Wheelbarrow tip
Or maybe a better title for this post would be "Wheelbarrow no tip"? But I'm jumping ahead... If you're like me you've got loads of yard waste to haul around at this time of year: heaps of "hay" from the ornamental grasses that just received their annual pruning, sticks of all kinds, leaves, leaves, leaves.
It's all got to get to the compost pile (if you have one) and for me that means lots of wheelbarrow trips.
The problem though is there's often such a large pile of stuff that needs to be hauled...
...that the wheelbarrow gets piled much too high...
...and it loses at least half of its load when the first bump is hit. (I do not have a smooth, level yard.)
The solution is simple though:
A bungee cord!
Hook one onto the handy lip that surrounds the tray (or bin)...
...and your load is now safe to transport, with no fear of spillage!
It took me a few years to realize this trick, a trail of debris marking every prior trip to the pile. Now though, I could wheel this stuff around the neighborhood and not drop a blade of grass!
I use a cord that is around 24" (61cm) long, but I could probably get by with one that is a bit shorter.
Do you have any cleanup tips for me this spring?
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I have a small compost pile here on my small city lot, so I use my push mower as a mulcher. I mow those big piles into a smaller state and then wheel them to the compost.
Great tip. Thank you
Its 100% better than finding branches to weave over a bunch of yard stuff.
It's funny you should mention this topic, just as I was finishing my latest post about my new garden equipment. Maybe you need a larger wheelbarrow?
http://gardenfancy.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-handy-new-garden-present.html
Thanks for the bungee cord idea!
Lisa: good idea! Isn't practical when the pile is too big though (and it's always too big in my yard!)
Maywyn: I've done the "put sticks on top" thing too, but that only seems to delay the spillage, not prevent it. :)
Garden Fancy: A bigger wheelbarrow would be nice, but even that would be overloaded and prone to spillage. (Bigger means heavier too!)
I switched to a gorilla cart a few years ago - love that thing! We haul everything in it, from yard waste to rocks. No tipping and it's incredibly durable. I highly recommend it!
Lisa: I wish I had a place to store one of those! Maybe after I build my shed. Wonder how it works on slopes though?
Our yard is pretty flat, but it's more stable than a wheelbarrow so I would think the same would be true on a sloped yard. We store ours outside all winter - just flip it upside down and it holds up great to the weather.
Lisa: is the body metal, plastic, or something else?
The one we have now is plastic. The bed raises to dump which us excellent. The first one we had (bought it the year we built the pond - too many heavy boulders killed it) had removable mesh metal panels on all four sides. That had merit, too, unless you were hauling pea gravel or soil - it fell through the holes.
Very simple but helpful tip! Thanks! Cheers!