Been contemplating picking up a couple electric wheelbarrows. Not too thrilled with the use time on the Makita and can’t justify the 2-4K for some of the other monstrosities. Seen a few like the Super Handy and the Pro Paw for under 1k, but that just raises durability concerns. Anyone on here have experience with these or other brands/models and wouldn’t mind sharing their pros/cons?
Electric Wheelbarrows
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I've been looking for one for several years. Lately, I am searching for a battery powered front wheel kit to retrofit the Brentwood 8 cu I have. Something like the electric motor kits for bicycles. Everything i've seen so far is either too expensive, not as user friendly or more homeowner oriented.
Hoping others will chime in giving us another option.
Hoping others will chime in giving us another option.
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Yes. I have one of the Makitas that I use when harvesting cacao. I went with the Makita because I have other equipment that uses the same battery.
For that use I opted for the power dolly version rather than the wheel barrow. The photo here shows how I originally had it set up. Now I use it with a large (I think it is the 38 gal size) storage tote -- black with yellow lid that Home Depot sells. When fully loaded it carries about 200 lb of pods. It goes up and down hills easily (as long as there is not a lot of digging by feral pigs), although it can be tippy on a side slope. They are designed to dump with relatively little effort while keeping all 3 wheels on the ground.
It uses 2 18v batteries, one at a time. Actual running time is about 2 hours on a fully charged battery, less when the ground is muddy and torn up by pigs.
We were so impressed with it that we bought a second one. Certainly it is not the most powerful machine of this type, but we judged it to be a good value at its cost a year ago of about $1k including shipping to Hawaii, and I absolutely would buy again. The only problem we have had is the trigger switches on both broke. Those are a light weight plastic and I had not realized that they were pretty fragile. Since replacing them (the replacements cost about $4 each) and being careful to keep them from bouncing around in the trailer when taking them to the orchards the switches have given no trouble.
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For that use I opted for the power dolly version rather than the wheel barrow. The photo here shows how I originally had it set up. Now I use it with a large (I think it is the 38 gal size) storage tote -- black with yellow lid that Home Depot sells. When fully loaded it carries about 200 lb of pods. It goes up and down hills easily (as long as there is not a lot of digging by feral pigs), although it can be tippy on a side slope. They are designed to dump with relatively little effort while keeping all 3 wheels on the ground.
It uses 2 18v batteries, one at a time. Actual running time is about 2 hours on a fully charged battery, less when the ground is muddy and torn up by pigs.
We were so impressed with it that we bought a second one. Certainly it is not the most powerful machine of this type, but we judged it to be a good value at its cost a year ago of about $1k including shipping to Hawaii, and I absolutely would buy again. The only problem we have had is the trigger switches on both broke. Those are a light weight plastic and I had not realized that they were pretty fragile. Since replacing them (the replacements cost about $4 each) and being careful to keep them from bouncing around in the trailer when taking them to the orchards the switches have given no trouble.
Tell you what I'll leave Michigan to come harvest cacao in Hawaii with you 
Thanks for your review. The companies in my area that carry the Makita all want $1800+ for it with the bucket plus any additional batteries. We are mostly moving dug up sod, clay, and river rock 200-300lb per load on some decent incline/declines.
Thanks for your review. The companies in my area that carry the Makita all want $1800+ for it with the bucket plus any additional batteries. We are mostly moving dug up sod, clay, and river rock 200-300lb per load on some decent incline/declines.
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