The best garden cart for most yards is the Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 4 cu ft, at $129.99: 600 pounds and four cubic feet on 10 inch pneumatic tires, and the one cart here that three hands-on reviewers picked. Two of the three tested its flat-free version, which we cover below. We checked every price and every stock status on Amazon on 2026-09-19.
The garden cart roundups we read compare these on the pound rating. The one comparison chart we found carries no cubic-foot column, and the other roundup does not print cubic feet anywhere, yet cubic feet are what actually stop you. A cart rated 600 pounds over a four cubic foot tub would need a load denser than 150 pounds per cubic foot to reach that rating, and nothing you haul in a garden is. So we put volume next to weight for fifteen models, worked out what each one costs per cubic foot, and counted the bags.
One thing before the list: we make digging spades, not carts, so nothing here is ours. Every figure below is traced to the maker's own specification page or to the product's own Amazon listing, and we say which.
Disclosure: as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. It does not change what we recommend or what you pay. Prices and availability were checked on 2026-09-19 and can change.
Best garden carts at a glance
| Cart | Best for | Price | Rated load, volume, width | Type | Hands-on testing | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 4 cu ft
|
Best overall | $129.99 | 600 lb, 4 cu ft, 20 in wide | Poly tub, four wheels, dumps, 10 in pneumatic | HGTV on this model; Bob Vila and Family Handyman on the flat-free version | amazon |
 BILT HARD Poly Yard Dump Cart, 4 cu ft
|
Best value | $89.97 | 600 lb, 4 cu ft, width not published | Poly tub, dumps, 10 in flat-free | None | amazon |
 Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 6 cu ft
|
The biggest load you can pull by hand | $199.99 | 1,200 lb, 6 cu ft, 25.7 in wide | Poly tub, four wheels, dumps and tows, 13 in pneumatic | None. Bob Vila names it on specs and customer reviews | amazon |
 Gorilla Carts Steel Utility Cart, 7 cu ft
|
Long and awkward loads | $179.99 | 1,000 lb, 7 cu ft, 24.9 in wide | Steel mesh, four wheels, removable sides, does not dump, 13 in pneumatic | HGTV, on the smaller version | amazon |
 Agri-Fab 45-0101 Steel Dump Cart
|
Towing behind a mower | $319.99 | 750 lb, 12 cu ft, 33 in wide | Steel bed, tow hitch, foot-lever dump, 16 in pneumatic | None. Bob Vila names it on specs and customer reviews | amazon |
 Strongway Garden Cart, 14 cu ft
|
Bagged mulch and bulky light loads over rough ground | $199.99 | 400 lb, 14 cu ft, 37.71 in wide | Plywood on steel, two 26 in pneumatic wheels | None | amazon |
 Mac Sports Wagon Classic
|
A shed with no room in it | $99.99 | 150 lb, 3.46 cu ft computed, 20 in wide | Fabric on a folding steel frame | Bob Vila, in its folding wagon test | amazon |
If it is going behind a riding mower, start at the Agri-Fab and skip to that section. Three of the seven tow; only one is built for it.
How we chose
We did not haul a single load in any of these. What we did was read the reviewers who did test, pull every maker's specification page we could find, check each figure against the Amazon listing, and do the arithmetic none of them publish.
Four roundups genuinely tested: Bob Vila on six carts, HGTV on six more, hauling compost across a muddy yard with each, Family Handyman on one cart through a whole backyard build, and Bob Vila's folding wagon article. Its tow-behind dump cart article did not: it says in its own words that it relied on manufacturer specifications, comparative analysis and customer reviews. Two of our picks come from that article, so neither carries a hands-on test and the table above says so. The Spruce names the Ames Lawn Buddy its overall pick, and because its page would not load for us, that one fact is all we take from it.
Counted honestly: three of the seven picks have a hands-on test behind them, and on two of them at least one tester held a different version. Two more come from that specs-and-reviews roundup. Two have no reviewer at all, and each says why it is here anyway.
Three of the seven picks and five of the fifteen models below are Gorilla Carts: that is where the testing and the published specifications are, not a preference. Five picks have a maker's specification page; the BILT HARD and the Mac Sports rest on their Amazon listings alone.
The best garden carts, by job
1. Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 4 cu ft: the best garden cart overall
The Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart (ASIN B01BECQAWO, model GOR4PS, $129.99) is the cart to buy if you want one cart and no research project. Gorilla's own product page states 600 pounds, 4 cubic feet, a 36 by 20 inch poly bed, 10 inch pneumatic tires, an overall size of 38.7 by 20 by 19.5 inches and a product weight of 31.5 pounds.
