The Best Wheel Barrow for Yards and Gardens [2018]

After spending 8 hours on research, speaking with our colleague and family, and a thorough examination of the product. We believe that WG050 WORX 8-in-1 Aerocart Wheelbarrow Garden Yard Cart is the best among all we have reviewed. We love its 8-in-1 purpose which includes a wheelbarrow, dolly and carrier. Beside that the wheelbarrow is equipped with non-pneumatic tires which is well-suited for both indoors and outdoors use [Read more].

Wheelbarrow, whether be at it at home, in a skilled or professional environment, provides humongous benefits. It can make work faster and easier allowing you to focus on other parts of the activity or job.

But, although it has been around for ages, selecting the best wheelbarrow for is necessary to get hold of a product that can really work for you. The market is graced with so many wheelbarrows that choosing what to get can be a tiring work.

Hence, we want to help you by coming up with a review and examination of the best wheelbarrow you can have. We originally looked into several of them. Then we bring it down to five, which was closely examined based on a few criteria.

Ultimate Buyer's Guide

History will tell us that a wheelbarrow is a carrier for heavy and light loads used in agriculture, construction and now in homes. It is said that the equipment was first used in China moving west. But, some records show that Romans and Greeks have used wheelbarrows.

The traditional wheelbarrows are designed with single wheel followed by a tray and then the handle. The tray is where the load is placed and the handle is used to push it.

Wheelbarrows still have the same use. But it has evolved in feature and characteristics that adapt to our activities.

1. Tray Material and Capacity

The tray is evidently where the load is placed. It can be made from steel or plastic. Steel trays are oftentimes useful for a heavy load. But it is susceptible to corrosion. It is also quite heavy.

Plastic trays are more lightweight than the steel ones. But, it may not be durable enough when loaded with heavy items.

Depending on your activities, it will be helpful to examine the weight capacity of the tray. It may be in pounds or cubic feet. Knowing the load capacity will help you determine what materials can be loaded in.

2. Tires

The wheelbarrow we’ve known only has one wheel. But, the equipment has evolved and manufacturers are creating wheelbarrows with as many as four wheels.

One-wheeled wheelbarrow gives you greater maneuverability than the two-wheeled or four-wheeled ones. That is, wheelbarrows with a single tire are easy to steer. However, the advantage of double or quadruple wheels is more balanced and stable, especially with heavier loads.

Tire material and engineering is another factor you might need to consider. Basically, there is the pneumatic and non-pneumatic. With pneumatic tires, think of a bike tire where there is an inner tube to give the equipment more shock absorbability.

The non-pneumatic tires are the flat rubber tires. These may not be as shock absorbent but may require less maintenance.​

3. ​Type

We narrowed down the wheelbarrow categorization type into electric and non-electric (or motorized and non-motorized). For those interested, this type of wheelbarrow is powered with a motor giving you more convenience and speed. It can carry heavier loads and transport it fast.

Non-electric wheelbarrows are the traditional ones. It is powered mainly by your effort. It may not be as fast. But, many non-electric wheelbarrows can carry heavy loads. Also, Some might find electric wheelbarrow essential for home use due to the complexity and sometimes price.

Ultimately, the choice of wheelbarrow will depend on what you need and prefer. You also need to consider personal concerns such as your activities that require wheelbarrows.

How We Assessed and Evaluated These Wheelbarrows

Combing for the top best wheelbarrow in a pool of thousands of wheelbarrows will require time and effort. Thus, we’re out to help you sift through from the numerous products in the market.

Our basic process is to search for the product background before actually looking for specific products. It helps us understand what to look for taking into consideration that there are many of them.

Initially, we have at most 15 wheelbarrows, which we’ve gathered online and through our family and friends. We looked for what is considered as their best and then examining the features and benefits of the product.

We used our criteria based on the product background research to narrow our choices. We then examined and review from the other. This is where it has been quite difficult for us their specs, features and how these can benefit the users. Since we are looking for our best five, we also compared and contrasted one wheelbarrows some have similar features.

