Wheelbarrows

[Hawk]

over the course of the last 3 to 4 months or so, I have purchased 3 wheelbarrows manufactured from "The Walsall Wheelbarrow Company" who claim to be the "hallmark of quality" All 3 wheelbarrows have not lasted any length of time, and are ready for the scrap heap, 2 of the barrows have bent tipping bars at the front of the wheel making it very difficult to tip anything out of the barrows, and the other barrow has a bent front axle, making it very difficult to steer and push under load, as you guy`s know wheelbarrows are not cheap items these days,
I e-mailed photo`s of the defective barrows to the walsall wheelbarrow company about two weeks ago and outlined
the problem, as yet they have not replied to me, so it goes without saying that I will not be buying anymore of their products, wonder what clown thought up "The Hallmark of Quality" logo, take my advice guy`s do not waste your money
on these inferior wheelbarrows, they wont last, and they dont come cheap

[lutonlagerlout]

yep pure shite
we use those french jobbies haemmerlin
they are a bit wider but handle OK

an old boy at the allotments has an old one I have my eye on,proper 70's wheelbarrow,looks like it made out of 4 mm sheet steel
loads of bracing weighs around 30kg
but still going 40 years on
LLL

[Tony McC]

They had a BIG stand at Glee this year and I had a bit of a nosey. It seemed they were more concerned about offering barrows of every imaginable colour (and a few unimaginable ones) rather than focus on build quality. Fashion triumphs over function!

[img]http:///www.pavingexpert.com/images/brewcabin/glee_2013_barrows.jpg[/img]

It would be good to support home-based manufacturers rather than the inevitable Chinese imports or even barrows brought in from Europe, and many would even be prepared to pay a small preemium to support British manufacturing, but it has to be a quality product. there's no point in paying good money to support poor manufacturing or poor design.

I know a lot of it comes down to costs. For all sorts of reasons, it's more expensive to make stuff in Britain than it is in certain other locations, and that's summat this arse of a government should be doing something about, but why is it that so many British manufacturers decide to compete on cost rather than quality. The
German and Japanese manufacturing success has not been built on producing cheap, tinny goods, but on quality, reliability and confidence.

There's a lesson there not just for British (and Irish) manufacturers, but also for many contractors.

[lutonlagerlout]

actually the french jobbies haemmerlin are also made in walsall
barrows

whats the betting they are made in the same factory?

LLL

[Hawk]

thier customer service is non existent, like I said earlier they never responded to my e-mail, showing photo`s of thier "quality" products, I also stated that all 3 wheelbarrows
are available for inspection should they so wish,
but as you guy`s know we only tend to buy a new wheelbarrow when the old ones have fell apart and we need a new one imediately and have to buy the first one we can get hold off, I too normally buy the french barrows, they tend to be well balanced & fairly sturdy, and usally last about 9 month
or so,
I shall find out who the MD of The walsall wheelbarrow co is and let him see the photo`s of the failed barrows and lat him pass judgement on his quality products

[GB_Groundworks]

dont know who makes them but our volumetric lads have these plastic barrows and they are £100 each but he swears by them he's got 3 for each of his 6 wagons

ill find out off him who makes them

[lemoncurd1702]

I bought a pop riveter to reattach the barrow to the frame, you know how they always detach at the the back end near the handles. Drill hole through barrow and tube and use a large head rivet. It extends their life a bit.
It's those struts at the front though that are the main problem though.

[specialbranch]

Belle make big sturdy plastic barrows, they seem to hold about 50% more than a standard barrow. they're great for pushing and tipping at ground level, but if you forget the size and try tipping into a skip its Hernia time. Ive always found TP's contractor barrows ok, not sure who makes them but they are a big galvanised jobby.

[Injured]

I bought 2 hammerlin barrows middle of last year they are bigger than the normal builders barrow that most bm sell 120l as opposed to 90l and they are still going strong, but one has had to be welded back on to the frame at the back of the skip where the bolts pull through. This is said barrow and they are much better than the 90l barrows just the first link i found for the barrow plenty places sell them :p120l barrow

[williams]

They are all pretty much shit, last no time at all, fall apart, puncture easily.

I work to pay for stuff to go back to work with it feels :p