UK’s best wheelbarrows that are heavy duty and easy to use

I have a non-gardening, DIY-hating friend who just can’t get his head around my array of tools and equipment and the money I spend on them. He’s into expensive sound systems for his home, so we enjoy ribbing each other over these things.

I remember a few years ago when he accompanied me on a shopping trip to find a wheelbarrow that I wanted to use for mixing concrete. I got the usual ‘they all look identical, so why not just pick one?’ from him, and here’s how I answered-

“Well Simon, I want to mix large quantities of cement, and to do this I need a wheelbarrow that has enough depth to hold it. On top of that, it needs to be wide enough so that I can mix the cement with a shovel without banging into the sides every 5 seconds. But that’s not all. The wheelbarrow needs to be low enough off the floor so that I’m not having to lift the powdered concrete up too high to get it in there. Oh, and it has to be strong enough to hold the weight and be durable enough material so as to not get chipped and scratched by the shovel as I mix.”

I then gave him a smug smile, to which he sarcastically replied “wow. Is that all? Anything else?” This time I gave an even slier smile. “Actually, yes. Do you see how those bolts are sticking up quite high from the frame into the tub on that wheelbarrow? Well, that’s going to get really annoying as I’ll be catching the shovel on them all the time.”

Sorry for the long story, but I thought it would be a little more interesting than just telling you what you need to look for if you’re in the market for a wheelbarrow to mix cement in. In my opinion, the wheelbarrow that closely matches what I was after back then is the Draper 85L metal barrow.

Some of the others came close but there were little things that let them down for this specific purpose. For example, the Walsall galvanised wheelbarrow had the dimensions but I wasn’t keen on the puncture-proof wheel as I’ve found that they tend to make the cement move around when you hit a bump in the ground, and some of the others we tested had those annoying bolts standing proud.

This Draper wheelbarrow does also have bolts coming through, but they are round headed and sit in a way as to not be bothersome. The pneumatic tyre does a great job of keeping the barrow steady over uneven surfaces, and the alloy metal tub can take the odd mis-aimed scoop with a shovel. For all these reasons, it’s our top pick for concrete.

Pros

• Good depth and width that makes it easy to mix cement with a shovel
• Can hold up to 85 litres of material
• Round headed bolts don’t protrude and hinder scooping cement out
• Pneumatic tyres do a great job of keeping the contents inside the barrow over bumpy ground

Cons

• Not galvanised and might rust if left uncovered for long periods

Never mixed concrete in a wheelbarrow before? No problem, just watch this following video:

When deciding on a wheelbarrow for purely garden use, you have to consider more than just something you can fill up with soil or throw your gloves and tools into. As any experienced gardener knows, there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye – I reviewed this years ago and it still deserves it’s spot as best overall wheelbarrow for gardening. Here’s why:

For me, the best all-round type of wheelbarrow for home gardeners is a tipping cart, and this one from VonHaus is one of the best you can get for the money, featuring a sturdy alloy frame and a solid polypropylene plastic tub that can hold up to 75 litres. That might not be as much as the 85 litre Draper wheelbarrow or the 90 litre DJM model, but they are quite different designs to this one.

Why do I say a tipping cart is ideal for gardeners? Well, as just mentioned, they tend to still be able to hold a decent amount of material, are usually very strong, and with their four wheels they are more stable than single or two-wheeled barrows. This stability, when paired with the level bottom of a tipper cart, is perfect for moving potted plants, ornaments, and anything else you don’t want bouncing around, across your garden.

The VonHaus in particular is surprisingly heavy duty, and it is claimed it can handle static loads of up to 250kg and has a max tipping load of 180kg. We didn’t test it to its max, but we did put it through its paces and it handled the tasks extremely well, with the pneumatic tyres doing a great job and keeping the heavy loads from feeling too much to pull.

Now you might have noticed I said ‘pull’, and this is the first little niggle I have with most tipper carts. Nearly all of the ones I’ve tried out can only be pulled and not pushed, and although it’s only a small annoyance, it does mean you have to think ahead slightly when moving the cart into position.

Another very minor flaw that, again, is common to this kind of wheelbarrow is that it is very difficult, if not impossible to tip all of the contents of the tub out at once. There will always be a little bit of soil, sand, etc. still in there that you’ll have to help on its way with a shovel or similar.

At the end of the day though, I would still recommend the VonHaus tipping cart to any gardening enthusiasts as they do make most tasks so much easier. The fact that there is very little chance of the cart tipping over and spilling the contents alone is a massive bonus, and I think is worth trading a little manoeuvrability for.

Pros

• Perfect for the varied tasks gardeners have to handle
• Can handle very heavy loads, especially stationary
• No wobbling or tipping thanks to four excellent wheels and tyres
• 75 litre volume is more than enough for most home-based gardening jobs

Cons

• Must be pulled and not pushed which limits manoeuvrability

Fancy trying your hand at building your own garden cart? Well, this clip shows you how:

Moving a heavily loaded wheelbarrow from one place to another without it tipping over certainly isn’t easy, and it can be very taxing on your arms and shoulders to keep it upright. So, if you’re not the strongest person out there, or perhaps you have old injuries that make things hard, this 2-wheeled wheelbarrow from Oypla might help.

