On the plus side, single-wheeled barrows are very manoeuvrable when compared to versions with more wheels, and as long as you are careful, and don’t’ try to break your fastest lap of the garden with a big pile of material loaded in the barrow, you should be ok. I’ve also heard of people using them as an emergency cover for things like petrol generators when it suddenly rains, using metal wheelbarrows as makeshift fire pits, or repurposing old wheelbarrows into beautiful garden features like these planters: Wheelbarrow repurposed as a planter – no need to throw it away once it’s past it! The tyres on Walsall’s wheelbarrow are the puncture-proof kind, but they are not the usual hard plastic material. Instead, they feel like some kind of hard rubberised material, and I have to say that it does make the barrow feel better to move over lumpy terrain than a lot of other products.

I have a non-gardening, DIY-hating friend who just can’t get his head around my array of tools and equipment and the money I spend on them. He’s into expensive sound systems for his home, so we enjoy ribbing each other over these things. If the tray of the wheelbarrow is filled unevenly, it will no doubt wobble and make it harder for you to keep it steady when you lift and move it, and this usually ends up with the whole thing tipping over. Again, taking smaller loads can help, but ensuring that any load is well spread out and balanced is the best thing to do, and if you have to put more weight in one place, have it towards the front. Some of the others came close but there were little things that let them down for this specific purpose. For example, the Walsall galvanised wheelbarrow had the dimensions but I wasn’t keen on the puncture-proof wheel as I’ve found that they tend to make the cement move around when you hit a bump in the ground, and some of the others we tested had those annoying bolts standing proud. Best builders’ wheelbarrow: Walsall Wheelbarrows 85ltr galvanized– this can take a real battering and do hard work. Best allotment wheelbarrow: Crazy gadget galvanized wheelbarrow– with a combination of value for money and build quality this makes a lot of sense.

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Another very minor flaw that, again, is common to this kind of wheelbarrow is that it is very difficult, if not impossible to tip all of the contents of the tub out at once. There will always be a little bit of soil, sand, etc. still in there that you’ll have to help on its way with a shovel or similar.

You only have to take one look at that plastic wheelbarrow to realise, yeah, it’s got support braces, but no, I am not loading that twice the weight of a heavy duty wheelbarrow! There are a few ways of looking at size though. Firstly, there are the actual dimensions of the wheelbarrow- height, width, etc. and these are obviously very important when you think about storage space in the garage, getting the barrow in and out of the shed door and through gates, and just generally manoeuvring it around. Trying to deftly move a huge wheelbarrow around a very small and narrow garden isn’t going to be fun, so you might want something smaller like the Crazy gadget model.Whenever products are this low-budget you have to expect a few quality issues, and this is no different with this wheelbarrow. For a start, the metal tub does dent easily, so it won’t be looking brand new for very long. Having said that, apart from looking a bit ugly it didn’t seem to affect the usage of the barrow, and I have old barrows that don’t look great but are still used to this day: When deciding on a wheelbarrow for purely garden use, you have to consider more than just something you can fill up with soil or throw your gloves and tools into. As any experienced gardener knows, there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye – I reviewed this years ago and it still deserves it’s spot as best overall wheelbarrow for gardening. Here’s why: There were also some issues with bolts and holes lining up, but with a bit of help we got it assembled in the end. On the plus side, the pneumatic tyres are really good quality for the price, and I think that those, and the other pros we mentioned, outweigh the cons. Pros Best wheelbarrow overall: Draper 85L metal barrow– best overall and what I would use to transport concrete You’re not going to be shifting huge loads of materials or equipment with the Garden Caddy like you can with larger models such as the DJM heavy duty wheelbarrow, but it can manage up to 40kg, which I think is enough for most casual gardeners. The deep tub and high sides are also great for holding long handled tools, like spades and rakes, in place, and you can throw a load of dead leaves or weeds in there too.