A power wheelbarrow, called a concrete buggy or a powered barrow at most counters, is a self propelled tub on wheels or tracks carrying eight to sixteen cubic feet of wet concrete, spoil or mulch at walking pace. Day rates sit near $85 to $170. One machine and one operator replace a chain of people with barrows, which is the whole economic case.
Capacity is quoted two ways and they disagree
Counters list a volume in cubic feet and a payload in pounds. Wet concrete weighs about 150 pounds a cubic foot, so a sixteen cubic foot tub hits its weight limit long before it fills with concrete but will happily brim with mulch. Work to the pounds when the load is heavy and the cubic feet when it is bulky.
Wheeled buggy or tracked buggy
Wheeled buggies are quicker on hardstanding and cheaper to hire. Tracked units climb ramps, cross soft fill and hold a slope where wheels spin, and they are what a basement pour or a sloping back yard needs. If the run includes a plank ramp or wet ground, pay the extra and take tracks.
The route chooses the machine
Measure the narrowest gate, the tightest turn and the steepest part of the run before booking. Most buggies want about 30 inches and a firm surface. A route with a step in it needs a ramp, and a ramp on pour day is a piece of kit somebody has to bring rather than an afterthought.
Loading, tipping and washing out
Buggies either tip forward by gravity or lift and dump hydraulically, which matters when discharging into a form rather than onto the ground. Concrete has to leave the tub before it goes off, and yards charge properly for a barrow returned with a cured skin inside. Keep the last twenty minutes for washing out.
Questions people ask about power wheelbarrow rental
How many barrows does a powered buggy replace?
A contractor barrow holds about six cubic feet heaped and much less concrete before it becomes unmanageable. A sixteen cubic foot buggy carries the useful load of several barrows at walking speed without a second person, so a two person barrow chain becomes one operator.
Can a power wheelbarrow climb a ramp?
Tracked models climb ramps and slopes within their rated grade; wheeled models want a gentle incline and a dry surface. Check the rated gradeability of the machine, and never load a buggy to capacity for its first trip up an unfamiliar ramp.
Is one worth hiring for a small pour?
If the mixer truck can back up to the forms, no. The buggy earns its rate once concrete has to travel more than about fifty feet, through a gate, or around a house, which is exactly where hand barrowing swallows a morning.