With large pneumatic tyres situated on each side, you can focus all your efforts into moving this wheelbarrow forwards or backwards without struggling to keep it balanced, a very helpful thing indeed when the 70 litre tub is filled to the brim.

Now, I have to admit that making sharp turns with this barrow isn’t as easy as with single wheeled models like the Walsall, DJM, Crazy Gadget, and Draper wheelbarrows, but I have to say that Oypla have done a decent job at making this pretty agile.

The build quality of the Oypla two-wheeled barrow is very good for the price, sporting a solid steel alloy frame and thick plastic tub. Which I would compare in quality to be equal to the VonHaus tipper cart we just reviewed. There are good treads on the tyres to help move them over muddy or pebbled ground, and the handles are large with soft grips.

They’ve also done a decent job with making this wheelbarrow easy to tip, something that many two-wheeled models struggle with. I think the ease of tipping is to do with the angle of the tub in relation to the handles, and while this will be perfectly fine for most people, if you are very tall, you might find that the front-end tips forward too much as you lift the handles higher, and this will limit how much you can shift without spillage.

Another thing to think about with two wheeled wheelbarrows is the width from wheel to wheel. Why is this important? Well, it might not be for some people but if you intend to push the barrow up a ramp, let’s say into a skip or a raised bed, that ramp will have to be wide enough for both wheels.

The only real thing that was annoying about this wheelbarrow was that the instructions didn’t explain the assembly process properly, and some of the nuts were a bit fiddly to tighten up properly. It wasn’t anything life-ending, just a bit of a pain in the you-know-what. All being said, this is a very good two-wheeled wheelbarrow and definitely worth a look.

Pros

• Two wheels are better for stability
• Less strain on the arms and shoulders
• Easy to tip for a two-wheeled barrow
• Very solidly built with alloy steel frame, polypropylene tub, and large handles

Cons

• Not as agile as single-wheeled barrows

If you’re getting on in years, or you’re buying for someone who is, then you probably don’t want a large, metal, wheelbarrow that is already pretty heavy before anything has been put in it. Nor is a traditional wheelbarrow ideal as it does entail lifting handles from a low position and there is a risk of straining your back or hurting your shoulders.

I know it’s a hard thing to accept, especially if you have been active for most of your life, but we all need to make things easier for ourselves as we get older, and the Draper Expert Garden Caddy is an ideal product for reducing some of the strain that comes with gardening.

The Garden Caddy sort of resembles a wheelie bin in a way, and is even easier to tip back on the two plastic wheels, found on the bottom rear. Once the caddy is on these wheels, it really is easy to push or pull it around in any direction. I really like the modern but practical design:

Now, I have to be clear, the wheels are quite small and if you try to move this wheelbarrow over soft, bumpy ground, you will have to use a lot more effort. On flat surfaces, even softer ones like lawns, there is absolutely no problem and it’s a piece of cake to manoeuvre. I would have preferred some larger pneumatic tyres like the ones found on the VonHaus tipper cart, but on the plus side, you don’t have to worry about flat tyres.

You’re not going to be shifting huge loads of materials or equipment with the Garden Caddy like you can with larger models such as the DJM heavy duty wheelbarrow, but it can manage up to 40kg, which I think is enough for most casual gardeners. The deep tub and high sides are also great for holding long handled tools, like spades and rakes, in place, and you can throw a load of dead leaves or weeds in there too.

I recently saw a comment from a customer that mirrored my own thoughts about how this product could be improved, and that was with some kind of drainage plug. I understand that for moving compost and similar you need a solid bottom, but that also means rain water can build up in there, and the high sides make it harder to tip it out without laying it down on its side. Some way to remove that water easily would be a nice addition in the future.

Pros

• Lightweight and easy to tip onto the wheels
• No low handles to reach for and will prevent strains from bending over
• Puncture-proof tyres
• High sides make it perfect for storing long handled tools

Cons

• No easy way to drain out rain water

Here’s the Garden Caddy in it’s all glory. As you can see, it has a modern but practical design

We gave the Walsall Wheelbarrows, 85 litre, galvanised model our vote as the best one out there for builders due to the right combination of maximum possible load, manoeuvrability, and hardiness.

First though, let me be clear about what we mean by ‘builders’ wheelbarrow’. What we are referring to is a wheelbarrow for home use that might get a bit more heavy-duty work thrown at it than from the average gardener, not something to be used on large scale construction sites. So, if you do a lot of DIY projects, or larger landscaping work in your garden, this could be a good choice.

This wheelbarrow’s alloy steel frame and tub make it hardier than plastic wheelbarrows such as the Oypla two wheeled model and Von Haus’s cart, but that doesn’t make it indestructible. We noticed that after some particularly gruelling test days we put it through, it did have a few dents here and there.

Don’t let this put you off though, and it is to be expected when you’re dealing with bricks, paving stones, and the like. Have you seen what wheelbarrows look like on site? They aren’t exactly pin-up material; I can tell you that.

