porch paint made for high traffic areas lol.

Store the cart out of the weather and the plywood should last a long, long time.

I think it's called "cop-or-tox" any paint store can sell you a persevative for the wood

Thanks!

This garden cart sure is useful. I took it into my woods yesterday and hauled some wood. It balances perfectly and easy to roll even with a load. It's far superior to the wheelbarrow I've been using.

When I went out yesterday one tire was flat and wouldn't hold air. I took out the leaky inner tube and replaced it with one from a ten-speed bike. Not the same size but it seemed to work okay.

I think that maybe I'll put a piece of sheet metal in the bed of the box to protect the rather thin plywood. Screw or bolt it down. This cart is so handy that I should have gotton one years ago.

For us big Oxes that are too lazy to pull or push, we have a machine to do that. Now if we could just figure out how to get out of loading it???????????????????????Yea, Have a friend do it.
As for the tube, don't matter as long as it holes air and you can get in on the rim.

I have a 30 year old cart that is very similar. It is from Garden Way and is one of the most useful tools I have ever bought.

After all these years, it is finally beginning to fall apart and cannot be rebuilt too easily again. I have replaced all the plywood once over the years but now the wheels are beginning to rust and some of the hardware is beginning to wear out where it hits the ground.

Probably cheaper to buy a new one than to buy all the plywood and "T" nuts etc. I am going to look closely at the Harbor Freight cart next time.

I have wheelbarrows too but when I have to haul large, heavy, or awkward loads, I always head for the cart.

I think lacquer finish is pretty good. I think that is the same thing that is used on boats. It is very durable and about as weather resistant as you can get unless you do a creosote or tar covering. Make sure you get the surface but the ends are much more important. If the plywood fails, get an exterior grade product to replace it. The glues are different for the exterior grade. Traffic signs are made from those type of sheet goods.

Hi folks,
Sorry to bust in on another post, but does the Harbor freight cart weigh less than 70 pounds? I want to order one myself, but have a 70 pound restriction.

Thanks, Dave

Does anyone who posted in this thread have any reservations about buying more and more products from China and the effect this has on our stability and industrial base as a nation in the US?

Ever look at the bottom of the Matchbox and Hotwheels you played with when you were a kid??? Gotta appreciate your patriotism, but me ordering/not ordering this garden cart is not the problem or the cure. Tell me that you don't stay in motels or shop at 7-Eleven or anywhere else that pays it's employees minimum wage. Same thing here in Germany and any other prosperous country. The laziness of the natives is a little of the downfall, but the big unions are the root.
If you buy something that says "made in china", you can pretty much be sure that it is made in china. Buy a BMW, Mercedes, American Car, Stihl, Husqy,etc. You play the lottery on where that thing is made.

Luckily I saw a reference to the finish I was thinking about, it is not lacquer but polyurethane. Obviously I do not work with finishes very often ;).

As for the loss of manufacturing/industrial jobs, you know I have an opinion barbedwire. You may have already read about one family's efforts to do live without "MIC", but just in case here is the article. Unfortunately our average income and GDP make these type of jobs unprofitable. Heck they would pay only a little more than food harvesting and I don't know any of my neighbors that do that for a living. Every place I have lived or traveled through where the economic base is manufacturing is on a downturn because the economics don't work. I wish it were different but it is what it is. The key will be how our government helps manage the change. Not only in our economy but also our relationship with the other economies.

yakimadan,

70 lbs? It came in 2 large boxes, but my guess that together they were under 70 lbs. I'd call Harbor Freight to make sure.

I cut some 3/4" pine boards to length yesterday and am lining the bed of this garden cart to protect the rather thin plywood bottom and give it more strength. Then coat the wooden parts with polyurethane or paint.

BTW, I see what appears to the EXACT same "Made in China" garden cart advertised online for $139.00 while the current Harbor Freight sale price is $90.00. Sure is nice for big loads of needles and pine mulch!

