Garden Cart vs. Little Red Wagon.........

CelticRose

CelticRose

Membership Revoked
After reading this thread ................

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=194770

It got my wheels a spinning.....

Granted living in a suburb (I assume that's what this place is ;) ) We have both assets and drawbacks for various scenarios........

But in the reality of ever rising gas prices, at least we're only a mile or so from two decent markets (though I wish a CVS or Walgrens) were closer and less than 10 miles round trip to a Sams Club / Wal-Mart and the VA outpatient clinic ....

On my bike I can do relatively light shopping for perishables.... But with a cart, I can do more..... We have a sturdy garden cart that we bought at Sears (on sale) and it's easy to handy and has the virture of being such that I could easily walk to the market with it empty and then use it in the market as I shop....... Allowing me to not over buy (Years ago when I only had a bike for transportation I did that more than once and it wasn't a fun ride home ............ ) As well as allowing me to know just how heavy, what I am buying, is......

The little red wagon has its points in that it's maybe more available and uses less storage space and is less costly (most of the time) ......... I suppose in a pinch it or a garden cart could he adapted to be pulled behind a bike........

So, what's your opinion?
 
cleobc

cleobc

Veteran Member
We have a red wagon called a Big Foot we bought 10 years ago and have used it for horse feed and a million other things. It has held up well, but it is fairly shallow. Also have a sturdy garden cart with sides bought at Costco. It holds a lot more. The main thing I notice, living on a steep lot, is the weight of the garden wagon. I have trouble hauling it loaded uphill or in deep gravel. On level ground, it's great.

I have seen a website with American handmade wagons, some with tops, that looked really nice. I'll try to find it again.
 
Freeholder

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
Have you looked into the bike trailers? I got one that's meant for hauling 'freight' (a lot of them are only meant to haul children or camping gear).

For walking to the store and back, I'd use my garden cart, though I think I'm going to rebuild the handle, as it feels like it's in an awkward position for pulling the cart.

Kathleen
 
R

RiJoRi

Inactive
DW found an ancient Radio Flyer wagon in the garbage, and brought it home. Except for the wheels and tongue, it's all wood. I replaced the rotting wood last summer, and stained it. It's gorgeous, as well as good for hauling stuff around.
The drawback of using a bike with it will be the bike-wagon linkage. Maybe I can fix something up this summer....

--Rich
 
P

Para36

Contributing Member
My garden cart is now close to thirty years old and although well worn is still serviceable. I forget how many tires and tubes I replaced. But nothing else in my judgement is close to it for being hand powered, well balanced , a large load capacity and ability to negotiate rough terrain. I accidentally ran over one wheel with my farm tractor years ago so it has a wheel wobble but works fine. It has hauled many loads of firewood, brush, rocks, dirt, water, even a huge snapping turtle that almost dismembered me. The wood panels are close to needing replacing, and it would probably be better to get a new one but I have so many memories tied up in this one I'll probably just fix er up.
Para.
 
C

cryhavoc

Inactive
If you add two long, but even sections of bamboo to the existing alum. rails, it makes it much easier to handle on 'long hauls'. Bamboo is light, but very strong, and is resilient.
Sort of a poor mans 'rickshaw', if you will.

My kids use it as a chariot when playing 'Gladiator'. Go figure.... ;)


cryhavoc
 
Freeholder

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
cryhavoc said:
If you add two long, but even sections of bamboo to the existing alum. rails, it makes it much easier to handle on 'long hauls'. Bamboo is light, but very strong, and is resilient.
Sort of a poor mans 'rickshaw', if you will.

My kids use it as a chariot when playing 'Gladiator'. Go figure.... ;)


cryhavoc
Click to expand...

Thanks -- that's about what I'd planned on doing, though I was going to use EMT tubing. Bamboo is a bit hard to come by here.

Kathleen
 
Walrus Whisperer

Walrus Whisperer

Hope in chains...
I've taken our standard red wagon to the farmers market-the only drawback is the thing makes a terrible racket- the body is metal and those wheels are just solid rubber so every little imperfection in the road/sidewalk cause that horrible racket. I have since found an extremely sturdy version of those standard luggage carts that you see everyone in airports with-All I had seen up till I found the one were cheesy and wouldn't carry much more than a few bunches of light stuff. This one would easily carry a watermelon and more. If I had a nicer garden cart I think it would be good because they usually have better tires and I assume the noise from running on a hard surface would be considerably less. especially if attached to a bike. Have you seen how much those trailors made for a bike are? YIKES!

(sometimes its NOT good to announce where you are and what you're doing)
 
N

Nuthatch

Membership Revoked
Depending on your situation neither is a good choice. With a collapsible shopping cart (I posted links on the other thread) you can more easily maneuver a full cart over obstacles and up stairs without unloading. Plus it is collapsible, allowing for ease of getting it out onto the sidewalk. Apartment dwellers or bus riders might find the shopping cart idea much more conducive to their lifestyle.

Don't forget, dogs can wear packs.
 
CelticRose

CelticRose

Membership Revoked
Two great points, Nuthatch!! We still have my little fold up pull along cart...... great for farmers markets ........ and is it easy to handle for those who have mobility / strength issues.....

