Designing A Heavy Duty Wheelbarrel

ShawnMac

Hi everyone, new to site, check out my intro.

After talking to a friend of mine who is in the concrete business, he told me that they go through wheelbarrels like crazy. Once they load them up with 'crete they crush under the wieght. He said they have tried everything out there; double wheels, heavy duty, plastic, metal etc.

Well, the company I work for has extensive metal fabrication capacity and I am thinking of designing my own wheelbarrel. It will have rectangular metal tubing in place of the wooden handles, extensive bracing on the legs and two choices of wheels; a standard one ,or solid metal with about 1 inch of solid rubber vulcanized to it (no air).

I am hoping to get your feedback on what types of wheelbarrels have and haven't work for you guys. Are plastic tubs better than metal? two wheel?

any feedback would be appreciated.

BTW, my personal wheelbarrel, (metal with wooden handles) has held up fine for me for the past 5 years, but it has only been used for light duty. The unit I am thinking will not be light duty, but super duty.... it will also be heavy. any thoughts????

thom

I've loaded a lot of wheelbarrows with concrete and never had one crush under the weight.

The biggest failing I've seen is a result of failing to tighten bolts regularly. Things get sloppy and break, but not terribly often.

I've never broken a wooden handle.

Had many flat tires but the new solid tires pretty well fix that.

The newer stamped pans seem to hold up better than the folded ones.

A common failure is from beating the pan with a hammer to get the mud off. If they are washed before it gets to that point they will be fine. This is more an issue with the stucco guys and the masons.

We don't need more weight.

ShawnMac

thanks for your input

Tscarborough

No through tub bolts.

A tighter "point" shape on the nose to facilitate accurate dumping and put more of the weight over or in front of the tire.

Very close tolerance on the nose guard, to avoid stubbing it.

No-air tires are harder to push and damage whatever they are rolling on more than semi-solid or air tires, same with flat profile as opposed to oval profile tires.

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kgphoto

I think the big problem is the flexibility of the frame. Make it ridge, but keep it light. Less nooks and crannies to hold dried mud and more stainless so it doens't rust out between jobs.

ShawnMac

how would you guys like it if the whole wheelbarrel was about 15lbs heavier?

would that be accepatable?

Dustball

I bought a wheelbarrow from Northern Tool a few years ago and it's still as tight as it was the first day. No exposed carriage bolts in the tray, steel box handles, powder coated tray.



Item 110116 at Northern Tool.

ShawnMac

Yeah, like I stated, my own wheelbarrel has held up fine as well....... I am just trying to find out if other people are using (abusing?) and breaking theirs and if there is a need for a more rugged one?

PARA1

I saw one with brakes the other day at ACE hardware . I want one that is self propelled.

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Ahren

There's a local concrete company around here that have wheelbarrows where the pan is shaped so that the front is a pour spout. It's a cool feature that gives you more precision when pouring concrete.

Just a thought.

ShawnMac

thanks

KillerToiletSpider

They make em if you want to spend the four grand that they cost.

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wizendwizard

They have already put this out on the market. Expressly made for pouring into tubes. Heavy duty frame and oversized double wheels. Saw it on Bob Villa'a website.

Vinny

Wheel barrows are a way of life in my trade much the same as a concrete/ mason. They're strength has gotten weaker and weaker over the years while the cost, like any thing else, has gotten higher and higher.

I remember when I started to work for my dad in 85 the wheel barrows had a heavy duty pan that lasted 2 or 3 seasons, shaped channel iron legs and and a cast metal cross brace at the back of the legs for stability. The handles were real hard wood and the rims had a thick wall where the axle passed through and it acted as the bearing riding surface for the axle. It was greasable also.

Now, The pans last 1 season but require welding maintnence to get it to the end of the season, stamped legs and a flimsy half a$$ cross brace. The handles are barely a hard wood and the rims come with a BS bearing that regardles of how often you grease it, lasts about 3 months.

We've come up with several modifications to help them last and make them better for the user. The foam rubber or solid tires are hard to push. But a tube installed in the tire seems to last longer than a tubeless tire. We made a heavy wall bushing from brass and grease the wheel often. The trays are still a problem. The top ends bend and that makes feeding a curber very difficult.

I dont know. Thier close to 100 dollars put together already. What would yours cost? I dont see where 15 lbs would hurt. If it were sturdy enough that would make the use easier on the laborers and may prevent an injury. That may be your marketing strategy.

I think the design and fabrication has gotten so crapy over the years you may have a winner there if its cost effective. like $200.00 +/-

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kgphoto

I would say NO to the 15 pounds depending on where you are starting from. A super spindly could probably handle another 15 lbs, but a current HD, no.

Putty Truck

I want one with a helper permanately attached.

I bought a four wheeled one. I put on solid wheels and racing stripes, but all it does is sit there.

ShawnMac

I thank everyone for their inputs

You have got the wheels turning in my head. especially with regards to the pan... recentering the weight forward, no bolts in pan, a heavier duty pan, and one with a V-shaped nose. All great ideas which sounds like I would have to manufacture a new pan.... which means having a new set of dies made for our stamping machines. This is possible but the size of the dies will be Very expensive... Im talking tens of thousands. Initially, I was hoping to just improve on the frame and utilize existing pans (no need to buy new dies), but on the other hand, I want to build the BEST. As with all of the projects in my industry ballparking prices is almost impossible, but I would expect a price point of around 200-250. it will not be cheap, but you get what you pay for.




**** start rant****

I also agree that the current quality of just about anything manufactured nowadays is junk. Its hard to belive that we are comparing items made in the 80's as being so much better. I remember back then, and the quality was crap compared to what was made before that.

Anyways, the fact that all of the "other guys" are cutting corners to the degree that they are (China) has open the door back up to us smaller guys.
My product will be made in the USA

Tscarborough

We bought a container of these from China last year. Air, solid, square, and oval tire shod plus some 2 wheelers. Much better than the ones we had been buying from Sterling. They were not cheap, mind you, but they are well built and well balanced and are an excellent starting point for a real heavy duty wheelbarow.

http://www.brockwhite.com/images/sto...row%20blue.pdf

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Teetorbilt

Larger, lower pressure tires (2), it's tough to balance a lot of weight on just one point. Move the tires back farther to take vertical strain off of the operator.

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Teetorbilt

Ts, looks good but I consider the CG to be too high. I do like the wheel being placed farther back. Maybe the front brace should be over the wheel instead of in front of it. I'm 6'2" and that front brace is always chewing up yards, braking me and causing stuff to slosh out.

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