Belle scores top in the Which Magazine? best-buy testing

During a recent Which? Magazine test to find the country’s best garden Wheelbarrow, Belle led the way – having three Wheelbarrows in the top six (a total of 15 Wheelbarrows were tested).

The Fort Cosmo which is available in a selection of vibrant colours topped the scoring with a score of 76% whilst the Fort Weekender and The Fort Rancher TK-100 both came in with impressive scores from the judges to finish in the top six.

What the test involved

At the Which? test site, an obstacle course was created with slopes, shallow and steep steps, soft ground, gravel paths, sharp bends and a shed doorway. Three reasonably fit testers then pushed every barrow, each one loaded with 30Kg of loose material, round the course before emptying it at the end. They then rated every one for a number of aspects, including how it handled the obstacles, the comfort of the hand grips, how easy it was to balance, vibration on the arms and how easy it was to fill and empty. They then repeated the procedure using two older and less able testers with a light but bulky load.

Their ratings were used to calculate the total score, as follows: in use with a heavy load 15%, in use with a light load 10%, loading 10%, emptying 10%, comfort of handles 10%, balance 10%, vibration 10%, cleaning and storing 10%, balance of load 5%, removing wheel 5%. They also measured the level capacity of the tray. The amount of loose material each can carry will depend on the nature and weight of material.

Here’s what was said:-

Fort Cosmo – 76% in terms of ease-of-use and performance, The tipping bar is useful, and as it’s square-ended the barrow can be stood up against a wall. It’s wider than most wheelbarrows, but is reasonably light and takes a good-sized load of loose material. We found it easy to move around our obstacle course and it was the clear favourite among our female testers. The plastic tray comes in a range of eight vibrant colours, too.

Width: 68cm
Weight: 9.6kg
Load: level, 41 litres
Available from: garden centres

Fort Weekender – 74% the Fort Weekender is a version of the Fort Cosmo with a traditional galvanised tray, rather than a plastic one. It scored a bit less than the Cosmo because our testers found it slightly harder to fill. However, it was much easier to clean. It was slightly narrower but 2kg heavier, and more of the weight was transferred to the arms. We also found that we could pile a lot less into it than we could the Cosmo. This is a good choice if you like a traditional metal wheelbarrow, but for most gardeners the more colourful Cosmo would be a better bet.

Width: 65cm
Weight: 11.6kg
Load: level, 41litres
Available from: garden centres

Fort Rancher TK-100 – 71% this is a larger version of the Fort Cosmo which featured on the ‘Best Buy’ list. There were no real negative points, our testers simply found the smaller one easier to use.

Width: 61cm
Weight: 11.4kg
Load: level, 68 litres