Thank You! I ordered it, if it's close on the restrictions I'll probably get it. If not, they'll just cancel the order.
Something compareable to these things over here usually pushes aroun $400-500. We'll see.

Dave

Dan et al,

Since this is not a political discussion forum I`ll keep it short, but if you really believe that the problems with the US today are solely the labor unions you need to go back to school. Sure I find it appalling that a UAW represented assembly line worker can have a wages and benefits package worth about 80 bucks an hour but I find it equally appalling that so many CEOs are getting annual bonuses in the millions, on top of their saleries, and sometimes getting golden parachute packages worth a hundred million or more. These may be extremes but if you look you will see that the standard of living for the average employed person is declining. Call it the fault of the Bush administration or whatever you will but the decline has been set in motion. I`m afraid that if we elect a president right after Bush who is of the tax and spend on social programs mindset we will slide even further down the slope toward financial ruin, but shall we ignore those around us who need our help? No, but we need an economic engine that has true value and the strength through what it produces to take care of everyone.

Think about this, and this is my primary point, the labor conditions and standard of living for the typical Chinese person is on par with what the worst conditions were for US employees during the beginning of our industrial age. Even kids were working in the factories just so families could survive. The American and Canadian workers fought long and hard to get better wages, benefits, and working conditions and the barons of the day still made money hand over fist, because we were an industry based society, we produced goods, and high quality at that. Now manufacturing is all moving to China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Central America or anywhere else that the working class can be easily exploited and there are no penalties for the corporations who move their manufacturing to these exploitable areas, not through government taxes or tarriffs and none through a buying public who refuses to buy the junk made by the exploited workers.

If we continue on the path we are on we won`t have any industry left and we will be hard pressed to be able to buy products worth the money paid for them. The insane spending by our government has weakened us globally on the financial front to where we will no longer be able to buy quality products from Europe but eventually this may even become moot since a service based economy like we are careening toward does not provide enough disposable income for the workers to buy anything but the bare necessities anyway. There simply aren`t enough tech jobs available for everyone needing a good job in this country, assuming that everyone had the prerequisite education, and besides, the Chinese are renowned for pirating all things including technology and intellectual property.

BTW, if I buy a Stihl or Husky I know exactly where it`s made, even the components. I`ve had enough of them apart to know this to be fact when the components have the country of origin indelibly marked on them.

Sure it is difficult, and more costly to buy products not made in China or other similar economies but if we don`t collectively wake up, we will eventually be "The new China" as in where China was 20 years ago.

I promise, if they ship the cart to me, I'll assemble it with American Tools :). Just kidding... I do see your point and it's not a funny picture. Same thing here in Germany. I was on a Mercedes lot the other day (looking at a ford PU)and there were some brand new SUV's on the back side of the lot waiting to be prepaired for the show room. Every one had paperwork in the windows that said "manufactured in USA". I live in the ball bearing city, and my wife does export for a company that makes seals and does the injection seals for sealed bearings. Some of these places send individual parts off to Mexico, Brasil, etc for assembly then back to Germany to be installed in the product. Go figure..
anyway, your point is well taken.

Dave

Dave,

Thanks for considering my perspective. Sorry that I called you Dan, but then you might not have even realized that.

Here`s another interesting nugget, did you know that it takes up to eight gallons of crude oil to make a pound of plastic? This is probably the primary reason that China is using so much oil but obviously all industrialized nations are guilty as well.

It's true that "Made in China" (also Made in Japan, Taiwan, etc.) is destroying the American industrial base and has been doing so since WWII. But I'm a low income person living in a rural area. If I could even find an AMERICAN made garden cart the price would probably be out of my reach. I can afford the China-made job and H.F. delivered it right to my door along with some other useful sale items. I'm already trying to use as little gasoline and LP as possible by burning wood and driving as little as possible, but I can't stop buying "Made in China" stuff. That's a practical impossibility plus it seems to be U.S. govt. policy to turn everything over to China anyway. Blame that entity.

