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Would you rather use a one wheel wheelbarrow or a two wheel wheelbarrow?

Matt McSpadden

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posted 4 weeks ago

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Would you rather use a one wheel wheelbarrow or a two wheel wheelbarrow? Stability or steering?

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Matt McSpadden

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I may change my mind later, but for right now, I prefer the single wheel version, so I can get around corners easier.

Pearl Sutton

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Two, so then I only have to push, not balance also. Heavy loads that matters a lot. Lighter loads only one is fine, I don't move many light ones though.

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John F Dean

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I have been using my 2 wheeled garden cart all week. The wheel barrow remains by the garden.

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Gray Henon

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Single. Two wheel versions weigh a good bit more.

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Kevin Olson

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I'd like to try a Chinese style wheelbarrow - one large wheel, with the load balanced fore-and-aft as well as side to side. Better suited to "stackable" or contained loads than for loose materials, I think. But, I haven't built one yet. I do have an old steel wheel (from a manure spreader?) which may be a suitable candidate, acquired at the same time as two substantially larger steel wheels which I have been holding in reserve for a fetching arch cum timber cart. An old dump rake wheel might be better yet, but I don't have one, though I do keep my eyes peeled. I found a nice steel implement seat a while back, so all in due time, I suppose.

As for now, I have both a conventional single wheeled barrow and a two-wheeled cart. Though neither is perfect, both hold places in my heart. Does that make me all wishy-washy?

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Jay Angler

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I don't have enough mass to balance a one wheel barrow reliably. I used an adapted 2 wheel one while visiting my sister and it drove horribly.

But here on the homestead, I have Big Green - oversized, two wheel, can use it as a lever to lift the load into it, and I liked it so much we bought a second one. Yes, it is much heavier to push, particularly up some of our steeper areas, but life is all about tradeoffs and this works for me.

I do still use my single wheel smaller barrow when I want to mix up dirt/compost/goodies for starting seeds. (which is on my ToDo list, so I guess I should get on with it!)

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Carla Burke

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Two wheels, please. I can almost always push the weight of the load more forward, over the two wheels, to make the handle end lighter (to make up for the bit of extra weight a 2wheeler brings), but like Pearl & Jay, balancing a load on one wheel would be too much, for me to manage, with my joint problems.

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Kevin Olson

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I did recently see 5 (yup - count 'em - five!) of the Gardenway two wheeled carts moldering away ignominiously. All of the wooden parts were gone or on their way out, sitting as they were under the drip edge of a roof in a temperate rain forest. This remuda of carts was chained together to the back of a nice little picnic shelter on the way up to the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. The shelter was down at lower elevation, along the modern remaking of the old Barlow Road portion of the Oregon Trail.

Though I don't (yet) have one of these Gardenway carts, I have used them a fair bit, and this style of cart really is very handy for a lot of jobs, even if not exactly a wheel barrow. I was saddened that they were slowly going to rack and ruin. And five of them! If shared with even a modicum of neighborliness, that's enough for a sizeable community garden. Unbelievable!

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Kim Wills

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I've never used a 2 wheeled one, but I've been thinking of designing and making one (or looking up plans), because I need to choose materials myself. I want one with big wheels for bumpy terrain, but lightweight. I have a hill that isn't super-steep but can be uneven in unexpected places. I'll want to carry hand tools up the hill and into woods, and also carry wood or future crops back out.
I'm now thinking of my childhood baby doll pram, which had springs to act as shock absorbers. I wonder if I could incorporate that, because a regular wheelbarrow moves so clunkily.

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Timothy Norton

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posted 3 weeks ago

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I've only used a one wheel barrow so I will stick with that.

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Josh Hoffman

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I have this 2 wheeler : Lowes Kobalt 7-cu ft 2 Wheel Steel Push Wheelbarrow Flat-Free Tire

I have found it to be as nimble in tight turns as I have needed. When empty or not much weight, you can lift one handle a little and get the one wheel turn effect by having the other wheel slightly off of the ground.

When loaded, turning too sharp was typically the cause of side overturns (for me anyway) so the 2 wheels actually turn very well but limit the risk of a side overturn.

The flat free tires are really, really nice. I think the concern there could be flat spots. That may be if you had it loaded and it sat for a long time. I have not had any issues. I just used mine and I had 120# of feed in it for 3 days before I unloaded to use it and no flat spots on the tires. It has been great.

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Riona Abhainn

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posted 3 weeks ago

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Glad to see new would-you-rather questions! I'm going with one-wheel. I have mostly used those so I am used to having to balance and move. The key for me is to go slow.

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Kevin Olson

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Has anyone tried to do a conversion of a barrow, from one-wheeled barrow to two-wheeled (or vice versa, for that matter)? From the screen shot Josh shared, it looks like a standard layout one-wheeled barrow, but with a longer axle and two wheels.

