We have spent a lot of time looking for carrying devices for our customers and employees at green garden gates. We want equipment that is durable, easy to repair by our staff, can be operated by both men and women, are simple, with few moving parts, and can be repaired with items readily available locally. Trade shows are full of new products to make this lifting and carrying easier. We have watched, in many garden stores, where this equipment is really used and what gets dumped in the back lot never to see the light of day. In most cases, we have returned again to the tried and true tools that have been in garden stores for years and in our view, will remain the lifting and carrying equipment for years to come.
The standard two wheeled dolly or hand truck is valuable and needed for a garden store. It can move an incredible amount of bulk and weight and the good ones cost less than 100.00 each. We have purchased three of these hand trucks for the store
Here are some tips. First, forget about all the whistles and bells on the fancy models. Look for a hand truck that is all strong steel, with every joint welded rather than bolted or screwed together. (If a joint comes apart, it can be welded right back into place, good as new) You don’t need straps or extenders or nice looking handles and levers. They just get in the way. Second, never buy a hand truck for your garden store that has inflatable tires. Always get the solid rubber tires. The inflatables will go flat or damage easily under the weight of our products. The solid tires last forever. The following website is a place to look. However, your local hardware store may have the best selection. Feel it, hear it and see it before you buy. Don’t order this product on the internet.
http://www.handtrucks.com/hand-trucks/standard-hand-trucks/harperphandlehandtruck.cfm
A cousin to this standard hand truck is the nursery “ball cart”. It is intended to move around large balled and burlapped plants or large pots. It is just indestructible and can be handy at times. We have purchased one ball cart for the store.
We have found that the two wheeled dollies can handle most any weight and configuration leaving the ball cart to sit idle a lot. However, for its added abilities and the moderate cost, it is nice to have one around. They run between 200.00 and 300.00 a piece for a good one. About the tires, it seems that inflatable tires work on this cart. A ball cart is awkward and harder to maneuver in small spaces. Also, it is a pain to try to fit a large round pot into a small recepticle of a ball cart, so find one that has a larger opening frame for a more comfortable pot fit. Here are examples on this website.
http://www.gemplers.com/search.aspx?q=ball+cart&src=25GLHRT&s_kwcid=TC|4086|nursery%20ball%20cart||S|e|976478005
Gordon Gleason, from Oregon, is considered “the man”, the ultimate inventor of nursery equipment who revolutionized the way we do business today. One of his inventions is our favorite for retail garden centers, the two wheeled “flat” cart.
It is a simple device, two high quality inflatable tires supporting a flat surface with a frame of welded steel construction. Over the years, these carts have evolved into several styles, some have a steel meshed surface and some are a solid piece of flat metal with holes on each corner to let out excess water. There are cheap copies of this flat cart that are really not acceptable for the heavy use they get in the retail nursery. We intend to purchase ten of these flat carts for each green garden gates. They run about 200-300.00 each and are well worth it for the customer as well as the employee
It is a simple device, two high quality inflatable tires supporting a flat surface with a frame of welded steel construction. Over the years, these carts have evolved into several styles, some have a steel meshed surface and some are a solid piece of flat metal with holes on each corner to let out excess water. There are cheap copies of this flat cart that are really not acceptable for the heavy use they get in the retail nursery. We intend to purchase ten of these flat carts for each green garden gates. They run about 200-300.00 each and are well worth it for the customer as well as the employee
http://writeteknorthwest.com/archives/313/setting-the-pace
The loud slam you will hear in the nursery quite frequently is the flat cart, which was loaded off balance and tips down hard, dumping everything on the ground. That is why Gordon Gleason invented a “tip proof” model, a steel arm that moves to the ground when the cart is parked and loaded. Buy these “tip proof” models and you will save a lot of plants and damage. Also, purchase the model with the solid metal surface. We have found that the meshed surface tends to bend and sink in with weight. The wheels of the carts, which can have inner tubes, get a lot of use and can pick up nails frequently.
There are solid foam tires that can be installed to eliminate this, but for us, it is not worth the expense. Stay with a good quality inflatable tubeless tire and keep a few extras around to switch off during repair. These flat carts are real money makers in the garden store!
The cousin to this flat cart is the “lowboy” cart. It is not as versatile for a lot of jobs and mainly used to move heavy pots around without having to get the plants up off the ground onto a flat cart. We believe they are worthwhile to have and we have purchased two of them.
The drawback to this low boy is that it takes a fair amount of strength to get the pot balanced on the cart to move it. Once the pot is balanced, it works well. There are a number of models of these. We would recommend a solid platform rather than a meshed platform and of course all the joints need to be welded rather than bolted or screwed together. The tires are inflatable and they seem to work well.
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