In a post from Friday where I complained that my old cobbled-together wheelbarrow had reached the end of its road, a couple of commenters made some good suggestions. I picked the one for which I had (most of, it turns out) the necessary materials, and forged ahead. It’s getting toward the season where I really need my wheelbarrow.
Step one: Take it all apart
Step two: More-or-less draw an outline of the tub’s bottom on some scrap siding, cut it to size, and drill bolt holes
Step three: Find out the bolts are too short to put it back together that way.
And that’s where we left it on Saturday. But I just got back from my weekly trip to town for drinking water. I’m really broke right now, but could scrape together a couple of bucks for longer carriage bolts. So…
Step four: Profit!
This should get me through at least one more season.
Some fender washers inside the tub and some construction adhesive bonding the wood to the plastic tub would both have been improvements, but you can save those things for your MK II rebuild in a few years.
And some throw pillows!
Looks good. I like what you did with the plywood vs my notion of using sheet metal. The plywood probably stiffens the frame which is a weak spot with those plastic tubs. With a heavy load and uneven terrain you can feel the barrow flex through the handles. You’ll probably see a lot less of that.
After seeing every wheelbarrow on construction sites have the bottom beaten out of it by clowns tossing CMU blocks and concrete into them, that’s the FIRST thing I did to mine. 15+ years, 1 wheel and 2 handles later, the tub has only needed a coat of paint.