I visited Menards yesterday and got some 2" carriage bolts to I can line the box bed with 3/4" pine boards to protect it. I've also got a new trail cleared into my woods so I can get the garden cart back in farther. Unlimited fuel free for the gathering.

Balsam_girl,

As others have pointed out it is virtually impossible to cease buying Chinese products entirely but most of us can cut back and that`s all that I am suggesting. I agree that US policy is flawed and in a large part hands the keys to the kingdom to China but that does not absolve us from individual responsibility where we have options.

I truly believe that in many, if not most cases, a person can still buy a better US made product but it will undoubtedly cost more. Where however is the economy in buying several poorly made products in lieu of one well made product? The Chinese are again deceiving the American public with cheap and often government subsidized prices to effect a demise of US industry based solely on price, at which point they will be able to set prices wherever they want for their typically substandard goods. It`s a long term plan and investment by China to rule the industrialized world without going to war.

What is our long term plan and investment to ensure our national stability and freedoms or to ensure that money keeps coming for the social programs that so many in this country rely upon? Not enough well paying jobs equates to a lack of funds to support government programs right?

Everyone needs to do what their individual circumstances allow and not fall into the mindset that it is all the governments fault or entirely beyond our control.

barbedwire,

I basically agree with everything you say, but I'm still glad I bought his garden cart and would buy it again based on its price and its availability. Is there a similar American made item within my price range? If you can point one out, I then may regret my purchase to some degree.

If it makes you feel better I plan to use this thing until the end of time to sustain my independent rural low-fossil fuel lifestyle so I am doing my part. This Chinese garden cart is going to haul a LOT of carbon-neutral non-OPEC firewood and other biofuel materials and gardening junk.

Thanks for even being concerned for how I feel about this issue but I understand that we all have to do what`s best for our individual circumstances. I just wanted to say that we should all consider the health of the US as a collectively beneficial goal when we have a choice.

I don`t know if the Garden Way Cart is even still available.......and if it is it`s probably made in China....OY! At any rate, the GW cart cost more 20 years ago than what you paid.

Good health and prosperity to you in the use of your cart!

Not trying to be a smart ass, but there is a book called "Build it better yourself" that has a lot of real neat around the house projects, including a cart like this one and a couple of others. I've got the book, just not the time and junk (couple of wheels and some hardware)to put one together. Real interesting book though.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Dave

You've got me looking at "Made in" tags now....... I just received a bunch of new Dell (made in TX?) computers. Opened them up to get to the HD, and almost every piece inside them has a big ass "Made in china" sticker on it. It's a no win situation..........

Just thought I'd pass that on.

Dave

Dave,

There`s not much a person can do about a situation like that. IMO it`s still better to look at the label and choose a product that to be willfully ignorant and choose based on price alone.

Thanks for passing that along.

All of the Dell servers that we bought not only had MIC on the components but also are assembled in China.

Almost any product you buy that is made of components will have MIC parts. I would not be surprised if the Estwing line of tools, although proudly made in the USA, have alot of Chinese steel.

[quote] Not trying to be a smart ass, but there is a book called "Build it better yourself" that has a lot of real neat around the house projects, including a cart like this one and a couple of others. I've got the book, just not the time and junk (couple of wheels and some hardware)to put one together. Real interesting book though. [/quote]

So much for HTML...

You could possibly build one of these garden carts, but I can tell you it wouldn't be that easy. As I stated in my first post, the wheels, spokes, and hubs look like bicycle stuff but are actually much heavier duty. You'd have to use motorcycle wheels which would add weight. By the time you got done you'd have a trailer, not a garden cart, which is very lightweight and easy to push/pull around.

BTW: I've been using mine for a couple weeks now and find that it is an indispensible item. Wish I had bought one years ago! It rolls over bumps and holes easily with those big 26-inch wheels even when loaded. Quiet too, and uses no gas!

take carts to Line-X- truck bed plastic spray, cart will probibily out live the owner.