four wheel garden utility carts... how useful are they?

[poltroon]

DH has been stalking this cart: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BFC5RZE/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_7?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

It’s a 4 wheel garden utility cart and it claims to have a 1400 lb capacity and a few configurations, and is currently at $200.

We routinely have jobs where we would like to move something heavy with wheels, where the tractor feels some combination of slow and not much cargo capacity for the speed. Moving firewood gathered from the back of the property is one such, a batch of tools, etc but there are other jobs where some sort of wagon would help. My muck cart is available but it’s frustrating how much human power it takes to move it when it is loaded, and it’s not good for larger, flatter items, or individually heavy things that you’d have to lift out of it.

I find that carts that are heavily loaded are often very hard to move especially over ground with any unevenness. Nothing here is paved. My guess is I’d end up needing to hook it to a tractor for heavy loads, right?

Thoughts much appreciated!

[Interstellar]

I have a similar one from Harbor Freight that I got for like $90 delivered to my front door, no sides though. I’ve used it every day for putting two netted west coast bales out for the horses. We’ve stacked four bales (about 100lb each) on it at once but I stick to two when I’m on my own since my knee is still recovering. Also handy for piling everyone’s feed bags on for grain time or putting fencing supplies on to putter around and repair the electric fence. Not really something I would use for big jobs like mucking though. Now that we’re moving to a friends with some STEEP hills I shelled out for a Kawasaki mule and probably won’t be using the cart anymore since I’ve got quite the distance to travel for things around the property.

[Bluey]

We have one similar to this one we bought on sale in our feed store for $76:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BECQBZ0/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01BECQBZ0&pd_rd_w=wuVUg&pf_rd_p=48d372c1-f7e1-4b8b-9d02-4bd86f5158c5&pd_rd_wg=nmL6Y&pf_rd_r=4HGMHH6XB9WE1H7C5SNW&pd_rd_r=2fc40224-6d55-4c0c-817e-edf84e3f3f91&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExVVVHN09aNEYyMjc3JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTQ2MTYzMlVZOEJVUDZHQkk2NyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzk2OTU2MVRDSzFFVzdBWFIwOSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbCZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

We were sure it would fit thru our 36" people door in the barn, as some are too wide.
We used it for a while to carry hay while feeding.
Now is sitting in the barn full of screens and tarps.

Those are very handy extra carts.
A friend has one that the bed is solid plastic and she uses it at times to carry water in it to far off troughs and has used it in a pinch as a water tank.

[stb]

I have one of those that came with my farm. I never use it. What I do use every day is a garden cart - the kind with 2 big bicycle type wheels and a flat bed of about 3 1/2 feet.

[DressageLin]

I have this as my hay cart and I do really like it: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Polar-Tr…E&gclsrc=aw.ds

It’s a little spendy, but it was a splurge that I think/hope will last a long time.

[B_and_B]

I used to drag heavy carts around using muscle power. Definitely get something that hooks to a tractor or can be pulled by hand. That way when you inevitably load the thing to its capacity because you can…, you won’t kill yourself

[Christa_P]

I have one I bought at Tractor Supply for around $130 that fits 2 bales of hay on their side. Useful for small projects and it’s nice I can hook it to a lawn tractor if needed.

I use mine mostly for moving hay around the barn

[Jarpur]

We owned a similar cart, purchased from TSC, for several years before it fell apart. Never did drop the sides, even though that was a feature that had originally attracted us to this style of cart, so we didn’t bother to replace it with the same type.

[Another_Poster]

VERY USEFUL! I have an old old rubbermaid one. I use it daily. For moving feed, buckets, hay, plants, everything. Very handy

[fatappy]

I had one with solid sides and dump function. It hooked onto the back of my riding mower. i used it DAILY for EVERYTHING. Hauling haynets, mucking, moving gravel, moving dead limbs/ brush filling with water when I was dumping buckets… I literally drove the wheels off of it. and then I bought another.

Mine looked like this but came from TSC. Was $199 i think, but do go on sale very now and again.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/wheelbarrows-carts-and-hand-trucks/7226665?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjPTiu5Ph6gIVxtSzCh2KNwpeEAYYCCABEgL7YPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[MoonWitch]

I picked up a red wagon off the side of the road one day that I use all the time! I had spinal fusion a 18mos ago and I use it to haul water buckets to dump or to hay stalls. Also comes in handy for just about any other task that you want to save your back!

[Ponycatraz]

We got this one when TSC had a sale. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/groundwork-1-400-lb-capacity-heavy-duty-steel-utility-cart

We use it all the time. Def get one with a tow handle. We use ours behind the mower all the time to haul poop buckets, hay, or trash. The big tires are a breeze on uneven terrain and hills. I wish I had bought one years ago.

