Need New Wood Cart

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WarmGuy

Minister of Fire
Jan 30, 2006
519
Far Northern Calif. Coast
The wood cart that I've been patching and repairing for 15 years was fatally wounded today:

FirewoodMoving011.jpg


I loved that cart, but a new one would cost about $200.

I like the one that Eric made(https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/1023/), but I need one right away, and I think a pair of wheels will cost as much as this $49 cart from harbor freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44599

Anyone have one of these? Any other thoughts?

Thanks,

Al
 
OK, this might kinda be akin to admitting that you wear ladies underpants, but I have a Baby/toddler Running stroller that can hold a decent amount of firewood. It has those bigger spoked wheels, not those small plastic deals. I only mention this because I see strollers at yard sales all the time for real cheap. Both your wheel-barrow, and that cart you posted will hold MUCH more wood than mine, but if you have one around it could be a cheap short term replacement until you get what you need. Some modification could probably get the wood to stack on better, too.
 
I'd get some fiber glass from NAPA and just repair it...what do you care what it looks like? If you like that cart then repair it correctly.
 
I just bought the one in the link from HF. In an e-mail from one of the hearth supply sites I got, they wanted about $175 or so. Now I don't know if it was built heavier or not, but it looked the same. Anyway, I just used the HF one for the first time about 1hr ago. Filled it up and rolled the wood up. Works great! Sure beats carrying the wood up to the house by the arm load. And the large wheels go over sticks, bumps, and small tree roots easily. I loaded it about level with the front bumper (or whatever we'll call that) and higher in the back where I was so as to help balance it better. I still had to use downward pressure on the handle while pulling some. All in all though, I'm very pleased with it. Of course, I can't say anything to longevity yet.

Steve
 
Well, the hardware store had a Rubbermaid cart a lot like the one I had for $49, and I got it. The plastic isn't quite as thick as the old one. I don't think I could have made a patch that would have held up.

Carts002.jpg
 
It looks like you got the bigger brother of your old one. I was going to say put a piece of metal to line the old one until I saw the crack running up the side.
I use three wheelbarrows and three kids to move my wood.
 
49 is a good price and it looks like the newer one can be modded with a stake rack with little effort. If you throw out the old one I'd save the wheels and axle...could come it handy some day. good luck with the new cart.
 
WarmGuy said:
The wood cart that I've been patching and repairing for 15 years was fatally wounded today:

FirewoodMoving011.jpg


I loved that cart, but a new one would cost about $200.

I like the one that Eric made(https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/1023/), but I need one right away, and I think a pair of wheels will cost as much as this $49 cart from harbor freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44599

Anyone have one of these? Any other thoughts?

Thanks,

Al

Hi Al,
I had to chuckle when I saw the pic of the broken cart as I have several of those myself!! They can't take the cold when they get hit with something hard and heavy like firewood.. I now have one of these and it is MUCH better and holds a ton of firewood!!

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=214397-52314-TC4205F&lpage=none

Plus it rolls really well too and I can pile 3-4 days worth of wood on it at one time making it easier to fill my indoor wood hoop..

Ray
 
I have an old Radio Flyer wagon (pic to come) but it sits most of the time in the covered patio alcove with the small amount of firewood it can hold. I've been thinkin of riggin' up taller replacement side rails, but 'tho that would increase the capacity, it would do nothing for the handling. I'll have to watch C/L for a cart like Ray's (but cheaper). In the meantime, old fashion metal wheelbarrow works for a variety of purposes and I can't seem to kill it.

Peace,
- Sequoia
 
TreePapa said:
I have an old Radio Flyer wagon (pic to come) but it sits most of the time in the covered patio alcove with the small amount of firewood it can hold. I've been thinkin of riggin' up taller replacement side rails, but 'tho that would increase the capacity, it would do nothing for the handling. I'll have to watch C/L for a cart like Ray's (but cheaper). In the meantime, old fashion metal wheelbarrow works for a variety of purposes and I can't seem to kill it.

Peace,
- Sequoia

Hello TreePapa,
If memory serves me correct I think I paid $75-80 for this wagon with some sort of coupon and it was well worth it! I really like my 42" wood hoop too as it holds 3-4 days worth of wood which works out great with my work schedule plus you can have extra on hand when the weather is bad... I love having a wood shelter as well as it saves loads of aggravation dealing with rain and snow...

Ray
 
velvetfoot said:
I had a small plastic wheelbarrow once and it kept on hitting my shins.
Mine does that, too.
I rarely use it.
When I do it's more for lugging a whole bunch of carpentry tools back into the garage to be used again tomorrow.


I certainly wouldn't use a plastic cart for throwing wood or rocks into.
 
I have FIVE different carts / wheel barrows...

