The Task
Spread six yards of compost on our lawn. Since this was going to be some serious yard work, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to test the new Lifetime Wheelbarrow and Lifetime Yard Cart to see how they stack up against a traditional wheelbarrow.
The Traditional Wheelbarrow
I started off by hauling one load of dirt with a traditional wheelbarrow with one wheel. I filled it full with 35 shovels of dirt. Right away, when I went to pick it up, it started to tip sideways on me and I really had to work to keep it from falling completely over. Once I got it balanced, I could push it pretty easily, but it was a constant struggle to maintain stability. Then came the tipping test. I pushed the wheelbarrow over, but had no control how far over it tipped. So, needless to say, I ended up with a large pile of dirt when I would have rather have had smaller piles.
Watch the Traditional Wheelbarrow clip...
The Lifetime Wheelbarrow
I filled the Lifetime Wheelbarrow with 45 shovels of dirt and I still had room to spare. I was instantly impressed as soon as I picked up the handles. Because the Lifetime Wheelbarrow has two wheels, it's completely stable and I didn't have to battle sideways tipping at all. In fact, I couldn't make it fall even when I purposely tried. Pushing this great Wheelbarrow was a cinch. Lifetime advertises that it's wheelbarrow has a wide wheel-base and lower center of gravity to help with stability and lighten the load for the user. Yep, I'd have to agree with that. Even though my load was bigger than the one with the traditional wheelbarrow, it didn't feel nearly as heavy. And, as an added bonus, if it is hard to get started (like in grass), the stand actually makes a great place to push with your foot for a little extra leverage if needed for the wheelbarrow wheel. Now for the tipping test. Because the center of gravity was lower, I could easily control how much I tipped the wheelbarrow and how much dirt I dumped out! I was able to make multiple mini-piles to evenly spread my dirt. Two thumbs up for Lifetime's ingenious design!
Watch the Wheelbarrow clip...
The Lifetime Yard Cart
First off, the pictures on Lifetime's website are deceiving...this thing is HUGE! Before I actually got the Lifetime Yard Cart, I kind of thought it was just an ordinary wheelbarrow with a clever design that could allow you to use it as a trailer, too. Ummm, no. This isn't really a wheelbarrow at all. But, let's start back at the beginning. I filled the yard cart with 80 shovels of dirt, and it wasn't even level full....that's how big this thing is! It holds over twice the amount of a regular wheelbarrow. Since I don't exactly have a bodybuilder physique, I thought there was no way I would be able to push this big daddy. Wrong! Amazingly, I lifted it up, turned, and pushed it as if it was a grocery cart. In fact, it was actually easier to move than one of those loaded grocery carts with a car on the front of them for kids to sit in. (You moms out there know what I'm talking about.) Now for the tipping test. Ooops, this is where it becomes crystal clear that the Yard Cart is not meant to be a dumping wheelbarrow. I tipped the Yard Cart over with a little effort, but I had absolutely no way to control how much it dumped. It left a huge pile. And, it was impossible to tip it back down. I finally managed by stepping/jumping on the stand, but it took all of my 120 pounds to make that happen. And, then when I did, all of the dirt had shifted to the front of the Yard Cart so it could no longer be set down without tipping back over. The Yard Cart is a unique design in that it allows you to flip the handles and convert it to a trailer that can be pulled by a lawn mower. It is advertised to have a dumping mechanism, but I didn't realize the dumping feature is ONLY available when the Yard Cart is being used as a trailer. The dumping lever CANNOT be used in the "wheelbarrow" mode. So, the Lifetime Yard Cart gets two thumbs down for my wheelbarrow-style tipping test.
Watch the Yard Cart clip...
The Final Results
Ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please. In the Great Wheelbarrow Showdown, the winner (by a landslide) is the Lifetime Wheelbarrow! Hip, hip hooray!
Now, don't get me wrong. The Lifetime Yard Cart is a great product for the right project; in fact, in my next post I'll tell you more about how we ended up devising our own technique to use the Yard Cart to spread our compost. But, it is exactly what its name says it is...a CART, not a wheelbarrow. So, if you are looking for a product that you can easily push and control dumping, hands down, the winner is the Lifetime Wheelbarrow.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, our traditional wheelbarrow will be front-and-center at our garage sale next month!