It appears that there are basically 2 types of them (when it comes to tray type) - those with poly tray and those with metal tray. Which one is better (and why)? I know that poly tray should give a lighter product and it won't rust, but is that all?

What other characteristics should we be looking for? Wide wheels? etc ...

Oh, need it for general usage, not excluding short distance transportation of soil, sand, rock and other heavy and rough materials.

Thanks

Hi Lex,

This won't answer any of your questions but....

We bought the $60 polytray (Build it yourself) one from Bunnings - we figured at a 1/4 of the cost of a good one we could go through 4 of them and still come out ahead - we've mixed concrete in it, carried rocks, soil and tools in it etc and it still is going strong - larger uneven loads can make it a little unstable/hard to manouvre so we just don't overload it. We didn't want to go out and buy a good wheelbarrow when it was highly likely that it'd get damaged (plastic could crack, metal get chipped and rust) during this initial crazy time post move-in and starting to landscape.

I have two wheel barrows.

Steel and poly.

Steel is top of the range.

Had it for about 7 years and carried many many tonnes.

Yes slightly rusted as left outside but still going extremely strong.

Poly is good but not in the same league nor price range.

I will be surprised if my steel wheel barrow does not last 20 years.

And its great to use all the time compared to the poly.

Cheeers

Pulpo

Other beauty about a plastic barrow is you can belt it with a hammer if you have to get out concrete you didn't hose out and has set.

Experience-a painful yet effective teaching method.

I too have both but will only ever buy poly from now on.
I have a 15 year old steel tub and wooden handle westmix barra with a wide wheel. This has copped a floggin' and has done well, a new wheel and axle has been needed but the tray is tired and the handles need some work, some TLC

The poly westmix tradies barra has been the best one. It is much lighter and far more durable. Galv steel runners/ handles make it a winner. There is rust on the bolts and spots on the handles from mixing concrete but that is pretty normal. I'll always go for the poly barra before I would grab the steel one.

I'd never choose a barra with narrow tyres, they just make things harder than they have to be.

Wrap the tyres in duct tape so bits of poo don't get stuck in the tread and make a mess.

I think why I like the poly is mostly the weight. When I'm tired and knackered the last thing I want to do is load the barra up onto the racks, the poly one is easy
There's no way a poly tub is going to split in any normal use of a wheel barra.
Ute tray liners are thinner still and they will take anything.

Here in the West I'd only buy a West Mix Barra but over East Kelso would be the pick. WestMix are way better than Kelso

Hi MrsRose ! I think we might have a very similar barrow ATM but ours is almost broken (sort of tilted to side where the tray sits on the frame) so it can't really be used without too much annoyance and only for super light weight stuff. Ours was bought from Mitre 10 (we didn't buy it ourselves) for the same price I think. We may have overloaded it in the past, otherwise it was quite good and light.

Thanks Fu, E and Pulpo . I think the ones Fu is talking about are about $240 (http://www.brickiestoolshed.com.au/products-view.php?id=10), which is the price range we were trying to avoid (for a wheelbarrow) . We saw some metal ones with wide tires for about $90, but hate the thought of the extra weight ....
[ img ]

Our poly wheelbarrows are the best! We used to use the steel ones in the business but they kept getting holes in them from rocks and careless staff then getting rusted out. Poly ones have lasted longer and can take more material. We've used it for sand, stone, grass, cement, everything. I think we lost one to careless staff. Now that we don't have the business, we still use them for general work around the place.

Just get one and say stuff ot. You won't regret it.

Look at it this way, The ones you are looking at are cheap, fortunately they will be cheap next time as well. Then when that needs replacing, they will still be cheap Buy it once and be done with it

I'm still using our 15yr old steel one. It's been a worker and isn't pretty but it's still going strong.

I bought a self assemble polly from Bunnings.

Cheap and cheerful, perfect for the DIY person.

As Fu said buy quality, Poly vs Steel would depend on main use, if for moving materials from A to B buy poly with wide wheel. If you intend to mix mortar/concrete buy steel. We use kelso poly and westmix steel and average 5- 8 years which is pretty good for daily use

Thanks, guys
Yep, all well said. We are leaning towards poly (mainly because it's light and even though our old one didn't quite do well in our hands ), but I can't find any poly ones with wide wheels (and pneumatic). And, the starting prices don't look very friendly If I saw correctly (Bunnings), it's all upwards from $125

That's what you pay for quality!

And, not to mention that they all seem to be too deep and bulky (XL capcacity) - and for that price!!!
Actually, it might be the steel ones at that starting price, poly may be even more expensive

Lex, which one did you end up getting?

We have the self assembled one from Bunnings, $50 I think. It's definitely not designed to carry full load of soil. Looking at the pile of dirt, we need a heavy duty one.

We don't want to spend $200 on a wheelbarrow, but looks like anything of decent quality is in that price range. Now have to decide which one to get.

Is poly tray suitable for primarily transporting soil?

I read somewhere saying avoid bolt through steel tray, I have since noticed all good quality steel trays have welded mounting points, i.e. no holes on the tray.

Poly trays would have 6 holes, should that be of any concern?

Peter, we got a fairly large metal one, with the widest wheel that we could find, something like 10-15cm wide. Strangely, it's been sitting assembled and brand new up until just the other day , since the old crook one has still been doing all the work even though it almost can't stand on its own any more (literally). The new one runs like a rocket (maybe because of the good wide wheel), you can't even feel it, and even though it's got a deep tray and is much larger, it still feels light when loaded! .
I think for our needs a poly one would have been just fine, just at the time it looked as if we needed a really tough one.

Oh yes, we made sure not to buy one which has bolts through the tray. And it looks like this one can last a 100 years

Thanks Lex!

I called up Blacktown building supplies (Mitre 10), the cheapest wheelbarrow with a wide wheel they have now is $299, next one up is $449!!! For that kind of money I would expect a motorised one.

Looks like Bunnings is the go. Just have to decide on poly or steel tray.

I work in construction and all we use now is westmix poly wheelbarrows - lighter, more forgiving etc. Easy to pick up and put in the back of your ute to work on your own garden! Gotta be some perks to running your own business......

$200 or less around perth.

Are poly trays suitable for full load of soil? Will it flux or deform?

99L is pretty much the standard capacity, that's about 0.1 m³, so every cubic meter requires 10 loads (or at less on paper). I have to load 50 times, the thought is scary.