12 Wheelbarrow Tips on Safety, Handling and Purchase
What does a wheelbarrow do for you?
The question might seem simple, but it has dozens of different answers from different kind of users. Whichever kind of user you are, you can still unleash more and more from your wheelbarrow.
Why do we say that? Well, in case you’re not careful enough in purchasing, using and maintaining your barrow, it might lose its potential of being the best gardening tool for you. And in these tips, we will take care of this very concern.
Join with us and explore the 12 wheelbarrow tips on the safety, functioning, and buying of it. Once you’re done, you’ll look at that gardening tool of yours in a whole new viewpoint.
Let’s start-
Wheelbarrow Safety Tips
Tip 1 of 4 Don’t Let the Wheels Getting Stuck
The #1 tip of the list is regarding the safety of the wheels. As they are made of metal bearing balls, there comes the essence of lubrication. For avoiding a jammed wheel, or a mislead run, lubricate the wheels on a bi-weekly basis.
Which lubes are best for your barrow? – you may ask. Well, we would advise avoiding oils, as they dry up soon. Instead, you might go for automobile standard grease instead.
Tip 2 of 4: Avoid Larfe-in-size Loads
Don’t ever carry loads as large as planks or large logs over a wheelbarrow. This would definitely cross the weight limit of the cart and cause a severe breakdown of the wheels.
As long as typical barrows are concerned, they are not able to hold such heavy and large-in-size loads. If you have to carry them anyway, use log carrier or mini trucks for those purposes.
Tip 3 of 4: Stay Way Less Than The Limit on Sloppy Terrains
Handling a wheelbarrow on plain garden or lawn is one thing, and handling it onto a sloppy terrain or hilly track is a completely different thing. In the second case, you’ve to be more concerned about its safety in use.
When you’re driving a barrow on a sloppy ground, stay within 2/3rd of the weight limit of it. In case you maximize it with loads, you’re in an acute danger zone of slipping it off.
Tip 4 of 4: Don’t Forget The PPE
PPE stands for Personal Protective Equipment. In case you’re a hobbyist gardener, this might not be compulsory for you. But if you use a wheelbarrow to haul hard objects, don’t forget to put on the PPE.
In this case, the list includes heavy duty hand gloves, cover-all clothing, safety goggles, safety work boots, etc.
Wheelbarrow Handling Tips
Tip 1 of 4: Keep The Speed Under Control
A full-on loaded wheelbarrow weighs more than a few hundred pounds. But all of the loads are on those two or three wheels. And through the lawn or garden, it’s going to be a bumpy ride for sure.
So, it’s wise to go slow with the loaded barrow. Otherwise, it might get out of control at any moment.
Tip 2 of 4: Hold The Grip Tight
The next tip is- hold the handles tight, no matter how wet your hands are and how heavy the barrow is.
This is something that brands are getting more focused on nowadays, and that’s the comfort in handling. Some of the best value wheelbarrows have soft and finger-friendly grip onto the handle, which is quite easy to handle.
Tip 3 of 4: Hold It At The Right Posture
Had you ever heard that handling a wheelbarrow at a wrong posture might give the user severe back pain? At least, users who spend quite some time with their barrows, are in the risk zone for sure.
Therefore, don’t be as foolish as those kinds of users, and learn the correct posture to handle a wheelbarrow. Here are some tips-
- Maintain an erect and straight back.
- Stand between the handles when you’re lifting weights onto the barrow.
- Plant your feet solidly on the ground when you’re lifting weights onto it.
Tip 4 of 4: Store It In A Safe Place
Done with working with the barrows? Now, find a secure place to store it anyway.
You might think of putting it anywhere in the garage. But hey, isn’t it too unsafe for both you and your barrow? At least, make sure that the place you’ve stored the barrow into, is out of the way of aisles and stairways. Also, make sure that it is not with any emergency equipment as well.
Wheelbarrow Buying Tips
Tip 1 of 4: Calculate The Capacity Demand
It’s a gardening 101 that you should pick up the wheelbarrow as per your demand of how much you want to carry on it. If it’s irregular hobbyist gardening, you might go for a few hundred pounds.
But if you’re a lawn caregiver or a professional construction worker, you should go for as spacious as 1000+ pounds.
Tip 2 of 4: 1, 2, 3 or 4- How Many Wheels Do You Need?
The next aspect of the list is- how many wheels do you require in your barrow? Well, this answer often depends on what sort of surface you’re going to use it on.
Compact barrows that come with one wheel, are good for small, plain types of lawns. But if you’re on a sloppy area where it’s a rocky surface, you might go for 2 or 3 wheeler. In case of more workloads on similar types of surfaces, a 4 wheeler barrow is preferred.
Tip 3 of 4: Don’t Forget The Dumping Needs
In case you are a gardener or lawn caregiver, you are a potential wheelbarrow user for dumping purposes. If so, there are a couple of important factors to consider-
For dumping it with ease, it has to be a good exit mechanism for the dirt and loads inside. So, ensure that you have enough room for dumping or unloading the items safely.
The second point is, having a strong front wheel. While dumping, most of the weights will be on the front wheels. So, having a strong set of wheels at the front is super important.
Tip 4 of 4: Don’t Forget The Comfort
We’ve talked about it before in this post. And that is- making sure that your wheelbarrow is comfortable enough to handle. While working, you will be with wet palms. Sometimes it may rain as well.
In those situations, you can hardly think of a wheelbarrow without a soft and shooting grip on the handle. In case you don’t get one like that, you might end up in a few scratches onto your palm. Even the safety goggles hardly help in here.
Bottom Line
So, that’s the wrap-up, guys. In fact, we could list 10 more tips into each of the three categories above. But we did not want to make this article hard to digest for every kind of users. Therefore, consider it as a beginner’s guide on wheelbarrow tips for handling, safety, and purchasing newly.
Let us know which one of these tips seem to be your favorite!
