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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] A better wheelbarrow

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] A better wheelbarrow
  • Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:48:46 -0500

On 1/22/2012 9:09 PM, Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:
On 1/22/2012 8:36 PM, Bob Waldrop wrote:
As most of us know, the typical wheelbarrow in use these days
requires the person pushing the wheelbarrow to bear a good portion of
the weight of the load. Our version of the wheelbarrow basically is
like a stretcher, only with a wheel instead of someone up front
carrying the front end.

As it turns out, the Chinese had a much better idea for a
wheelbarrow. It consists of one large central wheel, topped with a
framework, with platforms on either side for the load. The person
pushing the wheelbarrow thus carries none of the weight, he or she is
just pushing and steering. All the weight lays upon the wheel and its
axel. Going forward, we are all going to make a new acquaintance with
manual labor, and I for one am going to try to build one of these for
my work this summer, since I use a wheelbarrow a lot and as I get
older, it’s not getting any easier to maneuver it.

Here is a great article on the subject, complete with pictures and
contemporaneous accounts from days of yore.
www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/12/the-chinese-wheelbarrow.html

Thanks for the great link to Low Tech Magazine, Bob.
I have always liked the "Garden Way" two-wheeled cart though there could
be improvements made to the design such as positioning the wheel axle in
a more central position with regard to the load - I think the axis is
moved forward somewhat to make it easier to dump out a load. I would
suggest having two versions, one designed for dumping and one for
hauling with manual load removal. Combining the two uses detracts from
the energy efficiency and ease of use of the barrow. Designing the
hauling with manual load removal version with a well designed and
fabricated flip front panel (dump front) would be the best of all design
option maybe as you could do incremental load dumping and spreading a
whole lot easier than tipping part of the load out by lifting the barrow
vertically. See the pic of the one-wheeled version the fellow in
balancing on his head. For me a one wheeled version would be less useful
than a two wheeled one.

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