No Car - Need Petrol

We have a two-wheeled shopping trolley that's probably done many hundreds of miles carrying heavy shopping (~30kg). Dates from the 80s, it has solid rubber tyres and a steel wire frame, with a basket that lifts out. On that one the handle folds down (eg for putting in a car) which gives you more height than appears to be the case in the Argos ones. Roughly like this:

If you can't drive something like this is a great investment for hauling stuff around... I used to haul CRT monitors and oscilloscopes around on and off trains using a setup like that.

Theo

Thanks. Yes, that is how I got the £8 quote. Sounded like the boss, not a monkey.

Yes, again. The resilience of the trolley is the issue. Particularly the wheels and the tread on those wheels.

Just tried 10L water in a rucksack. The weight is not too bad but I need a frame!

Thanks. I was using five 2L bottles of water - in the flimsy bottles they use - so it isn't to far in error.

The last this I need is to lose weight. Average height - 63kg today, and falling!

Yes, Andy, I'd thought of that - but with my recent lifestyle changes, I can't afford to be banned from the buses!

Just experimented with 10L of water bottles in a rucksack, up the stairs. I'd need a rucksack frame, I reckon.

Thanks, Theo. Yes, an open frame is a good idea. As for the 4-wheel design, I'd guess that it usually pushed or dragged on two wheels.

As for CRT Monitors. About 50 years ago I hand-carried a 22" Decca CRT TV from a store in Chester to the railway station, got the TV (and me) onto a Bangor train and from Bangor station to my car. The train failed at Llandudno Junction - requiring a platform change - via an overbridge. Oh, and Bangor was/is two island platforms so more climbing!

Those were the days.

That trolle looks very flimsy. If you have storage room a pram would be ergonomic; if space is tight then a folding pushchair (not the fally-offy wheels sort) would be OK. What are the rules and insurance conditions for storing petrol? Proper containers, at least?

You can store 30 litres in proper containers without notifying the authorities, plus whatever happens to be in vehicles.

The blade(s) will certainly need sharpening and a bit of lubrication should be applied.

I find that 10 litre steel jerrycans are useful. The weight is manageable and they are gas tight so the petrol does not degrade noticeably even when stored for a couple of years.

In contrast, the plastic ones allow the more volatile components of the petrol to diffuse away leaving behind a composition that lawnmower engines don't like.

John

If you're the only user, put your can of petrol in a bag and sit at the back, as far as possible from the driver. You're not risking anyone else's life and no-one will know what's in the bag.

It’s at times like these that social media can be a force for good instead of evil. The world is full of people only too happy to help out total strangers if only you can bring yourself to ask.

It’s hardly a big favour and there will people who can bring petrol to you.

Tim

Sods law would see a semi drunk or drugged antisocial aggressive misfit use the same principle to light up an illicit smoke hoping the driver won’t notice and sit in the next seat.

Another off the wall idea , stand by the side of the road holding the empty can and adopt the hitching a lift sign , someone will correctly though not quite in the usual circumstances deduce you have run out of petrol and stop to give you a lift. Do the same for the return and explain there was so little fuel left in your car you could not risk driving it to the filling station.

GH

Same principle as the nutter on the bus?

Is there any appreciable risk, considering that so many of us drive around with a container of petrol in the boot all the time?

About a year before I hauled petrol, I made my own hand cart out of scrap wood.

Then, a year later, I needed petrol. Two of my plastic cans would fit on the flat part of the hand cart. The hand cart has two wheels of the non-pivoting type, and the uprights are 2x2" dimensional lumber. I have hauled an 85lb load (my floor jack for the garage) on the hand cart, so it can take a load, but that's not all that good for the wheels. If you went two miles with an 85lb load, there would be a lot of shaking of the wheels.

You have to make sure your petrol is well secured to the cart. (If you don't, you have to stop *every six feet* and fix it.)

When you make a cart out of wood, you have the option of putting sides on it, long enough for the particular job. My hand cart has a *lot* of screws in it, from adding one scrap of wood after another, to the design.

The wheels I bought, they were bought twenty years ago. One reason for building the hand cart, was to get some usage out of the wheels. The wheels are solid rubber, with ball bearings. The wheels are smooth tread. There's a bit of "rumbling" as you walk over paving, but it's not too bad.

A bicycle cargo carrier, those use larger diameter wheels, which could give a smoother ride for your cargo. But the weight limit on any commercial item, should be considered. Lots of bargain items at the store, for cargo transport, have particularly low weight limits.

A grocery buggy kind, wouldn't have the necessary weight limit. The wheels can be flimsy on the kind home users buy. I have one of those and ruined the wheels on it :-/

There are all sorts of devices for haulage, including some battery powered four wheel devices with "follow me" logic. They use some of those designs on golf courses, and the players golf bag drives behind them, without the player having to "haul" the bag. The bag just wheels along on its own. The player stops ? The bag stops.

A cargo eBike can haul goods, but those have weight limits too, and the designs can be a bit strange. Strange enough to upset some regulation involving bicycle dimensions.

The problem with a concept like this, is the device does not mate with the dimensions of the human operator -- you could have back pain from trying to get this to follow you without hitting your heels. It's pretty to look at. You would NEVER fill this full. A half to one third, for a gadget like this. You want a low CG for safety.

One of these would be ideal. Lay some padding in the wagon, to cushion the load a bit and reduce the "thump". the handle shaft must be the right length, for your height.

I have one similar to this

The raised push-pull handle is good for manually moving it, though it makes for an uncomfortable tow on a bicycle. The inflated rubber wheels give a smooth ride. And I have grossly overloaded it, the 90 liter plastic hod piled with

A jerrycan or three would be easy.

Thomas Prufer

Ah, I don't think that that is likely, THE bus clocking off early afternoon.

I've never managed to hitch around here. Yes, the petrol bottle might encourage a hitch. On the other hand it might indicate that I've a plan to get you to stop, for nefarious reasons!

Especially for that little bit that ends on the outside of the container when removing the fuel nozzle.

Any blades will require sharpening now and again, or indeed replacing, but that's not servicing. Servicing is cleaning the carb and air filter, removing and cleaning or replacing the spark plug, changing the oil if necessary, etc, none of which is required with a battery mower. Also no lubrication is required.

Anyway, the OP replied that it's mainly a leaf blower he's using. I've no experience of a battery-powered blower. I was surprised at how much grass my battery-powered self-propelled mower would cut before requiring a recharge.