Our Top Picks

The Marathon Dual-Wheel Residential Yard Rover Wheelbarrow and Yard Cart resembles the traditional wheelbarrow. But, it has two front pneumatic tires that provide balance and minimal effort when pushed or pulled.

We’ve understood that a double tire wheelbarrow is a little hard to maneuver than the single-tired ones. Thus, Marathon (the brand maker) designed the equipment with a loop handle to help with this issue. This looped or unseparated handle allows you to move the wheelbarrow easier since you can steer in various positions.​

As to the tray, it is made from poly or plastic material with 300 lbs weight capacity. The load capacity is quite impressive. It can not only be ideal for small scale activities or home use, but also with larger lifting activities.

It may be easier to maintain this equipment taking into account that it is poly. Thus, it is not prone to rust that cause tray deterioration.

What you have to be mindful of is the vulnerability of the plastic material to heavy loads since the tray seems a little thin. We found that the poly tray may crack from too much weight.

However, we consider the wheelbarrow a lightweight (true to the feature of plastic trays). It weighs 29 lbs, which we find lighter. But, depending on your personal capacity, you should consider the fitted weight for you.

The installation process is also simpler compared to other products on review. You might only need the basic wrench and screwdrivers. But, be cautious of misalignment or deformation as reported by some.​

The 24 Volt Power Assist Wheelbarrow (PAW) is one of the electric or motorized wheelbarrows available in the market.

The feature that caught our attention from among the electric wheelbarrows is the simple design and approach of the equipment.

This equipment is powered by a 24 volts rechargeable battery. Charging time (full charge) of the battery can take up as little as half an hour or as long as 12 hours depending on the usage. You will be notified that it is charged when the light indicator turns green.

You can also find a monitor on the handles, which will indicate whether the battery is full, in half or empty. This monitor also serves as the central control for speed and movement.

We find it convenient that you can propel the equipment forward and backward with a button click. Thus, lifting jobs can become more convenient and fast for you. The monitor also includes a speed lever for you to control the speed of the equipment. You can choose to go slow or faster depending on you and your tasks.

It has the regular design poly tray. However, the construction looks relatively firmer and heavy-duty. It is also a bit bigger with 6 cubic feet capacity. The tray’s load or weight capacity though is slightly disappointing as it only accommodates up to 200 lbs. This is the lightest from among the equipment on review.

The concern with the product is that those tires are somewhat weak. Pneumatic tires, like the two installed in this wheelbarrow, is prone to deflation. But, with this product, the tires require constant air filling.​

The WG050 WORX 8-in-1 Aerocart Wheelbarrow Garden Yard Cart “revolutionized” wheelbarrows in a fashion that cannot only be used as the traditional wheelbarrows. Its name will tell that it can provide 8 functions in one product.

You can make use of the equipment as a dolly, extended dolly, bag holder, plant or stone mover, yard cart and cylinder carrier on top of being a wheelbarrow. These uses are largely common in households. Thus, it can be a good equipment to help you with several household tasks.

The 8-in-1 all purpose feature is complemented with the flat tire or non-pneumatic tires, which can work both indoor and outdoors. You can, therefore, perform many tasks that will require being done inside and outside the house, which maximizes the use of the product.

As a regular equipment, this wheelbarrow can carry up to 300 lbs. This weight capacity can be enough for most of the lifting work. But, you must note that for other purposes, it can carry up to 40 lbs or 80 lbs depending on the setting. As cylinder carrier and dolly, it can carry up to 80 lbs weight and 40 lbs as a bag carrier.

Another feature that we find useful with this product is how the tires are positioned. The traditional or common wheelbarrows have a tire in front or ahead of the tray or load. With this wheelbarrow, the wheels are located under the tray. It allows you to push or pull the equipment with less effort. Thus, it can make carrying less hard and energy consuming.​

From among the many single wheeled wheelbarrows, we deemed this stands from the rest with its simple, but powerful features.

