last week. |
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| James |
my wheelbarrow is a builders barrow from Wikes. It was relatively cheap, its standing up to the test of time and its enjoyable to use | ||
| RichardW |
We bought one of those extra large double wheeled metal ones.
DONT EVER GET ONE Its pants. The COG is so bad that if you load it slightly wrong it will tip forwards or backwards. Once loaded the handles are to far apart to be able to push it, to high so that your arms are at an unnatural angle & you keep hitting the rear legs as its non lifted position is almost level with how you want to walk with it. Then cos of the double wheels you cant use a plank to load & tip in to any thing or get over soft ground etc. |
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| crofter |
I am a fan of plastic wheelbarrows. No rust (except the frame) lighter than steel - but I am mostly moving silage or muck. Not sure how they would cope with a few tonnes of rocks. | ||
| alice |
We favour plastic too - OH says it's easier for me - he's very considerate  A few tonnes of rocks knocks it about a bit but we put a wooden bottom in and I like a few holes - that way it doesn't fill up with water when it rains.
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| mochyn |
These threads always make me laugh.
Grow your own wheelbarrows! |
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| yummersetter |
I did ponder that, it just seemed as if those who were looking here would be the experts, land management seemed a bit too JCBish.
The other barrow, which is a plastic one, was a birthday present too, GG - the birthday after the 'load of horse manure' Christmas present! It's problem is that it's very wide and I tend to overload it and stagger down the path wobbily, and the stuff growing alongside the path tend to whip things off the load. It has got a bolt missing, which gives perfect drainage if needed. I usually have both on the go when I'm in the veg garden- good stuff for the compost bin in one, plants from Hell, like bindweed and bittercress that are off to the bonfire in the other. |
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| crofter |
Every wheelbarrow I've ever bought seems to have loose nuts and bolts. It's worth glueing them on or replacing with locknuts. Extra coats of paint are also a good idea if you're buying a new one. |
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| Midland Spinner |
My top tips for barrows are:
Avoid plastic - it melts if you put hot ash / clinker in it and shatters if you drop something into it on a frosty morning. Metal ones are good (but check for plastic front stays - see above about melting) and for plastic washers between the body & the frame (they also melt, then the whole thing goes wobbly). Steering is better if no-one has stolen the air out of the bottom of the tyre. The one in this picture has definitely seen better days! 
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| yummersetter |
yes, that looks like mine - except mine is full of apples and sheltering under a table cover from the rain.
I don't often empty a steam-train firebox with mine though
But we do have frosty mornings, so that's a good tip. |
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| Midland Spinner |
Here's a tip if your garden has lots of thorns: we put an anti puncture "Slime" (from Halfords) in the tyre of our garden wheelbarrow, and it's excellent. Wheelbarrow tyres are expensive to change, so prevention is better than cure.
Only downside is that if you get a puncture which deflates the tyre you need to pump it up & spread the stuff around the inside a couple of times before it clogs up the hole. So you have to spin the wheel quite quickly to spread the slime all round the tyre so you might need to run up & down the garden a few times, re-inflating between times..... My neighbours already wondered, then they knew...... |
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| Slim |
http://www.cartsvermont.com/
These are the standby around here, though aren't always appropriate for the same jobs as regular wheelbarrows, but sometimes more appropriate for other jobs... |
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| wellington womble |
I bought a bright pink one from Funky barrows - it wasn't cheap, but cheaper than replacing the last three because they wandered off onto building sites with a cry of 'I bring it back later' Pah! There's no way he'd take the pink one with sunflowers on, so I hope to have it for some time! | ||
| Woodburner |
I tried that with crocs, but they don't care what they wear in the garden :S  Still, at least they do come back!
I'm in the process of vetting wheelbarrows as the two without a flat tyre have recently lost handles! There isn't really much choice around, unless you have bottomless pockets. One definite no-no is no way to pump up a pneumatic tyre though. (No valve!) COG is important, but two wheels are no good between beds with 12" wide paths, and not really any better on main 2ft wide paths! They also have the same tipping up potential as one wheelers if they are too far back. You don't want the wheel(s) too far forward either though as that makes for heavy lifting. Providing you keep it away from heat, plastic will last much longer than the average metal one, but that just means that the frame gives up the ghost while the container part is still good.
I got on fine with the pevious barrows, standard squareish plastic 'tub', one wheel sort, but I don't think the all metal one I got as replacement from argos will last as long as they did. I've also bought one with a more scoop front plastic 'tub' one to try, but haven't put it together yet. 
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| lowri |
My barrow has one big design fault, there isn't a thingy at the front so that you can tip properly, it just kicks back at you with the wheel. Other than that it has been a wonderful, not-too-heavy barrow. "Somebody" has used it for rocks and there is a small crack in the front edge, just perfect for slicing a hole in any feedbag or compost bag, etc if you have to slide it off frontwards. I have patched it with duck tape, but wonder if it could be welded, I think its galvanised. Apart from losing the handle grips it is still going strong after 20 years.
Other uses, mixing concrete, compost, etc. Bathing a dog (it doesn't leak and you don't have to bend)! |
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| Gervase |
You can't beat a green metal Haemmerlin builder's barrow. It'll hold 400lb, you can tip it easily, it's got a nice, wide load area and it's beautifully balanced.
The one downside is that it's a fraction wider than the standard B&Q galvanised barrow, which means I skin my hands going on one side of the old pig-sties in the yard. That said, I wouldn't consider any other barrow for everyday work. Cheap, too. a triumph of froggy engineering. |