TWO of the HF wood carts - one still in the box. The cart itself seems pretty good for the most part, as long as you are just carrying splits, I can load as much wood onto it as I can drag up the stairs into our house, no problem. However the tubes are a little on the light side, and will bend if you start trying to move big (over ~10-12" diameter) rounds with it - I suspect it's the concentration of weight in one place that causes a problem. The wheels and tires are a bit of a (fixable) problem... The tires themselves are OK, the tubes are crap, and don't stay up for more than a few weeks at a time. If they leak, don't even try to patch, just get a pair of replacements from Wally world or your local pedal bike shop, they're a standard size, no problem. The wheels are also somewhat poorly assembled - the spokes are loose, and the wheels don't run very true. (and they may not have been properly ground inside the rim, which can cause punctures) - They need to be trued up and tightened, something any bike shop should be able to do for $10-20 each if you bring them just the bare wheel with the tire off it. If you don't true them up, they are likely to collapse on you at some point, and repairing becomes much more of a problem. (This is why I have two...)

A red cargo wagon from TSC - good for hauling big heavy stuff, if the load is spread out, or the bottom re-inforced to spread the load. Has a two way handle that can be either hand pulled, or hooked to the back of a lawn tractor. I did break the front suspension on it, but after calling TSC and chasing some people around on the phone, I was able to get a new suspension under warranty... It works for splits, but I can get almost as much on the HF cart, which is easier to pull... Nowadays, I use the HF cart for splits, but the TSC wagon for getting rounds from where I drop a tree to the splitting area and to carry the "chunkwood" around.

A green plastic cart like the OP's - not broken... Came with cheap plastic wheels that didn't hold up - one broke the rim on me. I replaced those wheels with a couple of nice metal pnumatic wheels from HF (two wheels cost less than ONE from the local hardware store) and that improved it a lot, at least until the light metal tube axle bent, now if I put much weight in the cart, the axle flexes until the wheels rub on the underside of the body, which makes it really hard to move. As one of the prior posters mentioned it is also a bit of a pain when moving because you keep kicking it or hitting it with your heels. I also find it has a tendency to tip over forwards if I lift the handle too high, say to get over an obstacle... LOUSY for moving splits or cordwood due to the irregular interior shape making it hard to pack them in. Good, or at least tolerable, for dirt, chips and other stuff that is too fine to go in the TSC wagon with it's expanded metal floor and sides. If / when it dies, I won't replace it with the same thing, but it is tolerable

A small metal wheelbarrow - consumer grade / size. Probably my least used, with leaky tub and wheel that has lousy bearings, but it works for some jobs, and considering what I paid for it (it was a trash-pick) it is OK.

Bottom line, the HF cart is my number one choice for splits, and the TSC wagon for most other stuff. Both would get replaced with something similar if they died. If the wheelbarrow and cart ever die, neither will be replaced with anything similar. I might look at one of the larger bicycle wheeled garden carts, or a friend has a jumbo tub wheelbarrow with two wheels in front that I sort of like.

Gooserider
 
I use one of these for getting the wood from the 'pile' to the storage rack in the garage. I can not find the actual manufacturers page right now. They come in 2 sizes and I have the larger one. The great thing is there's no lifting and the barrow flips out of the frame when acually dumping. This wheelbarrow is an awsome thing! (gift from Father-in-law)

http://www.amazon.com/Mantis-Load-Dumper-Wheelbarrow-811039/dp/B000FJ086C

I use one of the small one you can get at HD to go from the garage storage to the Stove.
 
LLigetfa said:
Mind you, I very seldom ever push it.
Given the the way I load it up, it's understandable.

100_0171.jpg
 
I just picked up one of the Harbor Freight carts. With a commonly available 20% coupon it was $40. I figure the worst that can happen is a weld lets go and I weld it back. Holds 3x the wood I could get in the wheelbarrow I was using and moves with 1/3 the effort. Works for me!
 
What I found as the weak point on the HF carts is the wheels - they have decent quality parts that have been poorly assembled. Pull the wheels off, and do a careful truing and tensioning job on the spokes, or take them to a local bicycle shop and have them do it (will probably cost between $10-20 a wheel) Then grind down the spoke ends and replace the cheesy rim strip and inner tubes (the tires themselves are fine, the rim strip will dry rot and disintegrate, and the tubes seep air)

If you don't do this, the rims will wobble and flex until the wheel collapses - at which point you find that the cart is made w/ metric sized axles, and that replacement wheels are essentially unobtainable - the bicycle shop can still sort of fix the wheels at that point, but they won't be "right"....

That said, I think the HF cart is one of the best options out there for moving large amounts of split sized wood over rough ground or up stairs by hand.

Gooserider
 
My wife learned one thing with the new cart you have. Never leave it out in the winter. If it gets water in it and freezez the whole tub will split.
 
I have a hand pull 4 wheel cart from farm and Fleet about 2' x 4' with 1' sides and it holds a decent amount and pulls ok for the 30' or so I have to go with it.
For a larger load I have a 2wheel 15cu ft trailer with built up sides and tow it with the 4 wheeler
 

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I have an old Radio Flyer wagon (pic to come)

This is what my wife uses when I'm not around - it's her wagon from when she was a kid. The neighbors love to see her pulling it around with wood in it.

Myself - I just use a wheelbarrow.
 
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