We've joked about getting saddle bags (canine type) for our dog....... Saw some really great ones at a website specializing in beach things....... They even had carts that were adpated for use in the sand and even a wee dog cart (IIRC) for using in sandy settings.......
 
ainitfunny

ainitfunny

Saved, to glorify God.
What you need is a SPORT- UTILITY BIKE
Check out all the models this company has:
http://www.xtracycle.com/gallery.php
todds_bike.sized.jpg
 
dreamseeer

dreamseeer

Membership Revoked
MORE PICTURES PLEASE. LET US SEE WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE. :D

The above pic is great. I have never seen a sport utility bike....!!!

I think every individual situation is going to dictate the most effect type of device one might need to satify their needs.

Lots of good info here.....but lets see some more pictures.

Thanks.
 
Freeholder

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
I've made a pack for one of my goats, and plan to make some more (when they get big enough). I'm also going to see if I can convert the garden cart to be pulled by a goat, and build a two-goat cart big enough to carry a couple of adults (for my handicapped daughter and elderly grandmother). We don't have room for a horse, unfortunately.

A pack for the dog is a good idea, and large dogs used to pull carts to the market for their owners, way back when. Even large geese have been trained to pull a small cart! Use your ingenuity.

As for the cost of the bike trailer, I thought about that for quite a while before ordering one, because we don't exactly have a high income here. But I decided that if it came down to it, I wasn't going to regret having something really good quality. We don't live in town, we are twelve miles from the edge of Klamath Falls, and it would be another one to five miles to get where I needed to go once in town (it's pretty spread out). So for me it's not a matter of walking down to the corner grocery store, it would be quite a trip even with the bike and the trailer. And, I figured I might have to haul hay and firewood with it, so sturdiness was definitely a factor.

Kathleen
 
I

intothatgoodnight

. . .
In my distant past, converted below type of cart to be pulled by a mountain bike -- used it to haul bigger loads from the store -- perfect for weights up to 100+ LBS. Tires are large sized pneumatics, and are able to roll through/over pot-holes and other irregular ground obstacles without grabbing wheel or getting stuck in a rut, even with a very heavy load.

Also work well on lawn/field terrain, again, because of large diameter tire/wheel size's ability to roll through/over obstacles that would catch a normal sized wheel.

Have used to haul firewood that was split on-site at the tree fall, back to the wood stack that was over a mile away -- low gears on mountain bike provided a slow, 5-mile/hr crawl that allowed several trips, with ease -- could also be adapted to utilize animal power.

Below pictures are from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/553936
 

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Z

Zen

Membership Revoked
The heavy duty garden cart available at Lowe's, posted by JOHN H is a super bargain, and well made. I purchased one last week and it is really tough, and well engineered. All four sides can be dropped or removed with clevis pins and the hardware is excellent. It took less than a half hour to assemble. It's the perfect size for pulling a large square (rectangular) hay bale through the gates that our Garden Way Cart won't enter. I think they are priced way too low and Lowe's will soon figure that out. I think if you see one, you'd want one. We shopped around all morning, and didn't see anything that would fill our needs and be convenient to use. Lowe's garden cart was "love" at first sight.

Our two wheeled Garden Way cart will carry a larger load but is currently about five times as expensive. The Garden Way or Vermont Made carts are almost alike, a great design for larger loads and both much more expensive than the smaller but handy Lowe's cart.

The Lowe's garden cart is much larger, better built, and much less expensive than the "American Flyer" wagons available at MFA stores.

Peace! Zen
 
dreamseeer

dreamseeer

Membership Revoked
I did a search of Sam's and Costco but didn't find anything....maybe one of you can.

My one concern is the: weight of the cart combined with the weight of the food or parcels......then trying to pull that amount of weight uphill. Whew, I get tired just thinking about it but of course if the need be I'm sure adrenaline would kick in for the job at hand.
 
cin

cin

Inactive
Please remember to wear a helmet. A little boy from my son's school died the other day in a bicycle accident.
 
Karnie

Karnie

Veteran Member
I used to have a little red wagon. It finally rusted out.

I now have a similar garden cart to the yellow one shown above. Mine's green.
On mine, the four sides will fold down so that it can be used as a flatbed. I use this thing for all kinds of stuff!! I haul feed on it, I haul dog crates, I haul firewood, etc. It is by far the best money I've spent in a couple of years. The large inflated tires make it very easy to roll even on very rough ground, and because it's expanded metal there are no drainage issues.

It has a changable tongue so that it can be pulled behind a garden tractor... but I haven't got one of those. :)

While it's not light weight, I can lift it into my pickup truck by myself.... it's just a bit unweildy doing so. It goes camping with me, it goes to the farm, it goes to the garden, it goes when I'm planting trees... I use it for just about everything but washing dishes. :lol:
 
N

Nuthatch

Membership Revoked
Thanks IntoThatGoodNight--I don't know how to post the photos I guess!

For an extra $10 there is a waterproof/nylon liner for the cart pictured and the liner and the car t come in other colors should you desire. Its pretty cool. Holds 125 pounds.
 
dreamseeer

dreamseeer

Membership Revoked
intothatgoodnight said:
Nuthatch,

From your link . . .
Click to expand...

I still like the old grocery shopping cart or laundry cart as some used to call it.

With a little imagination and ingenuity you could adapt a cover for the top, lay it down and still attach it to a dog to pull.
 
O

ofuzzy1

Just Visiting
Costco had John_H's cart for $50, it also fold to about 1/3 the width - the bottom popped up.

I've seen some at Bog/Odd lots for $50, didn't take a very close look at it though. I'd say they are about the same -- be sure to check the load ratings, at 1200# that's a nice big number!
 
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