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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:39 pm
by Ted
I am back in the UK for a quick holiday from Angola where I am now setting up my own property development firm.
The wheelbarrows available in Angola are really bad and fall apart very quickly. They are Chinese junk made for Africa which they would never dream of attempting to sell here.
When I used to work in the UK, I used to buy my wheelbarrows from Buildbase and they were from a company called HAEMMERLIN.
They weren't bad and are considerably better than any Chinese junk available in Angola. However they didn't seem to last ages.
I have looked at some North American sites and have seen some very fancy barrows aimed at concrete contractors such as:-
http://www.cariolawheelbarrow.com/specifications.html
However, these fancy barrows are not available over here.
I am shipping a container to Angola with various materials I need to build a couple of houses.
I would like to include at least five wheelbarrows of a high quality specifically for moving concrete around.
What brand should I buy and where sells them cheapest?
Thanks.
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:49 pm
by GB_Groundworks
you can buy flat pack american barrows like that in cost co, my mum had one for the horses but we stole it off her, i like them as they are wider handles for my big legs but have a larger capacity,
we use hammerlins last long enough if looked after and washed out after concrete not left to go off then whacked with hammers etc
ill see if i have a photo
Edited By GB_Groundworks on 1287434977
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:57 pm
by GB_Groundworks
like this but with a chunkier tyre and metal side rails
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:06 pm
by Ted
Cheers - that looks a strong barrow.
There is a Cost Co not too far from me. I may venture down.
Have you any idea how much that one costs?
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:09 pm
by GB_Groundworks
about £25 i think but sometimes on offer cheaper, you need to be a member so id ask if any mates are members go with them and sign you in
think its £18 a year to join
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:14 pm
by Ted
Excellent. Thanks. GBP25 sounds very cheap - I'm sure I used to pay closer to GBP40 for a Hammerlin several years ago.
Flat pack is good as it takes up less space in my container.
I know a member so I'll pop down.
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:14 pm
by GB_Groundworks
only one i could find in the back ground of a pic so i chopped it out, that might have been the offer price then
Edited By GB_Groundworks on 1287436489
Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:32 am
by lutonlagerlout
welcome back ted
crikey first stuarty then you in 1 day
I like the heammerlin barrows we get them at reasonable money now, as has been said keep 'em clean and they last
did that warehouse ever gets it concrete floor?
and did your concrete drive crack?
you know the 50mm one
cheers LLL 
Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:51 pm
by Dave_L
I'll post up a pic of one of our barrows this weekend.
22 years old...........
Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 11:25 pm
by lutonlagerlout
Dave_L wrote:I'll post up a pic of one of our barrows this weekend.
22 years old...........
15 new tires and 12 new bodies del boy
LLL
Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 11:46 pm
by Ted
Yes the driveway has cracks all over it but it hasn't deteriorated as much as I expected it would.
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 5:46 am
by Dave_L
lutonlagerlout wrote:Dave_L wrote:I'll post up a pic of one of our barrows this weekend.
22 years old...........
15 new tires and 12 new bodies del boy
LLL
15 tyres maybe!!!
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:00 pm
by Ted
I put a warehouse slab in but maybe not for the one you are thinking of where the guy was storing his dust on a dirt floor. From what I understand, the dust is still on a dirt floor.
I did put a 30cm thick slab in (60m x 15m area) - so about 270m3 - in one warehouse. As well as footings/foundations for the structure, mechanic's pits, water tank, some external slabs etc.
In all, about 500m3 of concrete and we knocked it all up manually (by which I mean using two site mixers). Not one drop of ready mix! I can't be bothered doing that again for someone else so I have gone off to set up privately now I speak Portuguese.
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:04 am
by DNgroundworks
Can i just ask, nothing to do with wheel barrows, but whats the story behind angola, how and why did you end up there?
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 7:45 pm
by Ted
DNgroundworks wrote:Can i just ask, nothing to do with wheel barrows, but whats the story behind angola, how and why did you end up there?
I got offered a well paid job for a construction company there. I knew a couple of people working for diamond mines out there who could never hire competent contractors to build houses on their mines, so they suggested it would make sense for this firm to hire me to improve their quality.
Now I speak Portuguese and how the place operates, it makes sense to stay but I've gone off on my own.
Angola is booming which can not be said of here.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatc....age=0,0
I think it will boom and boom till the oil and diamonds run out.