How do you empty your wheelbarrow?

[meleeka]

Do you have a ramp, fork it up, or something else?

I have the opportunity to redesign my dung heap. Currently it’s a mess

 

[milliepops]

wade up onto the muck heap and tip it, then fork and stamp it flat. It's not too bad if everyone does their bit to keep a ramp up the heap and the top flat and trodden down, otherwise it's a pita.

 

[Abacus]

I recently bought a tipping muck trailer, which has a ramp made by local friendly farmer for me. it works pretty well; it's not huge which means it needs emptying quite often - probably once per month. Farmer charges £10 for this. I used to have an enormous and messy hole in the ground which needed emptying maybe twice per year and cost £100 per tractor load (probably was 2 loads each time). So the muck trailer will work out cheaper overall, and neater, and once I have filled the hole in the ground I'll have more parking space...

ETA: mine is a small wooden muck trailer- not the fancy horse sort you see in the back of H&H, which I think cost about £3k. Mine was £500 but has needed some work since to repair an oil leak and fix a wheel.

 

[3OldPonies]

With a shovel and try to keep the heap square if I can, not easy when it has no sides and pheasants slide down it whenever they want to reach the ground.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Yards in my town have a pit that's lined with brick or concrete. You just wheel the barrow up to the edge and tip it up. It's a good idea to not allow the barrow to fall. If it does, try not to follow it into the heap.

The best barrows have a plastic body hinged at the front, so you can leave the frame at rest, put your foot into one of the two loops that it rests on, and just tip the body forwards.

 

[Cecile]

When I was asked about what I wanted regarding the dung heap, I wanted concrete floor, sleepers around the sides (Life is too short to worry about collapsing dung heaps), I just walk in tip the dung, spread it with my feet, do a bit of a rain dance on it and that's it until the grab takes it away, it seems to rot really well being enclosed

 

[9tails]

Our muck heap can be seen from space. I walk up and tip it on top of the latest offering then walk away with an empty barrow. The YM pushes it up with a tractor once or twice a week.

 

[Slightly Foxed]

My muck heap is on a concrete base with sleepers around three sides. I walk the barrow up the heap, empty it on top and flatten it down with a Morris dance. When the heap gets a bit tall I drag the barrow up backwards.

My muck heap is tiny at the moment as I've mucked out (5 horses on straw pellets) straight into bags that I've left at the gate for free pick up. I can hardly keep up with demand, there's around 42 bags a week going!

 

[Pinkvboots]

I make a ramp with the muck so I can wheel it to the back as chucking it up kills my back I just flatten it out about once a week and it works well if you can have a not so high muck heap, if you only have a small area it's not so easy

 

[scats]

I feel like I fight a losing battle with ours. A few of us are great at keeping it tidy and forming it back and others are less so and will dump it right at the bottom. Not third world problems by any means, but it means me or another lady usually end up sorting it out. It’s a slope and we are meant to take it to the back. We can’t let it get too high as the farmer struggles to collect it all with his tractor, but equally it has to be high enough so that we don’t have the thing creeping forwards endlessly. We have a plank of wood to assist in getting the wheelies up, but you have to watch it when it’s wet because that plank turns lethal.

 

[CMcC]

Am currently planning new muck heap for next winter, so I don't have to push laden barrow through ankle deep mud.
Also planning to buy a tipper wheelbarrow.
So this post has made me feel not alone as there are others out that as interested in muck as I am. My non horsey family and friends think I am boring and strange!
Thank you fellow muck heap aficionados for your company.

 

[Auslander]

I'm considering getting a slave to do it for me...

 

[atropa]

Current yard, push barrow up to log above the muck pit and tip over side, YO clears with his tractor to bigger muck heap further away daily. It's excellent.

Previous yard, risk life and limb pushing heavy barrow up steep, narrow, metal ramp. Tip barrow and watch in despair as muck fell back onto ground.

Previous, previous yard, tip over edge of giant pit when heap had just been emptied. Run barrow up giant mound of muck over time, attempting to reach the back.

 

[miss_c]

We have a deep pit lined with concrete that we just empty into, then the JCB digs it out and takes it away when full. It’s so easy!

 

[windand rain]

We use a muck trailer too so it is easy. I do visit where the view from the top is magnificent but pushing the barrow up is a bit of a challenge it has a ramp with switchbacks all the way up great fun but you need a head for heights

 

[Keith_Beef]

We have a deep pit lined with concrete that we just empty into, then the JCB digs it out and takes it away when full. It’s so easy!

Similar to here, but it's a lorry with a crane jib that comes round to collect from maybe three or four yards at a time. He seems to start his day across the street from my house at about 05h45...

 

[meleeka]

Thanks guys. I never thought about a pit but actually that might be really good! Breeze blocks also sounds like it would work, and be tidy.
I currently have two muck heaps. One that I used for the summer and was able to push the wheelbarrow up to the back and tip. This was impossible once we’d had a bit of rain so I started adding to the old one. I’m afraid I was lazy and more or less tipped it where I stopped, knowing my friendly neighbour will come and move it for me now the ground has dried up.