Thanksgiving Crafts - Wooden Wheelbarrow

Thanksgiving Crafts - Building the Wooden Wheelbarrow

This wooden wheelbarrow is made entirely of used fence boards, including the wheel. The material used to make the frame is a single fence board ripped down the middle, making the size of the pieces roughly 2 inches x 3/4 inches.

Diagram [A] is a side view of the wheelbarrow frame with the front wheel attached. It shows the size of the front wheel as well as the placement of the cross members and rear legs.

The front wheel is constructed of four 8 inch fence boards nailed together perpendicularly to form a 8 inch x 8 inch square (1.5 inches thick). Draw a 5 inch diameter circle on the square using a compass, or similar device, and cut the circle out with a jigsaw or band saw. Simple, eh?

Diagram [B] shows the frame and front wheel assembled. Since this wheelbarrow is decorative, I nailed my wheel between the front pieces of the frame so that it doesn't move.

The frame around the base [C] is made of a 14 inch x 3 inch fence board on the back (cut with an 8 degree bevel on each end). On the front, there's an 8.5 inch x 2 inch fence board (also cut with an 8 degree bevel on each end). The two side boards are rips that taper from 3 inches to 2 inches and are 20 inches long. See Diagram [C] and [D].

Once I assembled the frame of the tray, I scribed the angles on the bottom pieces, before cutting them, so that the angles would match precisely. I nailed them in between the tray frame, so that they would be flush with the bottom.

All of the pieces of the wheelbarrow were assembled using a combination of 1.25 inch and 2 inch galvanized 16 gauge air nails.

This wheelbarrow's rustic look, along with the fall decorations, make this a unique Thanksgiving craft project.

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