Three reviewers who put their hands on one picked it. Counting its flat-free version as the same cart, only one other model here was picked by two testers, the WORX Aerocart, and that is a wheelbarrow and a dolly rather than a garden cart; everything else on this page has one tester behind it or none. HGTV makes this exact model its best overall. Bob Vila makes it best bang for the buck and Family Handyman gave it a full review, and both of those link the flat-free version of the same cart, covered in the also-considered section below. The thing all three come back to is the dumping: a spring-loaded handle unlatches a pivot in the back half of the frame, so a full tub empties in one motion without lifting.
Where it loses. HGTV, testing this exact model, found the wheels moved and tangled with one another as the whole bottom shifts and the basin tilts to dump, and that it got easier after a few loads once they had the knack. It also found two people are better than one for assembly: the instructions are not complex, but some steps are hard without a second pair of hands. Family Handyman, on the flat-free version, found the poly sides flexed outward under heavy round stones, called four cubic feet possibly too small for larger jobs, and reported that as a four-wheeled cart it cannot handle a path narrower than 20 inches. Gorilla's own page puts this model at exactly 20 inches wide overall, so that is a spec you can check against your own gate before you buy. This cart also does not tow: Gorilla's page lists towable as no.
And Bob Vila lists exactly one drawback for the version it tested, which is about the rating itself: it says 600 pounds is more than the front steering axle should be asked to carry. Read that with the tables below rather than against them: we say do not buy on the pound rating because you will never fill it, and a tester who has pulled one says do not trust it because the cart cannot carry it. Either way the number to buy on is cubic feet.
2. BILT HARD Poly Yard Dump Cart, 4 cu ft: the same load for $40 less
The BILT HARD 4 Cu.Ft. No-Flat Tires Poly Yard Dump Cart (ASIN B0BHL8NLFJ, $89.97) states the same 600 pounds and the same four cubic feet as the Gorilla above, over a 36.5 by 20 inch poly bed, with the same quick-release dump and a 180 degree rotating handle. The tires are 10 inch flat-free rather than pneumatic, and the listing states a one year warranty.
It is $40.02 less than the Gorilla, which is the entire argument. At $0.15 per rated pound it is the cheapest of the seven picks, and at $22.49 per cubic foot only the Strongway beats it among the picks.
No reviewer names it, and we will not pretend otherwise. It is here because the value slot in this category is otherwise empty: the cheapest reviewer pick we could put a price on is HGTV's Suncast at $79.99, which states no pound capacity anywhere on its listing and weighs ten pounds empty. We could not reach a BILT HARD product page either, so every number in this paragraph comes from the Amazon listing and nowhere else, including the width, which it does not give.
Where it loses. A cart nobody has tested is a cart nobody has tested, and a solid tire has no air in it to absorb gravel and roots. If a tested frame on air tires matters more to you than the money, the Gorilla is $40.02 away.
3. Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 6 cu ft: the biggest load you can pull by hand
The Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 1200 lb capacity, 6 Cu Ft (ASIN B01BECQF6K, model GOR6PS, $199.99) is the 4 cubic foot cart grown up. Gorilla's own page states 1,200 pounds, 6 cubic feet, a 40 by 25.6 inch bed, 13 inch pneumatic tires, 54 pounds of product weight, and a convertible pull and tow handle, so this one hitches to a tractor as well as being pulled by hand.
Bob Vila names it best wagon in its article on dump carts for lawn tractors. Note what that credit is and is not: that article chose on manufacturer specifications and customer reviews, not on testing, so nobody we read has pulled this cart. Family Handyman, reviewing the four cubic foot version, pointed anyone managing a lot of land at Gorilla's 7 cubic foot dump cart. That is neither this cart nor the 7 cubic foot steel one below, and it is not a model we priced.
Where it loses. It is 25.7 inches wide against the overall pick's 20, which is more than it sounds if your beds are close together or your side gate is standard. And of the fifteen models in the table below it has the highest rating relative to its tub, which is the clearest example of a rating you will never reach.
Bob Vila, on specifications and customer reviews rather than a test, publishes two drawbacks, and one lands on the hitch: it says the cart does not back up well when you are towing it. If the tow handle is the reason you are buying this one, weigh that. Its other drawback is that the tub is small, a judgement made against dedicated tow-behind carts, which that article puts at about 7 cubic feet to more than 20, rather than against hand carts.
