Wheelbarrow vs 2-wheeled cart

I am going to be a contrarian and say I love a good single wheel wheelbarrow. The one I grew up with is aluminum with wooden handles, older than me, and works very well. I find it much more ergonomic than a pull behind cart, and better balanced, especially on hills, than 2 wheeled wheel barrows. It can turn on a dime around tight corners too! I have hauled way more firewood and garden scraps and dirt and rocks and sand in that thing as a teenager than I care to remember. It dumps super easily too.

I tried another single wheel barrow, and hated it- tippy, awkward, heavy, so there does seem to be a huge difference in quality and balancing. The centre of gravity on ours is low and balanced closer to the front I think.

Whatever you buy, if possible, try before you buy would be my suggestion. Load it up with something slightly Heavy like a bag of soil and see how it behaves in the store.

Catie George wrote:

I tried another single wheel barrow, and hated it- tippy, awkward, heavy, so there does seem to be a huge difference in quality and balancing. The centre of gravity on ours is low and balanced closer to the front I think.

I totally agree. Not all wheel barrows are created equal, nor are all humans. The cheap, shallow, wide barrows are an accident waiting to happen in my opinion, particularly if loaded with anything heavier than raked leaves or grass. The deep "contractors" type come in more than one size. We bought one 25 years ago that still gets used, but I wasn't happy when it was my only option as I find different jobs benefit from some of the alternatives. We test drive cars! Most places selling a wheelbarrow would also have bags of something the seller can load a barrow with for test purposes, and possibly some slopes or bumps to make the test more accurate. Some barrows actually have two brackets so the wheel position can change slightly. If one position doesn't work, I'd try the other.

Notice how the front rest is in this pic?

From experience, I can say that when the front rest is like this (one straight bar across) it tends to hit the back of my heels when pulling...especially when going up a hill!  I don't even have very short arms, so keep that in mind. I do take big steps though so that could be the issue...others at the farm seem to be ok with it.

I prefer the style of cart shown in an earlier post where two rest are used, one on each side with gap in the middle.

* I want to mention that the Strongway cart pictured may be of different dimensions than the one we have and could possibly work just fine...just a pic I pulled from the web for reference of rest design!*

One + for a wheelbarrow is that if you have tight rows in a garden it's easy to cut through since a single wheel can track a narrow path w/o crushing/dragging as much stuff.

Because I am used to riding a bicycle, with a front rack (sometimes heavily loaded), the one-wheeled wheelbarrow is much easier for me than the two-wheeled type. I can not get a two-wheeled wheelbarrow or cart nicely round a corner. The cart has one more disadvantage: the wheels are too wide apart, they do not fit in my narrow garden paths.

I’d agree with Wayne and Colby with the cart.   but offer that you can build your own for 1/2 or less the cost of buying one- the whiz bang cart plan book on Amazon has the plans and I’ve built 2 so far- working on a third that can be trailered with a buggy.

https://www.amazon.com/Anyone-Build-Whizbang-Garden-Cart/dp/0972656480/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=19O3ZUQH2AJKY&keywords=whizbang+cart&qid=1637585630&sprefix=whizbang+c%2Caps%2C1491&sr=8-3

It will carry 4 std bales, or upto 6 bags of feed, has front “ posts” that will allow easy tipping and is amazingly well balanced

I LOVE my 4 wheel Gorilla cart. I have the medium duty one with the non-deflateable tires that can hold up to 600 lbs.

I don't know how I managed so many years using a push wheel barrow (which I retired when its only tire got a flat). This cart has so many more uses!  I've even used it as a step stool ( portable scaffolding) to reach my gutters. I can transport far heavier loads than I could in the wheel barrow and the ease of transporting the loads are a dream compared to the wheelbarrow.

IF you're thinking about a wheel barrow purchase think about buying one with TWO wheels. The single wheel variety will be easily tipped over in mud, snow, etc. when you have a heavy load. The TWO wheeler is much more stable. The two wheeler is also much easier to control if you're dumping the cart upright to unload whatever you're hauling. The single wheel is just the opposite, very wobbly and hard to control, especially if you're trying to dump in an exact spot.