Rust and corrosion are always problems with metal tools, and when they are large ones like wheelbarrows that might have to be left outside, that problem becomes more likely. Walsall are trying to tackle this by giving this wheelbarrow a galvanised coating, and it has been very well done, I just wonder how long it will last on the inside if you’re going to be throwing hard objects in the tub on a regular basis?

The tyres on Walsall’s wheelbarrow are the puncture-proof kind, but they are not the usual hard plastic material. Instead, they feel like some kind of hard rubberised material, and I have to say that it does make the barrow feel better to move over lumpy terrain than a lot of other products.

I still have to say that it can’t compete with the pneumatic tyres found on Draper and DJM wheelbarrows, but they are better than expected, and would deal with rolling over screws, nails, and other sharp objects without issue. That’s something you can’t always say about pneumatic tyres, and have you ever got a flat on a fully loaded 80+ litre wheelbarrow? It’s not fun!

Pros

• Rubberised wheels are better for uneven ground than many other puncture-proof types
• Galvanised tub will help to fight off rust
• Can handle heavy loads and harder materials like bricks and paving stones
• Wheels can’t be punctured by nails and other sharp objects

Cons

• Tub did show dents after some heavy use

Here’s a clip of someone unboxing and giving their opinion on this very wheelbarrow. Enjoy:

Choosing a wheelbarrow that I would recommend for allotments wasn’t an easy task. You see, there are just so many variables that come into it. Different people grow different things, and perform different tasks on their allotments, so choosing a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model was pretty much impossible.

After giving it a lot of thought, I figured that I’d choose something that was big enough to handle medium sized loads, but not so big that it wouldn’t fit in the greenhouse. Then I thought about people whose greenhouses or sheds are already full, and that would mean leaving the wheelbarrow outside, so being weather resistant was another factor.

The next thing that sprang to mind, was that if you’re leaving the wheelbarrow outside, there’s a very good chance that some sticky-fingered little toe-rag will have it away, especially if it looks like it’s worth selling on.

So, in the end, I settled on this Crazy Gadget wheelbarrow. With dimensions of113D x 60W x 53H centimetres, it’s big enough to be practical and useful without being overly large. It can also hold up to 65 litres which, although not as impressive as the 90 litre DJM wheelbarrow, is still pretty good.

As for weather resistance, it has a galvanised coating to slow down problems with rust, just like Walsal’s 85 litre wheelbarrow. And as for the problem with someone nicking it- it’s very inexpensive, so you won’t be left broken hearted if someone has away with it in the night.

Whenever products are this low-budget you have to expect a few quality issues, and this is no different with this wheelbarrow. For a start, the metal tub does dent easily, so it won’t be looking brand new for very long. Having said that, apart from looking a bit ugly it didn’t seem to affect the usage of the barrow, and I have old barrows that don’t look great but are still used to this day:

There were also some issues with bolts and holes lining up, but with a bit of help we got it assembled in the end. On the plus side, the pneumatic tyres are really good quality for the price, and I think that those, and the other pros we mentioned, outweigh the cons.

Pros

• Big enough to be useful but should fit in the shed or greenhouse without too much bother
• Galvanised coating to help fight off weather damage
• affordable to most people
• very good pneumatic tyres for the price

Cons

• Tub showed signs of denting with heavier loads

A great option for people looking for an affordable wheelbarrow to use in their garden, but that can handle the odd heavy-duty task, is this one from DJM. Sporting a sturdy steel frame and metal tub, it is both durable and able to handle heavier loads.

If you want to shift a lot of mulch, compost, soil, etc. it’s89 x 61 x 37.4 cm dimensions allow you to load up to 90 litres of material in there, and a claimed weight of up to 180kg. I say ‘claimed’ because during our tests we loaded this wheelbarrow up with a load of bricks, which I would estimate to have weighed around 100kg, and although the barrow did handle it, I didn’t think it would take another 80kg on top of that.

Still, like I say, it did handle a heavy load well. What’s more, is that even with around 100kg stacked inside, it still remained very agile and easy to move around, even sharp turns were possible. I’d probably say that it handled the best out of all the single-wheeled barrows we tested, particularly under substantial weight.

However, there are some things that I didn’t like. For starters, although it turns nicely, I did feel like my back and arms were taking more of the weight than they should have been, and I think it had something to do with the position of the front wheel, as it seemed to be a positioned a little further forward than on some of the others we tested.

The shorter handles might also have had a part to play in that too. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t terrible, it’s just that after playing around with the Oypla that had really large handles, these seemed a bit small in comparison.

The biggest drawback, in my opinion, is the assembly process was a bit of a pain. There aren’t actually that many parts to put together, but getting things lined up properly and getting all the bolts and nuts tightened up was harder than with products like the Draper metal barrow.

Once you’ve got through that though, you are left with a solid feeling wheelbarrow that I felt confident loading up with all sorts. It’s not something I’d use for extremely large loads on site, but out of all the wheelbarrows we tested, I felt most comfortable calling this one ‘heavy-duty’.

Pros

• Can handle larger loads and still be easy to move
• Easy to turn in tight areas
• Very sturdy steel frame and metal tub
• Can hold an impressive 90 litres

Cons

• Getting things lined up during assembly was annoying and needed two people