4. Gorilla Carts Steel Utility Cart, 7 cu ft: the one that becomes a flatbed
The Gorilla Carts Steel Utility Garden Cart, 1000 lb capacity (ASIN B01BECQEA2, model GOR1001-COM, $179.99) is the one for things that do not fit in a tub. Gorilla's own page states 1,000 pounds, 7 cubic feet, a 49 by 24.5 inch powder-coated steel mesh bed, 13 inch pneumatic tires, 61.5 pounds of product weight, a convertible pull and tow handle, and removable side panels that turn it into a flatbed.
This is a sibling substitution and you should know it. HGTV's best utility wagon is the same maker's smaller steel mesh cart, the GOR400-COM at 3 cubic feet and 400 pounds, which returned currently unavailable on Amazon when we checked. What HGTV liked about it transfers: it used the collapsible sides to move chopped firewood, large bags of soil, landscaping rock, edging and fence posts. What HGTV disliked transfers too: assembly took about 45 minutes, the longest of all the carts it tested.
Where it loses. Gorilla's own page lists dumping as no. This cart has no dump mechanism at all, so a load of soil comes out by shovel or by tipping the whole cart. A mesh bed also leaks anything finer than gravel, which is why the removable sides and the flatbed mode are the point rather than a bonus.
5. Agri-Fab 45-0101: the best cart to tow behind a lawn tractor
The Agri-Fab Steel Utility Lawn and Garden Dump Cart (ASIN B000NBEA8E, model 45-0101, $319.99) is where a yard stops being a garden. Agri-Fab's own product page calls it the 750 lb. Steel Cart and states a bed of 32.5 by 49 by 12 inches, a heaped bed capacity of 12 cubic feet, 16 by 4 inch pneumatic tires, an assembled size of 70 by 33 by 29 inches, a product weight of 102 pounds, and a three year limited warranty, the longest term anyone on this page publishes.
Bob Vila names the 45-0101 best bang for the buck among tow-behind dump carts, on specifications and customer reviews rather than a test. The dumping is a one lever foot release, which matters when the cart is behind you and you are sitting on a mower.
It is also the one pick where the bed and the rating run out together. At 62.5 rated pounds per cubic foot it sits just under what green oak weighs, so a full 12 cubic feet of oak would be about 780 pounds against a 750 pound rating. On the four poly and steel dump carts above it, the tub fills first by a wide margin.
Where it loses. It is 33 inches wide and 102 pounds empty, so it is not a cart you wheel between raised beds or lift into a shed. It is $120.00 more than the Strongway and $230.02 more than the BILT HARD. And Agri-Fab states 12 cubic feet heaped: the bed's own dimensions, 49 by 32.5 by 12 inches, work out at 11.06 cubic feet struck level. Bob Vila, again on specifications and customer reviews, flags that it carries less than the biggest tow-behinds and that you have to build it yourself.
6. Strongway Garden Cart, 14 cu ft: the most volume, on two big wheels
The Strongway Garden Cart (ASIN B00ULDJQEM, $199.99) is the classic large-wheel garden cart, and it is a different machine from everything above. Northern Tool, which sells Strongway as its own brand, states 14 cubic feet, a 400 pound working load, two 26 inch spoked pneumatic wheels with ball bearing hubs, a rigid powder-coated steel frame with plywood panels and aluminum edging, a removable rear panel, a bed of 48 by 29 by 15.5 inches, an overall size of 67.5 by 37.71 by 29.81 inches, and a one year limited warranty.
Two big wheels set well back mean the load sits over the axle rather than on your arms, and a bigger wheel rolls over what a smaller one stops against. At $14.29 per cubic foot it is the cheapest volume on this page by a distance, in either tier: the next lowest is $19.75.
No reviewer we read covers this large-wheel type at all, which is the honest reason it has no name beside it. HGTV did test a two-wheel cart, but on 14 inch wheels over 5 cubic feet, which is a different machine from 26 inch wheels over 14. The Strongway is here because it has the widest gap on the page between what its bed holds and what its rating allows, at 28.6 rated pounds per cubic foot. Fourteen bags of topsoil would be 560 pounds in a cart rated for 400, so it stops you at ten. Five oak rounds and it is full by weight with nearly nine cubic feet of air left.
