Wheelbarrows (AKA garden carts) as a prepper tool

[TWP]

The is a spin-off of another thread which involved wheelbarrows.  The result of a simple web search lead to many hits, a few of which proved to be worthwhile:

1) The Chinese Wheelbarrow:

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/12/the-chinese-wheelbarrow.html

This is a one-wheel design, with the wheel mounted in the center of mass, rather than forward of the center of mass ((such as most european and american designs).

The link has some very good images, from which it is possible to design and build you own model.

2) The Two Wheel Cart.

Also called a "garden" cart.  Various designs are available at almost all hardware and garden supply stores.

Do a search on the name "garden cart" and you will find too many to list.

This is my personal choice and you may have seen me with the cart mounted as a bike trailer.  I used wheels from a wheelchair (free if you know where to look).  The box is wood, with tubular aluminum yoke.  The aluminum is from a set of advertising flag poles (1" diameter and curved) with straight tube for cross bracing.

Advice, avoid carts with pneumatic (air filled) tires, because they do go flat just like bicycle tires.  Replace the tires with solid rubber designs (available at some bike stores and hardware/garden stores.

FREE ADVICE

1)  Beware of carts with legs which can get caught on any brush or rocks on your intended path.  This is a major pita when you need to get "down the road".  Look for (or design your own) legs with smooth curves which glide over bushes, vines and most rocks.

2)  As noted above, avoid pneumatic tires.

3)  Check the center of gravity when the cart is fully loaded.  Unlike a wheelbarrow, you DO NOT want to the load to rest on the handles.   You will exhaust yourself very quickly.

4)  Wheels with wire spokes are not as strong as wheels with solid rims or massive molded plastic spokes.   This is a problem if you use bicycle wheels, because they have small, thin spokes which are prone to breakage and require special tools to adjust for correct tension (yes, you can use a pair of pliers, but you really don't want to have to worry about this).

5)  One advantage of single wheel designs is the width of the path or trail needed for easy travel.  If you plan on traveling on hiking or bicycle trails, the double wheel design is usually just a little too wide.

More information will be added as I find it.