I like to take an unusual slant on ergonomics. Think of gyms, the ones I used to go to often had these 'universal' weight machines where you would operate a lever attached by cable to a stack of varying weights. Physical therapists would explain how these machines isolated a single muscle group, that free lifting of weights involves surrounding muscle groups to help steady the load, producing a more robust strength that is more useful in real world tasks and preventing injuries. This makes me think of the 'challenge' and 'struggle' of dealing with the single wheeled barrow versus one with 2 or 4 wheels. Outside of a few special use cases, I suspect 1 wheel is better for the user in the long run...

In my opinion, the only reason to go with a wheelbarrow besides cost is potentially needing to use it on hills.  When we moved cross country and got rid of most of our garden tools, i was excited to get a garden cart instead of a wheelbarrow only to determine that since basically all of my gardening is done on slopes, the cart would kind of suck.  Bummer.  

Coydon Wallham wrote:

This makes me think of the 'challenge' and 'struggle' of dealing with the single wheeled barrow versus one with 2 or 4 wheels.

It's particularly good exercise when that tippiness causes the operator to loose the whole load multiple times and therefore gets all the exercise refilling the wheel barrow multiple times. Most of the wheel barrows I've used, where designed for 5'8"+ men with much broader shoulders than my narrower than average, 5'4" female body. In fact one barrow I was given, I had to have a friend carefully bend the handles lower because I simply didn't have enough height to operate it at all. So certainly for some people in some situations, the exercise/strengthening value of using a single wheel barrow is a great idea. I quickly gave up and adapted a dolly to hold a garbage can securely and actually got more exercise because I didn't give up in frustration! Even the dolly can be a challenge on our rough terrain.

Laurel - we have found the opposite to be true, although I don't use my cart to carry tools just dump loads. The wheelbarrow is so tippy on our hills that it topples often. The key in my experience is to always position the cart either uphill or downhill not sideways.

Stacy Witscher wrote:Laurel - we have found the opposite to be true, although I don't use my cart to carry tools just dump loads. The wheelbarrow is so tippy on our hills that it topples often. The key in my experience is to always position the cart either uphill or downhill not sideways.

Stacy, is it the wheelbarrow itself that is 'tippy', or is it the load on it? I saw people load their wheelbarrow much too high and heavy, because that would save them time ... they thought. I prefer more walks with a lower and lighter load, so it won't tip ...

My problem with regular wheelbarrows is the frame In front of the wheel. I read people here talking about these being good in hills and rough terrain, but for me that part of the frame catches the ground easily on anything but pretty flat ground. I realize that at 6'5" the front sits low as I lift higher in back, but with longer arms than average does that difference make that much of a deal? The ones I've seen in memory seem to have the same basic design, are there different ones that make this less of a problem?

Coydon Wallham wrote:My problem with regular wheelbarrows is the frame In front of the wheel. I read people here talking about these being good in hills and rough terrain, but for me that part of the frame catches the ground easily on anything but pretty flat ground. I realize that at 6'5" the front sits low as I lift higher in back, but with longer arms than average does that difference make that much of a deal? The ones I've seen in memory seem to have the same basic design, are there different ones that make this less of a problem?

I think I know what you mean. I saw there are different types of wheelbarrows. Some have a large metal thing in front of the wheel, others (like mine) don't.

Gil Kaelin wrote:I’d agree with Wayne and Colby with the cart.  
It will carry 4 std bales, or upto 6 bags of feed, has front “ posts” that will allow easy tipping and is amazingly well balanced

WOW, nice cart, huge wheels, but bad handles. Nice size and probably easy to push.
But pushing 4 bales with those "squared" handles could definitely be hard on the hands!