Where it loses. That is the trade, and you have to want it. Northern Tool lists no dump mechanism, only a removable rear panel, so you unload it by hand. It is 37.71 inches wide, and a plywood bed is a plywood bed: keep it out of the rain. Buy it for mulch, leaves, clippings, pots, stakes and prunings, which is the load it is built for. Do not buy it for gravel.
7. Mac Sports Wagon Classic: the one that folds flat
The Mac Sports Heavy Duty Steel Frame Collapsible Folding Utility Wagon (ASIN B00BUUUIGK, $99.99) is for the shed that is already full. Its listing states a 150 pound load on a heavy duty steel frame under 600 denier polyester, inside dimensions of 32.5 by 17.5 by 10.5 inches, outside dimensions of 35 by 20 by 23 inches, a folded size of 29.5 by 20 by 8 inches with a carry case, and an empty weight of 24.5 pounds.
Bob Vila names the Mac Sports Wagon Classic best overall in its folding wagon article, which did assemble and test its candidates. It is here rather than a rival because the two collapsible carts the garden-cart reviewers picked are both gone: HGTV's Sekey and Bob Vila's Vivosun both returned currently unavailable on Amazon when we checked on 2026-09-19.
The listing publishes no cubic foot figure, so we worked one out from its own inside dimensions: 32.5 by 17.5 by 10.5 inches is 5,971.9 cubic inches, or 3.46 cubic feet. That is the number in the tables below, and it is the reason this cart is not a mulch cart.
Where it loses. 150 pounds is the lowest rating here by a factor of two, and it is the only pick whose bed is fabric that can stretch and tear. It takes one bag of mulch. It is also the most expensive cart on this page per rated pound, at $0.67, and we could not find a specification page for it on macsports.com, so everything above is the listing's own word. You are buying the fold, not the capacity. Bob Vila, which did test it, adds that its wheels are too narrow for sand and that it is not built to carry children.
Also considered: models that missed the list and why
These are the carts a shopper arrives already weighing: the ones the reviewers name and the brands that fill the shopping carousel. Each is here with the specific reason it missed, and all eight appear in the cost table that follows.
Gorilla Carts Dump Garden Cart, 4 Cu Ft, No-Flat Tires, $189.87. The same cart as our overall pick with 10 inch flat-free tires instead of pneumatic, a 35.2 by 21.8 inch bed and a stated one year warranty. This is the exact listing Bob Vila and Family Handyman link, so two of the three testers behind our overall pick were holding this version. It missed only on the tires: same ratings, a slightly different bed footprint, and at $47.47 per cubic foot it is the most expensive volume on the page. The cost of that tire upgrade is set out further down.
WORX Aerocart 8-in-1, $185.99. The only other model here that two reviewers picked: Bob Vila's runner-up and HGTV's best splurge. Its listing states 300 pounds, flat-free tires, an all-metal structure, and a two-wheel design with dual support legs that lets it work as a wheelbarrow, a hand cart or a dolly that lifts 200 pounds. It missed because it is a wheelbarrow and a dolly rather than a garden cart, its 300 pound rating is half or less of what the four-wheel poly dump carts here state, and it publishes no cubic foot figure, so two of its three computed columns read not applicable and it cannot appear in the bags table at all.
Best Choice Products Dual-Wheel Garden Cart, $99.00. HGTV's best dual-wheeled pick. Its listing states 5 cubic feet, 14 inch inflatable wheels, a padded handlebar that doubles as a stand, an overall size of 58 by 27.5 by 26 inches and a 330 pound capacity. HGTV liked the handle length and that the shape kept it off testers' heels. It missed the two-wheel slot to the Strongway, which gives 14 cubic feet and 26 inch wheels for $100.99 more.
Suncast Garden Cart on Wheels, 15.5 Gallon, $79.99. HGTV's best value, a resin two-wheel cart that weighs 10 pounds empty, which is genuinely useful if lifting is the problem. It missed the value slot because its listing states no pound capacity anywhere, only 15.5 gallons, which is 2.07 cubic feet. A cart that will not tell you what it carries cannot be compared to one that does.
Brinly 10 cu.ft. Tow-Behind Poly Utility Cart, $349.00. The best-specified tow-behind here on paper: 650 pounds, a one-piece compression-moulded poly bed, a 56 degree dump angle, a foot pedal release on the tongue, 16 by 4 inch pneumatic tires with castle tread and a three quarter inch solid steel axle. It missed to the Agri-Fab on arithmetic: $29.01 more for 2 cubic feet and 100 pounds less, and no reviewer we read names it.
Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 2-Wheel Garden Wagon, $99.00. The same 4 cubic foot tub and the same quick-release dump as our overall pick, on two wheels instead of four, with a foldable handle for storage. It missed because two wheels halve the rating: 300 pounds against 600, for $30.99 less.
BILT HARD Steel Garden Cart, $89.99. A 4 cubic foot steel cart with removable sides, a 180 degree rotating handle and 10 inch tires, at two cents more than our value pick. It missed on a number the seller states two ways: the title says 880 lbs and the first feature bullet says a weight capacity of up to 400 lbs. We use 400 in the table below, and we would not buy a cart on a rating its own listing contradicts.
VEVOR Heavy Duty Poly Garden Dump Cart, $127.99. The cheapest rated pound on this page at $0.11, with a 2-in-1 convertible tow handle, a quick release and 13 inch tires. It has the same problem in a smaller way: the title says 7 Cu.Ft and the first feature bullet says a capacity of 6.48 cu.ft. We use 6.48. It is a real contender if you want tow capability under $150 and you can live with a listing that has not been proofread.
And the ones the reviewers name that you cannot buy today. If you have been reading other roundups you will be looking for these. Three returned currently unavailable with no price on Amazon when we checked on 2026-09-19, which is why none is linked: the Gorilla Carts GOR400-COM steel mesh cart, which is HGTV's best utility wagon; the Sekey collapsible wagon, HGTV's best collapsible; and the Vivosun collapsible folding wagon, Bob Vila's also-consider pick. The Spruce's overall pick, the Ames Lawn Buddy, is not in the Amazon catalogue at all. Four more that reviewers name, from Ohio Steel, Polar Trailer and Craftsman, are each sold through a single retailer that is not Amazon, and Bob Vila's poly tow-behind pick, the John Deere 10PX, did not come back from the Amazon catalogue when we looked it up.
Two others sit outside what this page covers. Bob Vila's overall pick, the self-propelled SuperHandy Electric Utility Wagon Pro, is $1,099.99, more than double the top of our $80 to $500 band. Its heavy-duty tow-behind pick, the MotoAlliance Impact poly tub trailer at $409.99, is an ATV implement on 18 inch tires rather than a garden cart.
What a garden cart really costs, per pound and per cubic foot
Price tags sort these badly, because a $199.99 cart can be four cubic feet or fourteen. Dividing price by the maker's own two ratings sorts them properly, and it turns up the thing this category hides: the pound rating on most of these carts is unreachable.
The last column is the one to read. It is the rated load divided by the rated volume, so it says how heavy a load would have to be, per cubic foot, to use up the pound rating before the tub fills. Bagged mulch is 19.5 pounds per cubic foot. Bagged topsoil is 40. Green oak is 60 to 70. Anything in this column above about 65 is a number no garden material will reach.
| Cart | Tier | Price | Rated load | Rated volume | Cost per rated lb (computed) | Cost per cu ft (computed) | Rated lb per cu ft (computed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strongway Garden Cart, 14 cu ft | Pick | $199.99 | 400 lb | 14 cu ft | $0.50 | $14.29 | 28.6 |
| VEVOR Poly Garden Dump Cart | Also considered | $127.99 | 1,200 lb | 6.48 cu ft | $0.11 | $19.75 | 185.2 |
| Best Choice Products dual-wheel cart | Also considered | $99.00 | 330 lb | 5 cu ft | $0.30 | $19.80 | 66.0 |
| BILT HARD Poly Yard Dump Cart, 4 cu ft | Pick | $89.97 | 600 lb | 4 cu ft | $0.15 | $22.49 | 150.0 |
| BILT HARD Steel Garden Cart | Also considered | $89.99 | 400 lb | 4 cu ft | $0.22 | $22.50 | 100.0 |
| Gorilla Carts 2-Wheel Garden Wagon | Also considered | $99.00 | 300 lb | 4 cu ft | $0.33 | $24.75 | 75.0 |
| Gorilla Carts Steel Utility Cart, 7 cu ft | Pick | $179.99 | 1,000 lb | 7 cu ft | $0.18 | $25.71 | 142.9 |
| Agri-Fab 45-0101 Steel Dump Cart | Pick | $319.99 | 750 lb | 12 cu ft | $0.43 | $26.67 | 62.5 |
| Mac Sports Wagon Classic | Pick | $99.99 | 150 lb | 3.46 cu ft | $0.67 | $28.90 | 43.4 |
| Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 4 cu ft | Pick | $129.99 | 600 lb | 4 cu ft | $0.22 | $32.50 | 150.0 |
| Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 6 cu ft | Pick | $199.99 | 1,200 lb | 6 cu ft | $0.17 | $33.33 | 200.0 |
| Brinly Tow-Behind Poly Utility Cart | Also considered | $349.00 | 650 lb | 10 cu ft | $0.54 | $34.90 | 65.0 |
| Suncast Garden Cart on Wheels | Also considered | $79.99 | Not published | 2.07 cu ft computed | Not applicable | $38.64 | Not applicable |
| Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 4 cu ft, flat-free | Also considered | $189.87 | 600 lb | 4 cu ft | $0.32 | $47.47 | 150.0 |
| WORX Aerocart 8-in-1 | Also considered | $185.99 | 300 lb | Not published | $0.62 | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Every computed column is the maker's own two ratings divided into each other or into the price. Two rows carry a volume we worked out rather than one the seller published: the Mac Sports from its stated inside dimensions, the Suncast from its stated 15.5 gallons. The Aerocart and the Suncast each leave one rating unpublished, so two cells read not applicable rather than being guessed.
