Howdy there. So somehow in the last year all my interior remodeling customers have been wanting new decks, and I’ve for some crazy reason started taking on all these big second story decks by myself.
I love the challenges of building solo, but the biggest thing I find is that most of the time I need about a yard or so of concrete for a few big footings. Since it almost never works out that I can get a cement truck in there (back of the house or likewise) to pour my concrete, I end up ordering bags and mixing in a wheelbarrow. The last 2 projects had about 25 80lb bags of concrete. I end up helping unload from the delivery truck. Then I carry the bags down a flight of stairs, then set them down, then pick them up to put in the wheelbarrow, then mix and shovel them into the holes…you get the picture. So while in my dreams I fancy myself a rather tough hombre, I’m hurtin’ for certain by the end of the day.
So my question is, is there a good contractor’s wheelbarrow, cart or hand truck that people have found can stand up to the rigors of moving bags of concrete (or other things) around on rough terrain?
I’ve got a regular ol’ handtruck, but it just doesn’t have the guts to handle a bunch of concrete up and down stairs.
Any ideas? (short of buying my own concrete pumping rig)
Replies
I use a Jackson wheelbarrow with the plastic tub. Before the plastic ones we always used steel, I was suspect of the plastic durability at first but the sales guy convinced me to try one... now I'd never go back. I've also used one of those carts without sides to move concrete around, kind of like a heavy duty kids red wagon with bigger inflatable tires.
Hi, Paul,
IMO, the best method of manually moving large quantities of sack-crete is a Temporary Labor Service.
SamT
Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. [Einstein] Tks, BossHogg.
rubber tire hoe- fwd for stairs
Edited 3/19/2007 9:30 pm by brownbagg
yep those are the days i'd find a $60-80 a day mexican... you'll both be happy... i hate to sterotype but hispanic guys and shovels just seem to work well together... when my plumber has digging to do... he has a hispanic guy with him... that guy is like a human backhoe
p
I prefer to move my concrete wet. I have a small portable mixer - holds 3 80# bags. The back of the pickup is the perfect height to pour into the mixer. I'll take a batch to the site in 2 or 3 loads, depending on accessibility (wet cement slop factor). Of course, I've never had to deal with stairs :-)