Jesse Glessner wrote:

Gil Kaelin wrote:I’d agree with Wayne and Colby with the cart.  
It will carry 4 std bales, or upto 6 bags of feed, has front “ posts” that will allow easy tipping and is amazingly well balanced

WOW, nice cart, huge wheels, but bad handles. Nice size and probably easy to push.
But pushing 4 bales with those "squared" handles could definitely be hard on the hands!

I think it's supposed to be pushed from the doweling that's between the side rails, not the side rails themselves, judging from something similar that I have.

Coydon Wallham wrote:My problem with regular wheelbarrows is the frame In front of the wheel. I read people here talking about these being good in hills and rough terrain, but for me that part of the frame catches the ground easily on anything but pretty flat ground. I realize that at 6'5" the front sits low as I lift higher in back, but with longer arms than average does that difference make that much of a deal? The ones I've seen in memory seem to have the same basic design, are there different ones that make this less of a problem?

A lot depends on the exact design. Our wheel barrows have the  bar at the front, but being short, it mostly just gets in the way when I'm dumping.
Some ideas to try:
1. Check where the axle goes through to see if you can move the axle lower either because it comes with 2 settings (my two-wheeled cart does) or because you can weld or bolt on a lower hole.
2. Check if there's enough clearance that you could buy a larger diameter wheel and it would still fit.
3. If it's made of metal tubing, can you bend the tubing up so your hands reach the handles without the barrow being on an excessive slant?

These solutions may not help if multiple people of which some are much shorter, need to use the same barrow. For equipment I've needed to adapt specifically for my needs, I've been known to paint my name on it. That doesn't mean I won't share, but it does mean that people can't wander off and leave me without! That's more in issue with hand tools than our carts thankfully.

Inge - Most of what we use a wheelbarrow for are heavy things, either decomposed granite (similar to sand) or rock. If I can only carry a few rocks in the wheelbarrow I might as well do it by hand. Both of our wheelbarrows break easily with the wheel assemblies coming off track, and the metal in the front scraping the wheel. So far the cart is behaving better. I had hoped that the atv would be more helpful for carrying but the bed is so high as to be difficult to load. I think that I can get a trailer for it that's lower, but I haven't done so yet.

I got a Bikes At Work trailer like 10 years ago and it definitely was the best $500 I ever spent. https://www.bikesatwork.com/ Rated for 300lbs capacity, but I routinely put 350-400 lbs on it with no issues.

That being said, I definitely still use a single wheeled wheelbarrow all the time, in the garden and for hauling loose materials, etc.

Jay Angler wrote:

Jesse Glessner wrote:

Gil Kaelin wrote:I’d agree with Wayne and Colby with the cart.  
It will carry 4 std bales, or upto 6 bags of feed, has front “ posts” that will allow easy tipping and is amazingly well balanced

WOW, nice cart, huge wheels, but bad handles. Nice size and probably easy to push.
But pushing 4 bales with those "squared" handles could definitely be hard on the hands!

I think it's supposed to be pushed from the doweling that's between the side rails, not the side rails themselves, judging from something similar that I have.

Well, the rod between the handles would not be a "natural" positioning of the hands. I would bet, that if given a chance to grab onto this cart, most people would grab for the "wheel barrow" type handles. Plus - I think one would have more control over the movement/wheeling/turning of the cart using those "wheel barrow" type handles.

Check out a one-wheeled carrying cart.  Based on the Chinese wheelbarrow concept.  They are pricey but you are able to pack up to 250 pounds of gear
https://www.honeybadgerwheel.com/

Here is an article about Chinese wheelbarrows.  This is something that a handy person with a welder could put together in a few hours.
https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/12/the-chinese-wheelbarrow.html

I live in mountainous southern Mexico where wheelbarrows are ubiquitous and I frequently find myself longing for the antique radio flyer "radio cart" lawn cart my parents had. I remember it as being sturdy and maneuverable in our slopping yard, and rugged, they sold it when they downsized.  What I remember best about it was it lay flat on the ground allowing you to rake, sweep, push, the contents in. More designed for leaves and grass clippings, but this was a pre-1980s steel thingy, solid as a classic radio flyer wagon and you could also put heavier things in it (though probably not heavy rubble).
I long for this whenever I'm struggling to shovel things into a wheelbarrow. I'm a shortish woman and loading the thing is the hardest part of wheelbarrow use for me.
I found it online https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-metal-garden-cart-green-radio-287828662

I have only used traditional styled wheelbarrows in the past, and currently own one. They do what they do reasonable well!