Union Tools installed a knobby kind of wheel for the wheelbarrow that when looked closely it has an irregular shape with protrusions. This kind of tire is used for outdoor activities, which gives speed, better traction and can run through dirt roads. Thus, this product can perform well even on rough surfaces with ease and speed.

Also, instead of a plastic tray, it has a steel tray with seamless edges. Its seamless edge allows you to dump contents easily as it does not get caught along the sides of it. But, despite the steel material, you may still enjoy a lighter feel.

With the steel material, the wheelbarrow can work with heavy and hard loads such as bricks and other heavy metal tools among many others. However, you need to exert effort in caring for the steel tray since it can be prone to corrosive elements.

Its 6 cubic feet capacity can be considered a meritorious feature. This is quite bigger than some of the wheelbarrows on review considering that it only has one wheel. However, since it can carry this load, it will be quite difficult to balance the equipment (as a common issue with single-wheeled wheelbarrow).

On the sides of the tray and extending outwards is a handle that seal coated hardwood. It gives the traditional wheelbarrow vibe, but the seal coating ensures that the wood does not easily break.​

The YARDMAX YD4103 Power Wheel Barrow is among the most evolved looking wheelbarrow on our review. The tray looks more like a dump truck than a wheelbarrow on top of its motorized or electric power operation.

It runs on a Briggs & Stratton small engines, which is known for its heavy-duty performance. This product can give you more power in performing the lifting and moving job. Also, this engine gives multiple speed options. You can choose from three speeds and a reverse movement. Therefore, it can adapt to the kind of activity you are doing.

The electric wheelbarrow also has four powerful wheels. This number is sufficient to give stability and work on the hard ground. You may expect that this product is heavy duty to work on different types of ground surfaces.

Additionally, the tray can carry a weight of up to 660 lbs. The weight capacity of this wheelbarrow is the heaviest from among the wheelbarrows on review. What we like from this product is that the load it can carry is correlative to the engine power. That is since it has a powerful engine it gives you more a heavier load capacity.

Since it carries heavy loads, Yardmax includes an easy-to-dump mechanism. The load can be dumped with a single release. It can make moving and lift painless for you.

This product, however, will require you to understand how it actually works compared to other wheelbarrows on review otherwise it can be difficult to manage. Also, this is quite pricey in contrast to the other wheelbarrows in the review.​

Our Recommendations:

Editor's Pick: WG050 WORX 8-in-1 Aerocart Wheelbarrow Garden Yard Cart

From our research, review and examination, the WG050 WORX 8-in-1 Aerocart Wheelbarrow Garden Yard Cart got the Editor’s Choice. For home and professional use, this wheelbarrow can provide increased productivity and convenience as it can be transformed in various modes or settings.

As a wheelbarrow, it can carry a weight of up to 300 lbs, which can be enough to lift several items from dirt, stones, tools and other household items.

It’s wheel design also a modern improvement that we believe is quite useful as it lessens the force you need to exert. We also deem that the non-pneumatic tires give the wheelbarrow more versatility because it can be used inside or outside.

The flexible usage is also a feature that we admire from the product since it offers various uses for you. However, you must be mindful of the weight of each item you load on different modes because the equipment’s capacity then varies.

Runners Up: 24 Volt Power Assist Wheelbarrow & Union Tools Union Wheelbarrows

First runner-up

The Editor’s Choice is followed by the electric 24 Volt Power Assist Wheelbarrow. We choose to have this product as the first runner-up because of the uncomplicated, but capable wheelbarrow.

This product has a simple monitoring system that also allows you to have more control over the equipment as to the speed and movement of the product.

Since only has a load capacity of 200 lbs and the wheels are a little weak, you have to use the equipment with care.

Second runner-up

Our second runner-up in this review is the Union Tools Union Wheelbarrows. With its 6 cubic feet capacity, knobby tires and the seamless steel tray, we consider this product a valuable wheelbarrow.

It has a tire that allows you to work on challenging surfaces. The steel tray is big enough to carry heavy and large items. Also, this tray has seamless edge for easy dumping.