Barrows

Headnote

When a wheelbarrow is not enough but space is limited, these powered units can excel, writes Sally Drury

TESTED THIS WEEK

MuckTruck PowerDrive 35

Honda Power Carrier HP400 36

John Deere CX Gator 36

THE REVIEW PANEL

Marcel Deigan nursery manager, Trevena Cross Nurseries

Mark Netherway office manager, Trevena Cross Nurseries

Lifting, loading and shifting materials can be strenuous - even hazardous. Aggregates and compost can be loaded on trailers using a front-end loader, but what if the volume of work is small, the access narrow or the working space restricted?

Motorised barrows, powered carriers, mini dumpers and small trucks can take the effort and backache out of a lot of tasks, but how useful are they in the nursery and garden centre?

For this test, we took three units to Trevena Cross at Breage, near Helston in Cornwall, and asked nursery and garden centre staff to put each through its paces over the course of a week. The site extends over 14ha and each year hundreds of thousands of young plants are produced from cuttings and seed. The nursery is also well known for supplying plants to the major shows, such as Chelsea, so transport is important to the business. At the garden centre end. there are paving slabs and large Italian planters to be moved.

Where there is sufficient space, a small utility vehicle can provide transport with speed. It will carry a load and a passenger. The John Deere CX Gator is in the compact class of utilities, but will it do the job at Trevena Cross?

MuckTruck PowerDrive

This is a go-anywhere, go-faster solution to load handling. Its host of attachments makes it truly versatile and, as the manufacturer points out, it doesn't cost the earth - it just shifts it.

Designed and built in the UK by Deesign of Devon, the MuckTruck is classified as a power barrow or minidumper. It is fitted with a 5.5hp Honda engine. This machine has plenty of guts and is a reliable starter. And it has clearly been built for a rugged outdoor life - the construction is top quality. It shouts strength and durability. The engine and cables are well protected, yet all parts are readily accessible for maintenance and servicing.

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