Recently my wife has indicated we need another hauler and indicated that she would be interested in a two wheel design. I'm thinking I'm going to have to agree with her, I'm particular interested in the feasibility of creating a DIY cart style that would be robust within reason.

Now to find the willpower.

Timothy Norton wrote: Recently my wife has indicated we need another hauler and indicated that she would be interested in a two wheel design. I'm thinking I'm going to have to agree with her, I'm particular interested in the feasibility of creating a DIY cart style that would be robust within reason.

I re-read my post on pg 1. My home made 2-wheeled cart finally died of old age. We replaced it with 2 very large, wide based 2-wheel plastic tubbed "wheel barrows" from a big box store. We started with one, but a year after we had it, Hubby made the mistake of bringing me the store's ad with the same item on sale and asked me if I wanted one He was joking and was very shocked when I said, "yes, absolutely". They allow me to lever heavy loads up into them, however I have to balance the load for the slope of the land, or they're quite capable of dumping it... sigh...  However, with the shape of our property, I can park one close to the house and one close to the chicken field and that's a huge asset.

This took the pressure off me building a replacement. I have seen some great designs using up-cycled aluminium crutches, but the problem is that you still need to manufacture proper dropouts for the wheels, and I don't have a good place to do that sort of work at the moment. Some of the people doing that design, also had access to people who can weld aluminium which would also be an asset.

And wrote

Now to find the willpower.

Yep! Totally worth it though. One simple, clear asset to me is the ability to push something 1-handed and you can't do that with traditional wheelbarrows. Build it "good enough" and I expect you will not regret it - or at least your wife won't.

The hauler in constant use is a 3-wheelbarrow
After that is the best hand truck like Jay uses
I have several wheelbarrows, which are great for mixing compost with recycled bucket gardening soil and mycelium inputs etc
3 hand trucks
An adapted golf cart
An adapted child buggy
A 2 wheel plastic barrow $5, used, slightly cracked
A homemade low-to-ground 2x4 metal grate on wheels that can be pulled or hooked up to the once-lswn-tractor sans blades -- great for moving large plants
I am also 5'4" and it depends on the job

For spent bedding, I find the light cheap plastic barrow best: it holds a lot and is light
For compost it depends on quantity and terrain but for small quantities especially with mixing I use my 3-wheelbarrow, otherwise it's usually the hand truck, but for distance I use the homemade trailer with tractor.

I used to use the 3barrow for spent bedding but it's a lot less work with the $5 plastic cart (image below) -- keep an eye out or place a wanted ad for a slightly cracked or leaky plastic hauler and rescue one from the land fill perhaps

At 82 I decided that I needed an electric hauling vehicle. I garden on the roof of my earth sheltered home and lots of things, like compost, wood chips, etc need to be moved up hill. So I ordered a “recommended “ electric wheelbarrow. Alas when it arrived, and had been assembled by helpful neighbors, it was very heavy for me to use. I am 5’2” and lifting the handles, which were too high for me, and the motor which was mounted toward the rear, was simply too much for me. Fortunately my 25 year old, over six foot, grandson arrived to house sit and he loved it. He easily hauled wood chips for garden paths, compost and garden amendments up to the gardens.

So beware of electric wheel barrows unless you are young, tall, and strong.

Our 2-wheeled wheelbarrow is a beast, purchased from Costco years ago.  2 wheels are a must for balancing heavier loads and stability on even or pitched ground.  Sometime I wish I had a cart with a dumping feature but we only have room for one so glad I have our beastly wheelbarrow!  :J

Like others, I have both, and had several others over the years.  Currently, I have two wheelbarrows, a cart and a couple drums, to which I added handles and wheels.

