I’m looking to cart products around to sell on foot.
Basically I want a box on wheels with bars in the front that I can lift and then walk forward. Similar to the idea of a rickshaw, but instead of seats for people, a container that can hold ~200lbs of weight. Or the type of thing you’d connect to a bike, except I want to just pull it on foot. The added element is that I want to be collapsible or able to be dismantled when not in use. Surely this must exist but I have no idea what term to use to search for it.
“Rickshaw” mainly brings results related to pedicabs. The closest I got was “utility cart” like this for example. But the problem with these, unlike a rickshaw style design, is they don’t scale well with the addition of weight where two wheels is easier than 4, depending on the surface. Also, versions that can be taken apart of collapses aren’t rugged enough.
I’ve used a hand truck put into the flat configuration in the past. But that lacks the box component to contain the products. I can stack boxes on it, but that gets unstable. And, again, the 4 wheel flat design doesn’t scale well with weight compared to the rickshaw concept.
So, yeah: what do you call that?
You might be looking for a handcart. Popular during medieval times, and among Mormon pioneers.
Maybe try searching for ‘kiosk’ with other words like ‘wheeled kiosk’ or ‘mobile kiosk’
This came up when I looked for wheeled kiosks.
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I think you’re going to struggle to find something that can carry 200lb and be collapsible. Most carts seem to either be for much less than that, or much more. I found several that looked a bit like what you may want by searching for ‘vendor cart’.
You may well be better off building/comissioning something to your spec though as a lot of the bigger carts are designed to be food stalls when stationary, so they’re probably unnecesarily heavy. I think you’d be able to make something along the lines of what you wanted with parts from your local DIY store.
In my country we have these:
This is a dvoukolák (lit. twowheeler). According to the internet it can carry up-to 240 kg. Dvoukoláks often have bigger wheels and they’re not collapsible.
I looked on American Amazon and on Walmart’s website and I couldn’t find anything like it. Bike trailers seem to be closest to a dvoukolák.
Yes, thank you! That’s the type of setup I’m thinking of. Friends of the family had these when I was a kid
When you tow something the pulling force has to be down low, aligned with the load, to make it efficient. With the human body, given the height of your hands, it will always be easier to push a load than to try and tow it. The angular force when pushing a wheelbarrow, along with the weight of your body, helps the wheelbarrow along. If you turn around and try to pull it, your body takes that angular force instead of the front wheel. Like, instead of the lever and wheel doing the work, you have to not just move the load along, but lift it too. In short, there’s a reason why you can’t find something like this. It’s the same reason that why you look at wagons or pull carts, the handle is connected as low to the load as possible, and may likely have an angle built into it, also the same reason why flatbed type push carts say right in them “push, don’t pull.” Same with wheelbarrows. In short, you’re going to hurt yourself.
Your post doesn’t make sense. “A four wheel cart doesn’t scale well when compared to the rickshaw design”? Given that a four wheel design spreads the weight to four wheels instead of just two, four wheels can obviously move more weight more easily than two.
As above, especially in uneven surfaces, pushing is easier than pulling given that angular force is reversed (pushing the wheel over a bump and using the angular force to help rotate the wheel versus lifting the load up over the bump using your body whilst pulling). No question.
Given that a four wheel design spreads the weight to four wheels instead of just two, four wheels can obviously move more weight more easily than two.
Gonna have to disagree just on this point. Unless you’re worried about sinking into soft ground or something, two wheels can take the weight just as well as four. Fewer wheels is often more maneuverable and there’s less friction. I mean, you specifically mention wheelbarrows which show this trade off; stability for easier rolling/maneuverability.
I just call it a “Pull Cart”.
Or “Cart” for short.Thank you. I’ll play more with searches for pull cart, though they tend to bring up a different design than what I had in mind. That said, something like this, maybe would work (although it doesn’t break down into something storable as well as some other options like the Polymule posted by someone else)
I would call that a wagon. There are foldable wagons, but finding a good quality, heavy duty one will be difficult. Also the collapsible ones are usually fabric, and if you need better support, you’ll probably need to add a plywood floor or more to it.
That’s a “bolderkar”. Very popular in Germany. People ferry their kids around in them.
or copious amounts of alcohol
Sounds like you’re describing something like the Monowalker
There are some people who have done DIY hiking trailers by chopping up youth bikes too so maybe look into that as well.
Aerocart from Worx looks a little gimmicky, but might be closer to your needs.
If budget is no object, then maybe a Polymule at USD1000+.
Inbetween, there’s something like a “Foldit Cart”.
Try searches for folding wheelbarrow, folding garden cart, or folding “vermont” cart. Your options get better if you can live without it being collapsible.
Aldi sells them for 25 cents.
I think you’re supposed to put them back once you finish using them, not take them with you.
I’ll have to find an Aldi. I notice that the ones from Safeway and Whole Foods don’t seem able to hold 200lbs
He’s jokingly referring to their shopping carts.