Two things fall out of it. Volume runs from $14.29 a cubic foot on the Strongway to $47.47 on a cart identical in rating to our overall pick except for its tires: a spread of 3.3 times across prices that span only 4.4. And the cheapest rated pound, the VEVOR at $0.11, is the kind of number this table exists to defuse, because that rating sits over a tub you will fill long before you reach it.
How many bags of mulch fit in a garden cart?
This is the question people are actually asking, so here is the answer in bags. For each pick we worked out how many fit by volume, how many fit by weight, took the smaller of the two, and named which limit stopped you.
The three unit weights all come from a source, and two of them are ranges we have taken a position inside. A 2 cubic foot bag of shredded wood mulch is 39 pounds on the bagged-mulch listing we saved, which is 19.5 pounds per cubic foot; other sources put a 2 cubic foot bag anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds depending on how wet it is, and the mulch column below is volume-limited at every one of those figures, so nothing in it moves. For topsoil, a bulk listing that sells the same 2 cubic yards as either 72 bags of 0.75 cubic feet or 54 bags of 1 cubic foot states approximately 40 to 60 pounds a bag; we use 40 pounds per cubic foot, the light end. For firewood, Penn State Extension puts oaks and hickories at between 60 and 70 pounds per cubic foot green; we use the 65 pound midpoint, and a round 16 inches long by 12 inches across is 1.05 cubic feet of solid wood, so about 68 pounds.
| Cart | Bags of mulch, 2 cu ft at 39 lb (computed) | Bags of topsoil, 1 cu ft at 40 lb (computed) | Oak rounds, 1.05 cu ft at 68 lb (computed) | What stops you first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 4 cu ft | 2 | 4 | 3 | The tub, every time |
| BILT HARD Poly Yard Dump Cart, 4 cu ft | 2 | 4 | 3 | The tub, every time |
| Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 6 cu ft | 3 | 6 | 5 | The tub, every time |
| Gorilla Carts Steel Utility Cart, 7 cu ft | 3 | 7 | 6 | The bed, every time |
| Agri-Fab 45-0101 Steel Dump Cart | 6 | 12 | 11 | The bed, except on firewood, where the rating binds a hair first |
| Strongway Garden Cart, 14 cu ft | 7 | 10 | 5 | The rating, on soil and on wood |
| Mac Sports Wagon Classic | 1 | 3 | 2 | The rating, on wood |
Read the last column first. On four of the seven picks, nothing a gardener carries ever reaches the pound rating: the tub fills and you walk. The 4 cubic foot carts rated for 600 pounds top out at about 160 pounds of topsoil and about 78 pounds of mulch. Three carts do stop you on weight. On the Agri-Fab it happens only with firewood and only just. On the Strongway, at 28.6 rated pounds per cubic foot, and the Mac Sports at 43.4, it is abrupt: the Strongway takes five oak rounds and still has nearly nine cubic feet of empty space.
In trips, on a 20 bag mulch job: ten loads in the 4 cubic foot carts, seven in the 6 and 7 cubic foot ones, four behind a mower with the Agri-Fab, and three in the Strongway. If the job is bags and the ground is a lawn, volume beats the dump handle.
