Your Yard Cart-Get More From It

Yard carts can be very useful as we work in our yards and gardens. With a few simple DIY accessories we can do more and make our tasks easier.

TOOLS

Electric Drill

Punch

Hammer

1/4" Bit

Socket set or wrenches

Tape Measure

Pencil

Saw

2" hole saw (for tool holder project)

Clamp (optional)

MATERIALS

4 pc- 1" x 2" x 32" (for verticals)

4 pc- 2" x 2" x 44 (for V wings)

1 pc- 16" x 3-1/2" x 3/4" (for tool holder)

1/4" nuts, washers, and bolts (qty. and length varies by project)

For hauling cut branches, corn stalks, and cut decorative grasses, these V wings greatly increase the hauling capacity of your cart. The drawback is that you have to be careful where you drive because the wings greatly increase the width of your cart.

I started out using 1" x 2" firring strips. They work but 2" x 2"s won't break as easily should you run them into something solid. NOTE: I know how to make repairs using glue and clamps.

A couple of inches from one end of the 2" x 2"s, drill a 1/4" hole in the middle of each of the four pieces. Bolt two pieces together, leaving them just loose enough to increase or decrease the angle between them. Repeat for the other two pieces. 1st photo

Position one V in end of the cart as shown in photo #2 and (optional) clamp it in place. Drill through the board near the top of the cart front so you leave a clear mark on the steel as to where the hole there should be. Move the 2" x 2" aside and use the hammer and punch to dent the metal where you want to drill. This dent will help to keep the bit from "walking". Steel is different from wood in that you should keep the bit rotations slow. Once through, keep the bit tuning as you move the drill itself around to slightly increase the size of the hole. This will make getting the bolt through the hole easier.

Bolt this board in place, with a washer under the bolt head and the nut, before doing the second hole. Repeat for the second hole. Tighten the nuts. Repeat for the V at the other end of the cart. You are now ready to haul long, bulky objects. You may need to lash them down with a rope to keep from loosing anything during the trip.

This is an improvement on my earlier Instructable on cleaning up decorative grasses. https://www.instructables.com/Decorative-Grass-Spring-Cleanup/

Sometimes your load isn't quite so bulky and all you need are some vertical side pieces to keep your load in place. In photos #2 and #3 I was going out to plant trees and to install tree tubes over them. The verticals keep the overall width of the cart narrower than when using the V attachments.

I started with some 1" x 1" oak garden stakes. Drill 1/4" holes in the verticals near the bottom and near the top of the cart side. Photo #1 Use the bottom hole as a guide and drill a hole through the side of the cart. Be sure to enlarge the hole. Bolt the vertical in place. Using the top hole in the wood as a guide, drill and enlarge the second hole throught cart wall. Install the second bolt. Tighten the nuts, using washers under the bolt head and the nut.

This attachment was added to the cart to hold the shaft of my string trimmer. Photo #1 It also works for shovel, rack, etc. handles.

Start with a 16" piece of 1" x 4" (actually 3/4" x 3-1/2"). Mark 2" from one end and centered on the board. This will be the center of the 2" circular hole. With the hole drilled, saw down both sides, parallel to the sides, to create a cradle for the tool. See the photo above. Drill 1/4" mounting holes as shown in the photo (about 3" and 9" from the bottom). Using the holes in the wood as guides, drill holes through the rear panel of the cart. Bolt the tool holder in place.

If you need to do a lot of watering beyond hose length, see my Instructable on a cart water barrel.

https://www.instructables.com/Yard-Cart-Water-Barrel/