permaculture

["John D'hondt" <dhondt@eircom.net>]

For me a one wheeled version would be less useful
> than a two wheeled one.

You are of course right Lawrence, You are the only one to know what system 
is most useful for you.
Years ago we got the loan of a two wheeled barrow and it proved completely 
useless on our uneven ground. Unless you have hard and even pathways of at 
least the width between the two wheels it becomes impossible to move it with 
just one person. With a one wheel we can even maneuver between the trees in 
the woods.
Where we can use a two wheel system we tend to use a horse drawn cart on 
which we can move about half a ton (500 kg) at a time.
The Chinese "one wheel" barrow was developed because of deterioration of the 
road system due to social upheaval and the fact that it is much easier to 
maintain a narrow track than a wide road. In fact the wheels were recycled 
from two wheeled carts when these became hard to keep going.
The rule is that the more wheels there are on a cart the more space you need 
for turning and maneuvering. The disadvantage of fewer wheels is that you 
generally have to use more power to keep the thing in balance and lift more 
of the weight.
The Chinese barrow seems like an ideal compromise between these two.
john