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Thread: Products that should work, but don't.

  1. #1
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    Products that should work, but don't.

    You ever buy something that you think should work, that for some reason just doesn't? I mean, "on paper" it looks good, not a manufacturing error, or just plain junky but it should work.
    I bought one of those two wheeled, wheelbarrows, and man, it just doesn't work. It should, but it doesn't. It took me awhile to figure out why, but I have, and it's just that it is never balanced like a single wheel wheelbarrow. I constantly have to readjust the leverage/balance point.
    it should work, but it just doesn't, which is too bad.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  2. #2
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    Mike, I am sorry to hear that about those two wheeled wheelbarrows! The disease that cost me my hearing affects the inner ear so I also have balance issues. This past spring removing from sod to convert an area to a garden area, I considered replacing our regular one wheeled wheelbarrow with a two-wheeled one. Thanks for the heads up!
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
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    I buy most products that may fall into that category from Walmart or a store that has a Satisfaction Guarantee return policy.

    Almost too good to be true. Just try it for the way you envision the product to work. If it doesn't do what you want, you get your money back.
    "Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right."
    - Henry Ford

  4. #4
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    Can you elaborate on how it doesn't work? I've had a two wheel wheelbarrow for about 30 years, just replaced the handles for the second time this summer. I find it to be much easier to balance than a single wheel style. I can move it around fully loaded with one hand. If I need to make a sharp turn I tip it up on one wheel and it turns just like a single wheel model. Mine is similar to this one, is this the style you are referring to?

    https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=...act=mrc&uact=8

    Last edited by Doug Garson; 11-11-2018 at 1:52 PM.

  5. #5
    In Canada, where they have banned any weed killer or tree sprays that were any good, you can't get one of these "green" or "friendly" products that work at all. Spraying dandylions now turns them black for a day or two and then they spring right back as healthy as ever. I have some apple trees that I used to spray with a product called Wilson Fruit Tree Spray and got great crops of apples. Now the spray we have to use does nothing to stop scab and insects. I'm lucky if I get one apple worth eating. I'm thinking of going to visit my brother just over the border and bring back a load of the good stuff from the USA!!

  6. #6
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    By 2 wheel wheelbarrow, do you mean a lawn cart? If so, I find them far superior to single wheel ones. Perhaps it depends on what you are using them for.

  7. #7
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    Somethin' ain't right

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Cutler View Post
    I bought one of those two wheeled, wheelbarrows, and man, it just doesn't work. It should, but it doesn't. It took me awhile to figure out why, but I have, and it's just that it is never balanced like a single wheel wheelbarrow. I constantly have to readjust the leverage/balance point.
    Yikes, I have four 2-wheel wheelbarrows for farm use and I'd hate to be without them, especially when mixing concrete (can be tippy on a single wheel barrow). After using mine some people have said they were going to get one. I first tried one in the 80's at my brother-in-laws house and I've had my own since just shortly after. Besides the concrete, we use them in the garden, carrying rocks, when cleaning up manure in the barnyard, for carrying a bale or two of hay across the field, when cleaning out peacock and chicken houses, and for carrying firewood from the woodshed to the house. (And occasionally to act crazy and push someone around!) In fact, I'm down to one single-wheel wheelbarrow. (Those things can be tricky!)

    The only place I know where the 2-wheelers don't work well for me is with a heavy load sideways on a significant slope. Well, and for pushing up a narrow plank!

    I simply can't imagine one not working for everyone!

    Do you mean it is not balanced front-to-back when fully loaded evenly? (too much weight on the front or back?) If so, maybe you got a bum barrow. Could you have gotten one that is somehow poorly designed or assembled wrong? What brand? Can you post a photo or two, from the side and of the underside?

    I can fill any of mine with heaping load and they are balanced when I lift the handles. (I occasionally have trouble pushing or pulling a big load up a hill but that has more to do with my age than the balance.

    JKJ

  8. #8
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    Our two wheel barrow was purchased at ACE Hardware and has worked fine for us. It is a bit different than pushing around a single wheel unit. Well of course, our single wheel unit is a rehabilitated old timer with a spoked, solid steel wheel.