Three caveats, all ours. At the heavy end of the topsoil range, 60 pounds a bag, only two cells move: the Strongway takes 6 bags rather than 10 and the Mac Sports 2 rather than 3. The oak column uses solid wood volume, so it is a ceiling: real rounds stack with gaps, and you will fit fewer. And mulch and soil bags are rectangular while these tubs are not, so treat the bag counts as the arithmetic answer rather than a promise about packing.
What is the difference between a garden cart and a wheelbarrow?
Wheels and where the load sits. A wheelbarrow has one or two wheels at the front and you carry part of the load in your arms the whole way, then tip it forward to empty. A garden cart has four wheels, or two big ones set under the load, so the ground carries all of the weight and you only supply the pull.
That is why the ratings look so different. The four-wheeled carts here are rated 600 to 1,200 pounds and the wheelbarrow-style models are rated 300 to 400, because a wheelbarrow's limit is your back rather than the frame. Family Handyman put it directly after testing the flat-free Gorilla on a build: a loaded wheelbarrow is hard to lift and hard to steer over bumpy ground, and dumping it accurately is not easy. The wheelbarrow wins on access, and only on access: our overall pick is 20 inches wide and Family Handyman found that version of it cannot manage a path narrower than that, while a single wheel goes down a plank and between beds.
What is the best dump cart?
For most yards it is the Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart at $129.99, our overall pick, because its dump mechanism is the one three testers independently singled out. The 6 cubic foot version at $199.99 is the same mechanism on a bigger tub.
Check that the cart you are looking at dumps at all. It is easy to assume and it is not always true: a mesh utility cart is usually a flatbed that happens to have sides, not a tipper.
Can you tow a garden cart behind a lawn tractor?
Some of them, and the maker will say so in one word. The 6 cubic foot Gorilla and the steel Gorilla both list a convertible pull and tow handle; the Agri-Fab is a tow-behind cart with a hitch and nothing else. The overall pick does not tow, and Gorilla's own page says so.
If towing is the main job, buy the cart built for it rather than the cart that converts. A convertible handle gives you a hitch point and tires designed for walking pace; the Agri-Fab gives you mower-speed tires and a foot lever you can reach from the seat.
One caution we will not dress up: hitch ratings, tongue weights and towing speed are your mower's manual's business, not ours. Check what your machine is rated to pull before you load anything.
Two wheels or four?
Four wheels for anything heavy and wet, two big wheels for anything bulky and light. A four-wheel cart carries the whole load and turns tightly, which is what all three Gorilla picks here are built around. A two-wheel cart on 26 inch wheels, like the Strongway, rolls over ruts and roots that stop a small tire, and pivots on the spot.
The price of four wheels is width and ground clearance in the middle. The price of two big wheels is that you balance the load yourself over the axle, and that it will tip if you load one end. In the table above, every two-wheel cart sits at 75 rated pounds per cubic foot or below: two wheels and a long bed is a design for volume rather than mass.
What is the easiest garden cart to pull?
The one with the biggest wheels and the load over the axle, which on this page is the Strongway on 26 inch spoked pneumatic wheels. A bigger wheel rolls over what a smaller one stops against, and wheel size is the spec most listings bury.
After that, weight. These carts are 24.5 pounds (Mac Sports), 31.5 (the 4 cubic foot Gorilla), 54 (the 6 cubic foot Gorilla), 61.5 (the steel Gorilla) and 102 pounds (Agri-Fab) empty. On a small job you are moving the cart as much as the load, and a 102 pound cart is a real decision.
Pneumatic or flat-free tires?
Pneumatic tires are air-filled and cushion the load; flat-free tires are solid and never puncture. Six of the seven picks state which they use, and on one cart you can buy either.
That is the clearest price we can put on the question anywhere on this page. Our overall pick is the 4 cubic foot Gorilla on 10 inch pneumatic tires at $129.99. The same cart on 10 inch flat-free tires is $189.87. Same 600 pounds, same 4 cubic feet, a slightly different bed footprint, and $59.88 apart, which is 46 percent more for the tires alone.
HGTV, having tested a mix of both, reported that larger rubber tires handled bumpy and muddy terrain a little better than all-plastic wheels. Our own reading of the specs is simpler: if you are hauling over roots, gravel or frozen ruts, air is worth it and a pump is 20 dollars. If the cart lives outdoors, gets used four times a year and you resent maintenance, buy solid.
What makes a garden cart heavy duty?
