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Retrograde Wheelbarrow

 A change in the simple machine
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Wheelbarrows are a simple machine involving the use of a lever, a wheel, and much swearing in order to move dirt, produce, or your girlfriend about the garden. The typical design for a wheel barrow involves the user being ahead of the load which is in turn ahead of the wheel. The setup requires the user to lift up on the lever in order to release the drag and cause forward movement. Some folks may not be that into it what with bad backs and all.

Therefore I propose the retrograde wheelbarrow which works thusly: A higher handle is positioned adjacent to the wheel with the load at the far end of the user. This requires one to push down on the handles in order to release the drag of the stands and maneuvre the load about.

I can already hear complaints about trying to get your 98 pound self to overcome a 500 kilo load. In which case you need to simply apply a larger force via the formula d*wt. So either strap on some cement shoes or get a longer handle.

—bdag, May 05 2013

Sort of like this? http://www.globalin...lastic-garden-carts
[Canuck, May 05 2013]

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       Canuck, that wheel is FAR too close to the center. The wheel should perhaps be on the handles themselves.
—bdag, May 05 2013
   

       Uh, there are many trolleys and barrows of this design. However, the better solution is a barrow which places the load more-or-less over the wheel (or distributed evenly before and behind the wheel) so that little effort is needed, either pulling or pushing.   

       I think the reason that most wheelbarrows are the way they are is that, if you have to apply a given force whilst walking, it's more comfortable to lift than the push down.
—MaxwellBuchanan, May 05 2013
   

       Putting the load way out in front of the wheel will make the whole thing really unstable, though. Steering would be virtually impossible.
—ytk, May 05 2013
   

       Perhaps it should be pulled instead of pushed...
—bdag, May 05 2013
   

       // The typical design for a wheel barrow involves the user being ahead of the load which is in turn ahead of the wheel. // Umm, I think I see your problem. Normally a wheelbarrow is pushed, not pulled.   

       A wheelbarrow is a great design, but is not the best in all situations. Unfortunately I can't think of any situation where I would prefer a retrograde wheelbarrow to either a regular wheelbarrow or some kind of cart with more than one wheel.
—scad mientist, May 06 2013
   

       You could move a car that only has one pair of locking wheels. Its like a rolling jack. Shouldn't this be called a "lever- barrow"? I thought "retrograde" usually means backwards.
—Private Boney Bunney, May 06 2013
   

       I'll have you know the envelope was beige. So much for your astronology.
—bdag, May 13 2013
   

       I'm convinced the traditional wheelbarrow is fine. After all, if you find it's too heavy to lift for the journey, then it's going to be WAY too heavy to lift all the way up and dump the load out the front. So what you've got there is a warning mechanism.   

       Also, you can make wheelbarrows easier to operate by simply stacking the heavy stuff down the front.
—bs0u0155, May 13 2013
   

       What the...? Is this place fully baked now? What happened to the eleventeen versions of sporks and knorks and foons? What happened to custard in every dozenth idea? What happened to my pants? This place seems to have lost some steam after the UnaBubba vanished.   

       And I mean vanished.
—bdag, May 20 2013
   


 

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