wheel barrow - done

 This was a workshop repair in which I defaulted to Plan "B" as the full details emerged. My original plan had been to take the whole thing apart and replace all the wooden parts.  Our storage situation means that this wheel barrow has lived outside, more or less unprotected for the last 10 years.  We were also neglectful of the wood.  If we had scraped and painted the wooden parts occasionally replacement would not have had to be considered.

  Plan B emerged after I had glued up and shaped the wooded replacement parts. ( I now have two 5 foot 2 x 2 s , I will find a use for them eventually.)  Closer examination made it obvious that all the hardware would have to be cut off and then it  looked as though reattaching the tub would become too difficult to be practical. It looked as though welding might become necessary. Next I considered replacing the metal tub with an open wooden body like you see in old farm photos. Basically building  a new old style wheel barrow around the wheel.

 

  But barrows like that are top heavy and would need more paint not less to keep it looking good. It also looked like there would be more work than the result was worth.

  So I opted to make basic repairs instead of major rebuilding.  The problem that set this project in motion was the rotting of the wood at the front end of the wheel barrow.  Both sides rotted and the bolts came free.  The black bracket at the front of the barrow keeps the frame from separating and the axle coming loose.  Since I cut the rotten ends off and re-drilled for the bracket I had to also cut out some of the bracket to leave space for the wheel to freely turn.  I seem to need my angle grinder more and more often. 

 I soaked the wooden handles in a couple of coats of left over oil based stain to try and cheaply seal the wood and then painted it with outdoor trim paint. 

I will paint the inside of the tub in the spring when I can wash it out, outside with the garden hose.

You can see that I added from re-enforcement wood under the tub, on both sides. There are boards there to keep the tub level and aligned between the handles. That wood was also in rough shape.  The tub is bolted through the handle and the additional wood providing alignment, cutting the bolts was going to be easy, getting it all connected together again didn't look as though it was going to be so easy.

  Option "B" was not a coward's way out.  I rather think of it as choosing which fights I want/need to fight and to which avoid.  Now I can get that big thing off my bench and return to Christmas sized projects. 

cheers, ianw