I'll take a look at my one-wheeler this weekend. I need to either: put in a fresh tube; or install a solid tire, as Josh's has. Pretty well every time I try to use it, I need to fish the bicycle pump or of the passenger foot well of my truck and give it 20-30 pumps, since it is leaking so badly. But, this might be an opportune time to investigate the possibility of a two-wheel conversion, as well.

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Jay Angler

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Kevin Olson wrote:Has anyone tried to do a conversion of a barrow, from one-wheeled barrow to two-wheeled (or vice versa, for that matter)? From the screen shot Josh shared, it looks like a standard layout one-wheeled barrow, but with a longer axle and two wheels.

The wheelbarrow I borrowed from my sister's neighbor appeared to be a just that and it wasn't pleasant to use but I got the job done. That said, I was trying to move concrete pavers down the street, around the corner and halfway along the next street.

In comparison, my Big Green which is designed for 2 wheels, is heavy, but pushes easily and doesn't feel like I forcing it to do what I want even with quite heavy loads.

Hopefully someone has done the conversion. At this point my advice would be to only do what is reasonably easy to undo!

I would also vote for replacing the tube. Yes, it may be that we got a crappy version of the no-air tire, but we didn't like it, and replaced it. It seems much harder to push, as if the wheel was semi-flat. Yet, I've heard others say it's wonderful. The typical load weight might be the difference. We grow rocks the way other people grow weeds - weeds are much lighter to move around!

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Ben Zumeta

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posted 3 weeks ago

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Two, hands down. Well, maybe one hand down because in addition to many other massive advantages, a two wheeled barrow can be easily moved one handed. Two wheelers can move 2-4x the mass with much less strain, as one doesn’t have to hold the entire weight balancing it. The extra weight of a second wheel is tiny compared to the benefits of balance. If you want the one wheel experience, just tilt it to get the joy of holding the entire load up. Using a two wheeler is much less work for any substantial amount of mass. I say this having moved hundreds of yards of material with two-wheelers, and having several single wheelers fall apart at the worst possible times.

I absolutely hate single wheelers, and if I were a conspiracy theorist would suspect they are the brainchild of some maniacally misanthropic orthopedist. A single wheeler kills your back and shoulders, and the just falls apart from the strain of the force one has to exert on it holding any substantial load up. Honestly, I think a one wheeled American style barrow is one of the poorest designed tools I can imagine. I would rather just carry buckets or a harvest bag. Maybe if all one is moving is lettuce or feathers down exceedingly narrow paths, it might have a purpose. Even so, it is prone to tipping with the slightest bump onto whatever one is growing beside those narrow paths. A two wheeler still fits down any path that is comfortable to walk down. A path so narrow it warrants a single wheeler has no space for airflow and plants to grow.

This is all just my opinion based on a flawed memory

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Josh Hoffman

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Kevin Olson wrote:Has anyone tried to do a conversion of a barrow, from one-wheeled barrow to two-wheeled (or vice versa, for that matter)? From the screen shot Josh shared, it looks like a standard layout one-wheeled barrow, but with a longer axle and two wheels.

It looks like it would be easy. You would need another piece of 5/8 rod. You could drill a hole in each end for cotter pins after you cut to length.

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Rick Valley

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posted 2 weeks ago

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I use all types: Lil' Red Stake Side wagons, 2-wheeled garden carts, light wheelbarrows, and all-steel contractor wheelbarrows. Taking da kid to an outdoor concert? Lil' Red wagon with pillows and a teddy bear. getting the flat of starts to the garden? the light wheel barrow. Getting a load of wet concrete to the patio pour? Big contractor wheelbarrow. getting the leaf pile to the garden for mulch? Garden Way cart, maybe with after-market bamboo poles zip-tied to the tubular metal handle, which you just re-positioned to be less than a foot from the open front of the cart by loosening the metal clips, so you still CAN hold the cart with one hand, but with the bamboo "rickshaw" handles clamped and zip-tied and tie-wired to the metal handle and other points of opportunity, You can stand inside the handles and use your body weight between them in making turns, rather than pushing the cart backwards all the time, or grabbing the bar behind your back. I have done all of this, building kitchen gardens, hauling scythed hay, taking the picnic to the concert in the city park, getting the toddler a safe place to nap at the picnic(and not stepped on) getting camp and the booth gear into Oregon Country Fair. The wheel was a good idea! Back to the theme: A two-wheeled wheel barrow has a much wider turn radius, you can't get it up the catwalk to dump the wet concrete into the form, eh? Bottom line: get the right tool for the job. And you can get ultra-retro in a pinch, and make a travois, if say, somebody twisted their knee on the ski trail.

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Jill Dyer

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posted 2 weeks ago

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To paraphrase Animal Farm - two wheels good, one wheel bad - from my point of view anyhow! Lost too many loads over the side from the one wheel versions. Best idea yet - to convert the one wheelers to planters that I can move if absolutely necessary

More ideas welcome. Ta.

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Emily Harris

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posted 2 weeks ago

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I prefer a 4 wheeled wagon (gorilla cart) by far over any wheelbarrow.

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