The Southeastern US is soaked.
Like super duper bummer 24/7 nonstop rain for multiple weeks.
We ain’t riding today.
But that’s okay because you guys have been pushing me to make good on a DIY project that
I suggested in another video.
I bought this wheelbarrow for $30, and after just a few projects it’s falling apart.
It can barely withstand the rigors of light gardening, let alone trail building, but that’s
not even the issue.
The issue is, no wheelbarrow is optimized for 50% grades.
So today, we’re gonna build a downhill specific wheelbarrow—or maybe an enduro barrow.
We’ll see.
This old ebike will never run again, and it’s just taking up space at my house.
So we’ll salvage the suspension fork, front wheel, stem, and bars from it.
From my parts bin, I’ll collect a few more stems, a mechanical disc brake caliper, and
some hardware to hold it all together.
Since my old wheelbarrow is on its last legs, I’ll dismantle it and save the one part
that’s any good: the plastic bin, which is surprisingly resilient.
My idea is to attach a pipe to the steerer tube of this fork, and build a chassis out
of stems and handlebars.
By using bike parts, I know this thing will be stiff.
With a downhill ready chassis, all I’ll need to do is fasten the bin to it—somehow.
The real challenge is finding a pipe that’s the right diameter for
the stems.
Tony is always willing to entertain my crazy ideas, and lend his knowledge of sizing and
hardware.
After some head scratching and experimenting with different parts, I went home with a pipe
that matched the outside diameter of the steerer tube.
All the sizing looked right, and things were coming together, but the chassis didn’t
seem quite enduro grade.
To really beat on this thing I’d need some help from another friend.
Johnny normally works with wood, but he dabbles in just about every facet of DIY.
As such, he was willing to help me make the best of what I had on short notice.
After some sanding, welding, and hammering, I had a wheelbarrow chassis that was—well,
probably better than the last one.
We’ll let the slopes of berm creek have the final word.
With the fork flat on the floor, I used a level to get the handlebars alined with it.
I then tightened down the pinch bolts on the stems—a lot.
No torque wrench on this build.
Next up, attaching the bin.
I lined up the bin and drilled additional holes next to the factory ones, to accommodate
u bolts.
By fastening the u bolts around the handlebars at four points, I was confident everything
would stay put.
To actually operate the endurbarrow, I attached a cockpit to the very end of the chassis,
complete with grips and a brake lever of course.
Because internal cable routing is all the rage, I drilled a hole in the stem cap to
run everything through the pipe in the middle.
Since my mechanical disc brake caliper was missing some parts, I needed to get creative
and make my own cable clamp.
To make the Endurbarrow stand up, it would need feet.
Using the two sets of handlebars in the middle, I started tinkering with scrap wood from the
van video.
With a really wide stance, and feet that sort of stick into the ground, the Endurbarrow
would be perfect for use on uneven terrain.
With the endurbarrow complete, it was ready for testing—except for one problem.
All that rain.
That didn’t stop me from doing some rock work.
There are a few areas in my yard that get muddy and slippery, so I wanted to lay down
some stepping stones there for foot traffic.
If you didn’t know, rocks are heavy.
With my old wheelbarrow, hauling rocks into the yard was a two person job.
With the endurbarrow, it’s a piece of cake.
Just pull the lever and descend with confidence.
With a huge wheel up front, the Endurbarrow handles bumps like they’re nothing.
With its wide stance, toppling is a thing of the past.
I expected this thing to be entertaining, but it actually turned out to be a better
wheelbarrow for berm creek.
But light use like isn’t enough to call it an endurbarrow.
We needed to give it a proper test.
The
endurbarrow turned out to be stiff, capable, and worthy of it’s name.
And there’s nobody here as surprised as me.
I thought this thing would flex like crazy, and that the stems would slip and throw the
bin totally off balance.
Somehow it doesn’t, so the Endurbarrow will actually get used for future projects on Berm
Creek.
I asked you guys to remind me to build this, and you did—in the comments of every video.
So thanks for holding me accountable for that suggestion, and please let me know what you
think of this thing.
I had a lot of fun building it, and got a few projects done while testing it.
Now if only this rain would let up, I could actually use the Endurbarrow to build something
rideable.
Until then, thanks for riding with me today and I’ll see you next time.