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This shovel's weakness is its penetrative ability. The blunted head of this shovel makes it harder to pierce the exterior of a pile. If you are faced with a firm or resistant pile it will be better to use a pointed shovel. Of course, if the resistant pile rests on a flat surface you can attempt the push and scoop method mentioned above. wheel-barrel The wheel-barrel may prove to be the most consistently useful tool of the frequent pile mover. The wheel-barrel may also be referred to in some regions as a hand-cart. Whereas shovels are extremely useful at manipulating a pile, the wheel-barrel makes the actual act of migration much more accessible. The wheel-barrel's design has also been around since antiquity. Today the predominant wheel-barrel design is metallic, but wooden varieties can also be found, usually in areas with less mass production. With one wheel at its front, two stationary legs in the rear and two waist-high handles in the rear, the wheel-barrel is remarkably responsive in its steering and direction. Its design allows it to make 90 degree turns, full 360's or any other directional motion in a null radius. The wheel-barrel can carry nearly any regularly encountered substance. From sold to liquid and everything in-between, the metallic wheel-barrel can hold virtually any weight that you can fit into it. Of course, pushing it becomes exceedingly difficult at 400 lbs., especially on a natural (unpaved) surface. The wheel-barrel can also carry objects much longer than its own width. If |
balanced properly on top of the barrel, long wooden planks, to use a single example, can be carried with relative ease. If the balance of the cart, regardless of contents, is too unevenly distributed the barrel's steering will prove difficult. If excessively off-balance, the wheel-barrel, because of its single front wheel, is prone to spill over. While it can be very frustrating if this occurs in the middle of pile movement, just remind yourself that by spilling the cart's contents you have already created another pile, however unintended.
An adept wheel-barrel driver can negotiate almost any surface. While sand or thick mud may prove too impressionable to ever master, there are tricks to getting around uneven and bumpy terrains. It is always easier to pull something than to push it. Using the force of your body's weight you can pull a heavy wheel-barrel over nearly any reasonably sized ledge, bump or hill. After approaching a difficult ledge, simply rotate the cart 180 degrees and pull the cart over the ledge. You can most easily do this by walking backwards away from the ledge, but pulling the cart behind while walking forward may also work. Also, when aware of an upcoming bump, it may help to lower the cart's back legs closer to the ground. This keeps the nose of the cart from driving down into the bump and allows for a more equal distribution of weight toward the rear.
When dumping the contents of the wheel-barrel there are several tips to bare in mind. When working on a large pile of a meter or more in height, it may prove difficult to consistently reach the top of the pile with the cart. A pile can reach a steepness that most wheel-barrels can never overcome. If this
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