The tyres on Walsall’s wheelbarrow are the puncture-proof kind, but they are not the usual hard plastic material. Instead, they feel like some kind of hard rubberised material, and I have to say that it does make the barrow feel better to move over lumpy terrain than a lot of other products. Usage: Catering to gardeners, DIY enthusiasts, and professionals alike, the Excel wheelbarrow stands as an indispensable tool for everyone. A perfect partner for Excel cement mixer range. The thing to think about when it comes to choosing how large a maximum load weight you want, is can you actually lift that much without hurting yourself? I mean, it’s fine to be pushing a fully loaded 90kg wheelbarrow if you’re particularly fit, but not everyone is, and if you’re only going to be filling it half way, you might as well save some money and buy a smaller barrow instead. Metal or plastic wheelbarrow? Wheelbarrows can obviously be used to transport materials over short distances. This can be sand, cement, compost, soil, mulch, gravel, paving stones, and just about anything else as long as the wheelbarrow, and yourself, are strong enough to haul it.

The downside to pneumatic tyres is obvious, and if you’ve ever owned a bicycle, motorcycle, car, etc. you will have dealt with them- punctures. With rubber and plastic tyres, you don’t have to worry about accidentally rolling over a screw, nail, or bit of glass, and then having to break out the puncture kit before you can carry on working: Pneumatic tyre is very comfortable to use until a puncture upsets things The only real thing that was annoying about this wheelbarrow was that the instructions didn’t explain the assembly process properly, and some of the nuts were a bit fiddly to tighten up properly. It wasn’t anything life-ending, just a bit of a pain in the you-know-what. All being said, this is a very good two-wheeled wheelbarrow and definitely worth a look. Pros Then there is the capacity of the wheelbarrow. This is often shown in litres, such as 75 litres, or 85 litres as in the case of the Draper 85L metal barrow. It could also be shown in a maximum weight load in either kilograms or pounds, and is sometimes shown in both litres and maximum weight. The maximum weight advertised isn’t always accurate though, so take it with a pinch of salt. The one in this photo was advertised as being able to hold over 160kg, but when we tested it, we thought different: Wheelbarrow suggests it can handle 160kg but from testing I would strongly disagree!!! Another very minor flaw that, again, is common to this kind of wheelbarrow is that it is very difficult, if not impossible to tip all of the contents of the tub out at once. There will always be a little bit of soil, sand, etc. still in there that you’ll have to help on its way with a shovel or similar. After giving it a lot of thought, I figured that I’d choose something that was big enough to handle medium sized loads, but not so big that it wouldn’t fit in the greenhouse. Then I thought about people whose greenhouses or sheds are already full, and that would mean leaving the wheelbarrow outside, so being weather resistant was another factor.Moving a heavily loaded wheelbarrow from one place to another without it tipping over certainly isn’t easy, and it can be very taxing on your arms and shoulders to keep it upright. So, if you’re not the strongest person out there, or perhaps you have old injuries that make things hard, this 2-wheeled wheelbarrow from Oypla might help. You’re not going to be shifting huge loads of materials or equipment with the Garden Caddy like you can with larger models such as the DJM heavy duty wheelbarrow, but it can manage up to 40kg, which I think is enough for most casual gardeners. The deep tub and high sides are also great for holding long handled tools, like spades and rakes, in place, and you can throw a load of dead leaves or weeds in there too.

When deciding on a wheelbarrow for purely garden use, you have to consider more than just something you can fill up with soil or throw your gloves and tools into. As any experienced gardener knows, there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye – I reviewed this years ago and it still deserves it’s spot as best overall wheelbarrow for gardening. Here’s why: I have a non-gardening, DIY-hating friend who just can’t get his head around my array of tools and equipment and the money I spend on them. He’s into expensive sound systems for his home, so we enjoy ribbing each other over these things. So, in the end, I settled on this Crazy Gadget wheelbarrow. With dimensions of113D x 60W x 53H centimetres, it’s big enough to be practical and useful without being overly large. It can also hold up to 65 litres which, although not as impressive as the 90 litre DJM wheelbarrow, is still pretty good.Best wheelbarrows for seniors: Draper expert garden caddy– lovely and light weight with a large base incase you have a slip! We gave the Walsall Wheelbarrows, 85 litre, galvanised model our vote as the best one out there for builders due to the right combination of maximum possible load, manoeuvrability, and hardiness. Very nicely built product but you require quite a bit of strength to push the tubes together and a mallet to make them fit tightly. Nice big wheel with two positions (which seems a little unnecessary). I would recommend this product.

There are a few ways of looking at size though. Firstly, there are the actual dimensions of the wheelbarrow- height, width, etc. and these are obviously very important when you think about storage space in the garage, getting the barrow in and out of the shed door and through gates, and just generally manoeuvring it around. Trying to deftly move a huge wheelbarrow around a very small and narrow garden isn’t going to be fun, so you might want something smaller like the Crazy gadget model. On the plus side, single-wheeled barrows are very manoeuvrable when compared to versions with more wheels, and as long as you are careful, and don’t’ try to break your fastest lap of the garden with a big pile of material loaded in the barrow, you should be ok. My personal favourite though, is filling it with ice and popping refreshments in there so that it doubles up as a cool box- just perfect for summer gardening as you don’t have to keep running to and from the fridge when you need ‘refreshing’. Let’s not forget a kids wheelbarrow can help you connect with them in the garden too – just like mum and dad they really do thrive! Not only that, they become far more keen to help when they feel responsible and grown up!Another thing to think about with two wheeled wheelbarrows is the width from wheel to wheel. Why is this important? Well, it might not be for some people but if you intend to push the barrow up a ramp, let’s say into a skip or a raised bed, that ramp will have to be wide enough for both wheels. Whenever products are this low-budget you have to expect a few quality issues, and this is no different with this wheelbarrow. For a start, the metal tub does dent easily, so it won’t be looking brand new for very long. Having said that, apart from looking a bit ugly it didn’t seem to affect the usage of the barrow, and I have old barrows that don’t look great but are still used to this day: Again, whether you should buy a plastic or metal wheelbarrow will come down to your own personal needs. For shifting heavy loads, you are better off with a metal model as they tend to be much stronger and more durable than their plastic counterparts, but they are usually more expensive (the good ones anyway). There’s also the issue with rust and corrosion, and although this problem can be contained a bit by getting a galvanised barrow like the one we featured from Walsall Wheelbarrows, it will eventually get scratched off with regular use. If the tray of the wheelbarrow is filled unevenly, it will no doubt wobble and make it harder for you to keep it steady when you lift and move it, and this usually ends up with the whole thing tipping over. Again, taking smaller loads can help, but ensuring that any load is well spread out and balanced is the best thing to do, and if you have to put more weight in one place, have it towards the front.