    Wheel Barrow.jpg

    My father replaced the broken handles with some aluminum tubing. The handles at the end were turned on my lathe and trimmed to have a tight fit.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  9. #9
    Bullnose planes. So pretty, so useless.
    Big Box screws. They are designed to use a bit that I can never find. When I do find it, it's a tiny little nubby bit that sticks in the screw head. When I drive it, it appears that it's designed to spin out in the hole or snap. The really broken part of it tho is that every few months, I'll try a box expecting to find different results. Perfectly bad.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    Big Box screws. They are designed to use a bit that I can never find. When I do find it, it's a tiny little nubby bit that sticks in the screw head.
    Are you talking about screws that take a "square drive" bit?


    Tools that don't work (for me)
    1. Electric staplers and brad drivers
    2. Cordless carpet cutting gizmos
    3. Electric sheet metal nibblers - find for perfecly flat sheets, no good for negoiating dimples (Why don't they make the jaws open wider?)
    4. Grout removing blades on oscillating mult-toods - ok for old crumbly grout,, but not useful on the hard stuff
    5. The Rotozip
    6. The garden trimer tool that looks like a big pair of scissors except the blades work horizontally as you squeeze the handles vertically.

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Tashiro View Post
    Are you talking about screws that take a "square drive" bit?
    A lot of the big box screws have transitioned to either Star or Torx. Many come with a bit in the box, but they are very positive in grip; even more than "correctly made" square drive screws.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #12
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    Feb 2003
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    "Can you elaborate on how it doesn't work? I've had a two wheel wheelbarrow for about 30 years, just replaced the handles for the second time this summer. I find it to be much easier to balance than a single wheel style. I can move it around fully loaded with one hand. If I need to make a sharp turn I tip it up on one wheel and it turns just like a single wheel model. Mine is similar to this one, is this the style you are referring to?"

    Doug
    It's pretty much exactly like that. It's a 10cu/ft Groundworks model. I also have a 25+year old Jackson, 6.5cu/ft, single wheel.

    John
    Maybe something isn't right.
    They have the same type of wheelbarrow at the barn we board our horse at, and even on concrete, covered by stall mat, aisles, they still shift the load from hand to hand as I walk.
    I've been using them for about five years now. The one I have at home I've had for about three years. I originally got them for cleaning pastures and paddocks, but they just don't seem to work for me as well as a single wheel. I still use mine simply for the size of the pan.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  13. #13
    I agree with Prashun - bull nose planes. I have the little bitty Millers Falls and no matter what I do, it just don't work. I even looked up old articles on how to use 'em - no joy.

    And don't even get me started on CHISEL PLANES - aarrrrgh!
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Tashiro View Post
    Are you talking about screws that take a "square drive" bit?


    Tools that don't work (for me)
    1. Electric staplers and brad drivers
    2. Cordless carpet cutting gizmos
    3. Electric sheet metal nibblers - find for perfecly flat sheets, no good for negoiating dimples (Why don't they make the jaws open wider?)
    4. Grout removing blades on oscillating mult-toods - ok for old crumbly grout,, but not useful on the hard stuff
    5. The Rotozip
    6. The garden trimer tool that looks like a big pair of scissors except the blades work horizontally as you squeeze the handles vertically.
    1. I've never found an electric stapler that had as much driving power as the old school spring powered type. Frustrating.
    5. I have a Rotozip that I bought cause I was dumb & didn't research things. It gets used very occasionally. A small trim router would have been far better & far more versatile.
    6. Agreed.

  15. #15
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    Apr 2013
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    Okotoks AB
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    Bullnose planes. So pretty, so useless.
    Big Box screws. They are designed to use a bit that I can never find. When I do find it, it's a tiny little nubby bit that sticks in the screw head. When I drive it, it appears that it's designed to spin out in the hole or snap. The really broken part of it tho is that every few months, I'll try a box expecting to find different results. Perfectly bad.
    The screws that HD carries here (Calgary) are generally very good in quality. They are all Roberson drive. Of course, sometimes you get a batch that don't sit on the bit as well as they should, but mostly they're quite good. And the selection of oddball fasteners is very good, far better than most dedicated fastener supply outlets have in stock. You pay for the convenience, but unless large quantities are needed, it's well worth it.

    Lee Valley also carries a good selection of excellent screws.

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