[Jarpur]

@fatappy

I had one with solid sides and dump function. It hooked onto the back of my riding mower. i used it DAILY for EVERYTHING. Hauling haynets, mucking, moving gravel, moving dead limbs/ brush filling with water when I was dumping buckets… I literally drove the wheels off of it. and then I bought another.

Mine looked like this but came from TSC. Was $199 i think, but do go on sale very now and again.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/wheelbarrows-carts-and-hand-trucks/7226665?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjPTiu5Ph6gIVxtSzCh2KNwpeEAYYCCABEgL7YPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

This is the kind of cart which we bought to replace our previous cart – the one that was like the one in the OP’s post. Ours was purchased on sale from TSC.

We use it all the time – couple of hay bales, bags of feed or bedding, fallen branches, everything but manure.

[Cynical25]

I bought a Wire mesh/drop-down side 4-wheel cart (from Northern Tools) to hold my potted garden plants for pulling inside/outside on the occasional freezing Texas night. It’s been great in the barn for moving several hay bales, grain bags, or filling a bunch of water buckets without excess sloshing around in the cart itself. I regularly use it in my garden (drop side is great for opening a bag of compost and letting it fall out along a line while I pull the cart,) and I’ve even used it to move groceries from the car. Only downside is that handles/hooks/random bits tend to get caught in the mesh, generally only when you’re in a hurry and don’t have the patience to finagle it loose. For that same reason, I don’t use it to move tree branches! eta link: https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to…SABEgJPLfD_BwE

I’ve had a solid-side 4-wheel dump cart (also Northern Tools) for years and it is convenient for moving manure or shavings which would fall through the above mesh version, great for gardening/tree-trimming work, and I’ve pulled groceries or tack around in it numerous times.

I also have a Rubbermaid Big Wheel 2-wheel cart which is amazing. I’d be perfectly happy if I only had this and the mesh/drop-side cart.

[S1969]

I have this one and I like it better (used to have a metal one)

https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Carts…Q1WTJKY9JNS268

Plastic sides, convertible handle so you can pull it with a garden tractor, etc.

I think it would be overkill to pull it with my 35HP tractor but I suppose it could be done. I use it a lot for putting out hay and other small-ish jobs. I have a bigger trailer that I can hook to my tractor (would hold 10 bales or so) but I rarely use it.

[4horses]

I have one but don’t like it. It is heavy metal and hard to pull by hand. Better with 2 people - one to push and balance the load from behind, one to pull in front. Mine mostly sits outside by the house and rusts. I find a plastic garden cart is much more useful for moving hay or grain. I have 2 garden carts- 4 wheel and 2 wheel. The 4 wheel garden cart is better, especially if moving grain bags up the steps.

Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Ames-Easy-Roller-Poly-Yard/dp/B0009J796U

[lorilu]

I have a Gorilla cart. It dumps. I love it - can be pulled with hitch or handle. I think solid sides are more useful than mesh or slats. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Gorilla-C…SABEgLH8PD_BwE

[gypsymare]

I have a gorilla cart that has been going for 10 years. The handle finally broke and I got a Groundworks Cart from TSC, made by the same folks but I like it better. The composite handle is beefier and the front wheels have a greater range of travel. I use it for everything! Hay, feed, mucking, weeding. It easily attaches to the lawnmower and is so well balanced for dumping no matter how much weight it in it it is easy to dump. It was in stock at my TSC. It had a misaligned part and they shipped a new one out, along with a new handle that fit on my old cart so now I have 2.

I don’t even own a wheelbarrow anymore and I have no idea why anyone would want one when this is so much easier.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/groundwork-1-400-lb-poly-dump-cart-gw-8?cm_vc=IOPDP2#

[imaginique]

I have a similar cart that I use a lot for various things. What I have found is that, with the placement of the tires under the wagon, if you have a heavy load and make a sharp turn, the wagon turns over. Try that inside the barn with three full 5 gallon buckets of water. Not fun, but we’ve learned to make wide turns. Also, pulling uphill is not easy. The handle is short so the front of the wagon tips up making it harder to pull uphill. If you’ve got flat ground and remember the wide turns it’s ok, but still rather hard to pull with heavy loads. However, I’m an old lady so it might be easier for a big, strong man.

[Ghazzu]

@fatappy

I had one with solid sides and dump function. It hooked onto the back of my riding mower. i used it DAILY for EVERYTHING. Hauling haynets, mucking, moving gravel, moving dead limbs/ brush filling with water when I was dumping buckets… I literally drove the wheels off of it. and then I bought another.

Mine looked like this but came from TSC. Was $199 i think, but do go on sale very now and again.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/wheelbarrows-carts-and-hand-trucks/7226665?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjPTiu5Ph6gIVxtSzCh2KNwpeEAYYCCABEgL7YPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have one of these and like it very much.