Not the number on the box, which the table above should have settled. Frame material will not help you either. Eight of the fifteen listings here say steel frame and stop there, six say nothing about the frame at all and the seventh says only that it is metal, and not one of the fifteen says how that frame is built, so it sorts nothing. Three things are checkable and do separate these carts. What the bed is made of, which runs from a poly tub through steel mesh and plywood to 600 denier fabric. How big the tires are, which runs from 10 inches to 26. And whether anyone publishes a warranty term at all.
On those three our overall pick is a poly tub on the smallest tires stated here, 10 inches, with no warranty term on its own listing. That is the trade for a cart this narrow, and it is worth knowing before you buy rather than after.
Warranty thins the field fastest. Agri-Fab publishes three years, Northern Tool publishes one year for the Strongway, and BILT HARD states one year on its poly dump cart. Of the five Gorilla listings on this page, only the flat-free 4 cubic foot cart publishes a term, at one year. The other BILT HARD listing states no term at all, and Mac Sports publishes none we could find. So if a written term is what you are buying, the Agri-Fab is the only cart here offering you three years of one.
How do you choose a garden cart?
- Start with cubic feet, not pounds. The pound rating is unreachable on four of our seven. The volume is what you hit on every single trip.
- Then measure your narrowest gap. Gate, side return, the space between two raised beds. Our overall pick is 20 inches wide, the 6 cubic foot version is 25.7, and the Strongway is 37.71. This rules carts in and out faster than any other number.
- Then decide whether it has to dump. A tipping tub saves a shovelful of work every trip, and three of the seven here do not have one. Check the maker's spec, not the photograph.
- Then the wheels. Bigger is easier over rough ground, and air rides better than solid at the price set out above.
- Then plan the build. HGTV needed two people for the 4 cubic foot Gorilla and about 45 minutes for the smaller steel one it tested, the longest of its carts; Family Handyman called the flat-free version quick and easy.
- Then where it lives. A 102 pound steel cart and a plywood bed both want to be under cover. A fabric wagon folds to eight inches thick and goes on a hook.
And be honest about how often you will use it. A cart used every weekend justifies the 4 or 6 cubic foot Gorilla. A cart used a few times a year, for leaves, mulch and pots, is the Strongway or the Mac Sports.
What else do you need for the jobs a cart is for?
A cart is the second half of a job. Something has to fill it, and on most spring and autumn jobs that something is a spade.
If the load is leaves, our how to mulch leaves guide covers turning them into something worth carting rather than bagging, and fall yard cleanup tools puts the rest of the autumn kit in order. Compost is two guides: the best compost bins for where it comes from, how to improve clay soil for where it goes. Firewood wants somewhere dry to land, which the best firewood racks covers. And if the reason you want a cart is a new bed, how to build a raised garden bed is the job all that soil is for.
That filling job is where a digging spade earns its place: cutting through turf and roots around a new bed, then lifting what you cut into the cart, over and over. We make double patented digging spades, and the D-handle garden spade is the one we would take to stripping turf for a new bed with a cart parked beside us.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best garden cart brand?
Gorilla Carts, on the evidence we could find. It is the brand that turns up most often across the roundups we read, appearing in HGTV's, Bob Vila's and Family Handyman's, and it publishes a full specification block for all three of its picks here, including the two things most listings leave out: bed dimensions and whether the cart dumps at all. Agri-Fab publishes the longest warranty term we found, at three years.
Can a garden cart be left outside?
Poly tubs and powder-coated steel frames cope best. The poly carts here and the steel-framed Gorilla describe the bed or frame as rust-resistant or rust-proof on their own listings, and Northern Tool says the same of the Strongway's frame; Agri-Fab publishes no rust claim for the 45-0101 at all. Two of our picks should not live out in weather whatever the frame is: the Strongway has plywood panels, and the Mac Sports is 600 denier polyester. Check the maker's own care instructions before you decide, because a warranty claim usually turns on them.
The bottom line
Buy the Gorilla Carts Poly Dump Cart, 4 cu ft at $129.99 if you want the cart three testers picked and a dump handle that works. Buy the BILT HARD at $89.97 if you want the same 600 pounds and the same 4 cubic feet for $40.02 less and you do not mind that nobody has tested it. Buy the Strongway at $199.99 if the job is bags and leaves rather than gravel, and the Agri-Fab 45-0101 at $319.99 if it is going behind a mower.
And measure your gate before you spend anything. Width rules out more carts than price does.