I lost a really nice, large cart I liked a lot when a friend thought he could just toss bricks and logs into it from afar. The plastic/fiberglass didn't much care for that.  He didn't fully put it out its misery, so someone else got a free cart for the price of a simple repair. I still had wheel barrels and another cart (gads I love good garage sales).

As others indicate, flat free tires are game changers. Not too many things, in the wheelbarrow and cart world, worse than having to stop before you convinced yourself to start a project, so you could air tires. Especially knowing they'll be flat for the next run.  We live in goathead country. Add to that the tendency of wheelbarrow tires to be untrustworthy, when it comes to holding air.

One of my wheelbarrows has a flat free tire, which is working on its second wheelbarrow.  The other wheelbarrow was given to me by a friend and is magic (the tire holds air over years).

I, also, have a couple hand-trucks. They are as much a must-have as having one or more of the others.  My hand truck and a ratcheting strap gives me a 55 gallon drum to fill with pine cones or what have you. It or the cart work best for that pine cone kind of load.

On hand-trucks, I built my own by adding handles that extend up above the truck and down below the barrel. 2x6s tailored to the barrel exterior allowed me to add a set of wheels and a horizontal handlebar to, for example, a dedicated barrel I use for sawdust collection. Actually, I have three of these. One under a fifty-five gallon drum for the big pre-separator (cyclone, which spins 99% of the dust and debris out, before it gets to my expensive filters) and smaller versions for the Dust Deputies. Photos attached.

If I could only have one, and dust collection matters aside, it would be the wheelbarrow. It will take the dropped rocks, bricks and logs. It can be maneuvered easily, as long as I don't try to one up all the people on YouTube, trying to run one up a board or hill, only to have the whole load of horse crap, or what have you, come down on you, after you face planted on the slippery, narrow board.  

I have both, a wheelbarrow and a 4 wheel flat garden cart. Love 'em both for specific jobs.

wheelbarrow flaws -  
Had to weld some scrap metal across the legs in the back to keep them from bending/collapsing sideways.  
Most come with a pneumatic tire that is reliably flat when you go to use them.
The more expensive ones do better on both counts but are hundreds of dollars more expensive.
I figure a little welding and buying a solid tire for the generic ace hardware barrows does perfectly well.
I get WAY longer service out of the plastic ones than the metal. The steel fatigues, breaks and cracks/breaks at the boltholes way sooner than the plastic. I do use then hard.

cart flaws -
high center of gravity. I use it sometimes with two plastic 20 gallon molasses tubs for loose stuff like mulch and it will tip if you're not careful.
Too heavy loaded as above to pull by hand so lawn tractor it is to move it.
The one I have was a bare bones Harbor Freight for $100 then and now. Then was 15 years ago.
I did swap out the always flat pneumatic tires for solid ones, keep the rust painted and lube all moving parts occasionally.
I mostly use it to move potted trees/plants, tools and the like for planting projects.

And a third way...yard glider/skid/drag -
here's a website that sells them. I never quite had enough in the budget so cobbled one up from plastic woven landscape cloth clamped between a piece of square tube and angle iron via 1/4 20 bolts through all. Old load tying ratchet straps worked well for the yoke.
This thing is a compost/mulch hauling monster and eliminates having to lift what you're loading into a container.

https://yardglider.com

If I ever need to update mine to hdpe plastic like the yardglider, here's a source for sheets of the stuff at a great price -

https://www.sandhillplastics.com/product/hdpe-sheets/

So many thoughts after going through this thread....

For height requirements, or multiple size of folks using a two-handled device, how about a yoke with adjustable chain / strap length to the handles?  A handle could also be constructed in front of the user to be able to provide stability / balance.  

The Yardglider looks interesting - if one had access to the conveyor material (used to be ubiquitous in skating rinks throughout central Saskatchewan - possibly from swathers?), then it would be easy to construct a similar drag device.  

