My Wheelbarrow Thread

I support every bit of this thread.  My big old steel dual wheeled barrow has one new handle, the other is waiting in the corner for when it is needed someday.  Spare wheelbarrow and shovel handles are great pry bars for moving suspension components around.

We rebuild old E36 M3 because we can and it's fun.

Having grown up in a household where my dad insisted on hoarding semi-functional wheelbarrows, this thread gave me a little bit of PTSD. On the other hand, seeing you actually follow through with fixing it may have been exactly the closure I needed. Thank you for posting this, it's much more satisfying to see an old wheelbarrow get a new lease on life than simply buying a brand new one. 

I have an old Stanley steel tub wheelbarrow I bought about 20 years ago.  The tub's dented and rusty, and around where a few of the bolts hold on has rusted through.  I replaced the tire a few years ago, and added bracing to the supports.  I think a few fender washers on the tub and it'll be good for another 5 years at least.  

But, I also just bought this, for the wife:

She likes to tip over my wheelbarrow when shoveling stuff into it, so the dual wheel one is a Godsend.  We tried one of the poly dual wheel barrows, but the tub seemed cheap and flimsy, and didn't dump well.  For as huge and steel as this Lowes one is, it's not bad to wheel around, and the bin holds an incredible amount of stuff.  

We also have a little 4 cu ft steel tray wheelbarrow as a backup, that I got for free a dozen or so years ago and put a tire on.  

How do you guys get any use out of plastic tubs? The last one I had lasted 3 days. I tossed a piece of fire wood into it on a cold day and blew a gigantic hole in the tub. Luckily Tractor Supply took it back but it was a hassle.

I'm not usually one of those "Metal or bust" people, but that really put me off on them.

In about 1980, I bought a couple of cheap pacers, and tried to get established with my own training stable.

The training carts, sulky, and tack (other than a collection of bits) are long gone.

I have a few things left from that ill-fated venture: pitchforks, shovels, rakes, and my wheelbarrow. This is the third set of handles, and obviously need replacing. I hope I can find the missing front bracket when I buy the next set.

Interesting that I'm not the only one who is nostalgic about a wheelbarrow.

I think this gray wheelbarrow is the official wheelbarow of the GRM Forums. I have one too!

Mine was left at my parents' house by a contractor that never picked it up 20 years ago. When I moved 10 years ago, my dad told me to take it (he had another one already). I put a solid wheel/tire on it (non-pneumatic) and used it for a few years, but now it's been languishing behind my shed since the handles are weak. I replaced it with a towable yard cart with handles, but it can be a PITA to wheel around on its own. Might have to get that thing going again!

The0retical said:

How do you guys get any use out of plastic tubs? The last one I had lasted 3 days. I tossed a piece of fire wood into it on a cold day and blew a gigantic hole in the tub. Luckily Tractor Supply took it back but it was a hassle.

I'm not usually one of those "Metal or bust" people, but that really put me off on them.

Last week, I moved all of this wood about 50 yards through the woods, alone, with the the old gray tub and the rotted handles. Most pieces were about 24 inches across, six feet around.

In reply to The0retical :

I turned the wheelbarrow upside down over the wood and secured them together with a 2” ratchet strap. Then flipped it all over by hanging off the back of the handles and wheeled it away down the narrow path. I couldn’t have gotten through there with two wheels. 

In reply to Woody :

Sounds you you got lucky the handle didn't give out moving those! 

java230 said:

In reply to Woody :

Sounds you you got lucky the handle didn't give out moving those! 

You should always go about your business with a sense of mechanical empathy.

Or, to quote the great John Muir:

"Come to kindly terms with your Ass for it bears you."

"Your Volkswagen is not a donkey but the communication considerations are similar. Your car is constantly telling your senses where it's at: what it's doing and what it needs. I don't speak "donkey," but am fairly conversant in "Volkswagen" and will help you learn the basic vocabulary of this language so your Bus, Bug, Ghia, Fast/Squareback, Safari (The Thing), 411 or 412 can become an extension of your own sensory equipment. Perhaps the idea of feeling about your car is a little strange but herein lies a type of rapport which will bridge the communication gap between you and your transportation. I am a man, engineer, mechanic, lover-feeler who has worked and felt with cars of all descriptions for many years. This book contains the product of these years: clear and accurate Procedures to heal and keep well your Volkswagen. I don't expect you to become a mechanic - I have done that! My understanding and knowledge will be yours as you work. You supply the labor, the book will supply the direction, so we work as a team, you and I. While the levels of logic of the human entity are many and varied, your car operates on one simple level and it's up to you to understand its trip. Talk to the car, then shut up and listen. Feel with your car; use all of your receptive senses and when you find out what it needs, seek the operation out and perform it with love. The type of life your car contains differs from yours by time scale, logic level and conceptual anomalies but is "Life" nonetheless. Its Karma depends on your desire to make and keep it - ALIVE"

Woody said:

I feel like I'm rebuilding this thing around a serial number.

So it's basically a vintage Ferrari then.

Wheelbarrow restomod?

R56fanatic said:

Wheelbarrow restomod?

Then he'd need a 20" billet wheel.

Keith Tanner said:

R56fanatic said:

Wheelbarrow restomod?

Then he'd need a 20" billet wheel.

And just how would you lower a wheelbarrow?

But back to the original thread, your wheelbarrow looks great!  I used to have a Hechingers branded poly tub wheelbarrow and it lasted for many years of abuse.  I bought a "heavy duty" replacement from Ace and within 6 months it was cracked, broken and junk.  Now I have a huge metal wheelbarrow that I bought at a flea market for $15

In reply to noddaz :

Well, if you flip the axle from the bottom of the wooden rails to the top, that'll give you about a 2" drop.  'Course you'd need to lower the back resting points too, or you'd end up with a helluva rake.  And the front cross bar might start digging in to the ground, so that would need to be modified...

Clearly I've put too much thought into this.

You guys made me do this.

The True Temper "Gray Tub" is apparently The Answer when it comes to wheelbarrows. I dragged mine out from behind the tool shed and decided, because of you guys, that it was time to get it fixed. I had to go out foraging for cleaning supplies yesterday and found myself at Home Depot, so I picked up a pair of handles and some penetrating oil. If anything, it's something to do to keep my mind off of the craziness.


As you can see, the handles were rotted. The front "bumper" brace fell off years ago, but I kept it around in case I got around to fixing it. I also replaced the wheel and tire with a solid rubber one; I highly recommend this "mod".

I had to cut chunks off of the old handles with the sawzall to get better access to the hardware.


After chunking things up, the hammer and chisel came out to separate the hardware from the remains of the handle.


Somehow, all of the hardware came out unscathed. I cleaned it all up with my bench grinder wire wheel and lubed it up.



Everything ready to get re-installed.


And the final result. Should be good for another 20 years!



They see me rollin...

 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Wanna race?

I am currently doing some excavating for a deck, and here is the workhorse. It's carrying full loads of wet clay/dirt and hasn't complained yet. Balances pretty nicely, and right now I am ignoring the fact the the handle is rusted through. There may be restoration in the future.

I'm happy, I found the cross brace for the front of the handles so I still have all of the pieces. Now it's time to get a new set of handles. I feel like I ought to treat the wood so it won't rot again too quickly.

Any suggestions on treating the wood? I don't want to use steel handles, they just don't appeal to me.

Edit: some of the options I'm looking at include handles that have already been coated, and also some options for different types of wood. Two of the options that I've looked at are ash and hickory.

I'm finding people using spar varnish or varathane in a spray can.