All Terrain Wheelbarrow, Cart, No Welding

I was asked to design a device to get a load (100-250 pounds) out of the woods. That meant the device had to move over sticks, branches, brush, holes, erosion ravines, soft soil, rocks, traverse hilly terrain,and rough terrain in general. There were also additional requirements, no motorized vehicles, the user had rotator cuff injury so he had little strength in his right arm, also he had knee replacements and found walking on uneven terrain difficult. The details of the design and prototype process will be covered at the end of this instructable. If you are waiting to get to the design build it starts now. It should be noted that these photos may not be latest version.

This design evolved into three variations of the original. a two wheel model for the roughest terrain, a self balancing version with 3 wheels for general use where traversing hills is not needed, and a dump model where the primary use would be for conveying loose materials that need to be dumped.

The basic unit consists of 16 pieces of 3/4" square tubing, 8- 1/4"-20 threaded rods, 24 holes drilled in the tubing, with the following purchased parts, a expedient snow sled, and 2- no flat 16" wheelbarrow tires, 1" white wood board for platform bracing and miscellaneous 1/4-20 lock nuts and bolts.

The hauler is easy to build. There is no welding, all connections are threaded rods bolted through 1/4" holes drilled through the mating part.

The first step is cut the parts to length, the exact dimension is not critical. but duplicate parts have to be exactly the same length. If you cut by hand the parts can be clamped together and sanded or filed to exact same length.

If a band saw, chop saw or cold cut saw is used the "story" sticks described in the photo this will allow for exactly duplicate parts using the stick and the power saw.

If a handheld angle grinder is used clamp blocks (wood or metal) to guide the cut. the story sticks can be used to align the blocks.

The next step is to drill holes in the appropriate parts. If you have a drill press, build the jig as described in the photo above.

The axles can be drilled on the drill press using the jig in the photo. If you do not have a drill press the self centering jig can be used to drill the axles.

If you do not have a drill press, purchase a self centering doweling jig. (the jig may need to be recalibrated) The photo is a Harbor Freight jig, and it took 5-6 disassemblies and reassemblies to get the jig calibrated.

The flat free tires are purchased from Harbor Freight also, There are several other sources for the flat free tires. The expedition sled was purchased from True Value hardware and delivered to a local store. Erapro/Paris 960 Pro Expedition Sled: Model# 6598320.

1/4" wood strips and fitted to the corrugations on the bottom of the sled and attached to the three wood platform pieces. These help reduce stress on the plastic sled. The wood platform allows for additional support for the sled when loaded.

The steel handle rails are bolted directly to the top flange on the sled.

The handle is attached to the rails with a telescoping joint so the handle can be removed when the wheels are used on a load that does not fit on the sled.

The three wheel model is built just like the two wheeler, but 10 additional parts and an additional flat free tire are needed. The three wheeler can be converted to a two wheeler by removing one wheel and relocating the other wheel.

The three wheel model can support either the expedition sled or a Terrain Sports Sled this was purchased at Walmart. They are called utility sled. The utility sled is not used on the two wheeler since is wider and more difficult to move through under brush.

Building a dump hauler needs 3 additional parts and the pivot system has to be installed. This model also has a drawbar attacked so it can be towed by ATV or tractor. Speed must be kept below 15mph will the flat free tires.

Detail plans are available for purchase on Etsy.com

When I was asked to design there were several requirements.

1. Haul up to 250 pound one person and 400 pounds with 2 people.

2. Traverse hillsides without tipping.

3. Roll easily through forest and meadow terrain.

4. Be narrow enough to follow game trails.

5. The operator did not have strength in his right arm because of a rotator cuff injury.

6. The operator had knee replacements and could not walk and carry a load.

7. The hauler could be carried in a short bed pickup truck.

8. The tires and wheels could support the load in all conditions.

9. The hauler needed to be easily repaired

10. The hauler needed to be easy to assemble.

The history of wheelbarrows and carts was researched. It was found that the Chinese had a one wheel cart capable of carrying 200 to 300 pounds with one person operating. It was also learned that the American pioneers used two wheel carts in the western migration. These carts would carry 300 to 400 pounds and would be powered by two people and the kids when the going got rough. The European wheelbarrow was invented during the middle ages and has been used in Europe and America to this day.

There are other yard carts in use today.

Two carts similar to this one were used to move the loads through the woods, both failed the same way. While traversing a hillside the loaded cart would tip and in both cases the wheel failed. The metal spokes bent and broke. The other had plastic hub and they broke. In both cases the load and cart had to be drug out of the woods about 1/2 a mile.

A stable owner wanted a muck cart that was easier to dump than the model they were presently using. That is what inspired the dump model. With the dump cart the operator only has to lift the load about 4 inches and the wheel rolls back under the load and the load is dumped.

The first model was made from wood. It proved the concept that two inline wheels would traverse rough terrain easily and it was possible to move 200 pounds of firewood out of the woods and the experience was not unlike pushing a shopping cart in the supermarket.

This did not meet several of the criteria relating to ease of assembly, repair, or fitting in a short bed pickup truck.

The second prototype is made from pvc pipe. This unit was lighter than the wood model. This model was used to transport 280 pounds of venison (2 deer) about 3/4 mile It took about 20 minutes to get out of the woods to the pickup truck, there were 2 hunters and were able to just "walk" out of the wood neither were exhausted when they got to the pickup truck.

This model performed very well, but it was expensive to build, very time consuming to build, and parts were only available from a few sources.

The third model is made from steel . The first few attempt had some welding and had extra bracing that proved not to be needed. This can be witnessed in some of the photos. The current model weighs about 40 pounds (1/2 the weight is the wheels and tires). Since all joints are bolted together repair and assemble are easy and relatively fast. The parts construction is simple and noncritical.

The two wheel cart is ideal for hikers, hunter, fishermen, boy scouts, and campers.

The three wheel carts are ideal to replace wheelbarrows, yard carts, and wagons.

The dump cart works well for farmers, stable owners, and landscapers.