If one is not too averse to plastic, a calving sled could be another alternative.  I have a large one that I purchased years ago to transport gear when ice fishing and it sees occasional use now at the acreage.  It does move more easily over snow than over grasses and forbs, but the latter is doable.  Of course, when pulling over harder materials (woody or stone), they'll carve some material out of the sled bottom, possibly leaving some behind on the land.

Particularly for She Who Must Be Obeyed, we've considered a convertible wagon with wheels for summer and skis for winter use.

As you can tell, this response is coloured with living in an environment with 4-6 (or so) months with snow on the ground.

As others have noted, there is a wide variation in quality as well - the cheaper ones (firsthand experience) use poor wood, which can give out, especially if stored outside.  Our current wheel barrow has a deeper bucket and no flat tire and I think thicker lumber...it's just a better unit.

Since we have to move some things a fair distance on the acreage, two other tools see quite a bit of use.  The front end loader on the compact tractor and a Cub Cadet dump trailer.  The trailer is rated to up to 800 lbs and the sides can be folded nearly flat for use like a flatdeck.  Of course, that involves using gasoline or diesel fuel to move material.

Jim Fry wrote:We have 14 wheelbarrows, we use them all. Sometimes at the same time. We have one cart, we use it occasionally. The barrows are much better, and last much longer, for carrying heavier loads. The carts are for light duty stuff. If you have enough money, get both. If money is limited, the barrow is a better longer lasting investment. Also the tires on the carts are thinner, so if you have thorns or puncturing stuff, you'll have more flats with the cart.  ~~Another option that is nice for "weaker" people is a two wheel wheelbarrow. More expensive, but more stabile.

I have a 2-wheel wheelbarrow and a regular wheelbarrow. The regular one wheel contraption has not seen much work since I got two wheels, but that's because the 2 wheels feels more versatile. It wouldn't be good for mixing concrete, not because of the weight but because it's made of plastic. It is stronger plastic, but still, plastic. Also, in the garden, I have raised beds, less than 2ft apart to save space, and it doesn't turn very well. The wheelbarrow, with one nice thick tire, is handier for turning corners, but it's not very stable laterally. I use it to mix cement, but I make sure that I mix it very close to the dumping site.
I have yet to find one contraption in which you can mix concrete, make tight corners, keep your balance, carry awkward loads [Like a big rock] etc. I'm now 76 and I've shrunk to 5'2". [I used to be 5'4"].
IMHO, you need all of them.

SIDE NOTE:

I ran an add for free, broken treadmills. I wanted them for the powerful DC motors (e.g., 3/4 horse, 1 hp), to use for things like my four wheel, stationary grinder (replaced a 240 VAC, single speed motor with an infinitely variable speed motor and controller, or to bypass the problem of having to change belt positions to alter the speed of my drill press, to swap the Redwing, two speed motor on my buffing station . . . .

I got a couple just for showing up.  After tearing the treadmills down, I ended up with some usable iron and the treadmill "belt."  It's rubber, so would offer a bit more friction than a standard conveyor belt, but on dirt and such, I doubt the additional friction would be notable.

Use what you will for hauling. The rest would make a good workbench cover, or to protect your machined metal tops, when they become work benches.

Juniper Zen wrote:Which do you find more useful and easy to use on a small homestead? I need to buy something to transport small amounts of compost, used straw bedding, feed, etc. If it makes a difference, I am 5’4” and have decent upper body strength for a woman but not compared to a man.

I’m 5’4” tall and 175lbs. I don’t want any more muscle on my body than I already have. I’d go with the cart as I love mine.
I’ve tried wheel barrels but the lift/push is too much for me on a larger run. The cart uses less effort for larger loads as well as being great for steering around obstacles.

I've gotten both the Gorilla Cart 4 wheeler and the Gorilla 2 wheel barrow.

I like them both. I'm planning to get a single wheel barrow for concrete as my old one got a hole that leaked concrete out with. The big reason I'm going with a single wheel is the are cheaper and it's just going to get coated in concrete.