wheelbarrow

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Modern garden wheelbarrow
Modern mortar wheelbarrow
Old wheelbarrow

A wheelbarrow (in Switzerland also Karrette or Garette , in Austria and Bavaria also Scheibtruhe or Scheibtruche , in Upper German dialects "Radbere" and "Radwer", in Franconia "Rowern / Robern", in Thuringia "Radeberle" and in Low German dialects " Wheelbarrow ") is an aid for transporting bulk goods and other loads by one person. Karrette also describes a narrow-gauge vehicle used by the mountain troops .

history

Ancient Greece

Wheelbarrows were invented in ancient Greece . Two building inventory lists from Eleusis from 408–407 and 407–406 BC BC list "a box for a single-wheel vehicle (hyperteria monokyklou)". Since dikyklos and tetrakyklos in ancient Greece denoted nothing more than a "two-wheeled vehicle" and "four-wheeled vehicle", and since the box for the one-wheeled vehicle appears in the list between a box for a four-wheeled vehicle on the one hand and its four wheels on the other hand, the single-wheel vehicle meant a wheelbarrow that was necessarily used and balanced by one person. However, there is no other evidence of the use of wheelbarrows in ancient Greece.

China

Old Chinese wheelbarrow

In the Chinese Empire , two-wheeled wheelbarrows were used to transport the injured as early as the 2nd century. These were invented by Chuko Liang (181-234). The shifting of the wheel under the cart to the center of gravity seems to have been common in China for a long time, with relatively large wheels being used and the load being attached to the left and right of the wheel. So there is no hollow, instead there were two boards with a wheel in between.

middle Ages

Medieval wheelbarrow types
Replica of a medieval wheelbarrow, Slavic village Brandenburg an der Havel

The wheelbarrow appeared in medieval Europe between 1170 and 1250. In contrast to Chinese wheelbarrows, whose wheel was centrally located under the transport surface, wheelbarrows in the Middle Ages had the wheel either in front or almost in front. The oldest wheelbarrows preserved in Central Europe were found in 2014 and 2017 during archaeological excavations in Ingolstadt . The felling dates of the trees from which the boards of the wheelbarrows are made could dendrochronologically for a wheelbarrow in 1537 and the other in the 1530s dated to be.

Ancient illustrations suggest that the European wheelbarrow may have evolved from the stretcher, where the front carrier was replaced by the wheel. This would also explain the trough and a completely different construction compared to the Chinese wheelbarrow.

Research into the early history of the wheelbarrow is made difficult by the lack of common terminology. The English science historian MJT Lewis has found four mentions of wheelbarrows in English and French sources between 1172 and 1222. However, different names were used in three sources. The art historian Andrea Matthies dates the first documented mention of the wheelbarrow on a contract to buy some wheelbarrows for a work by the King of England in Dover in 1222. The first representation appears in an English manuscript (Vitae Offarum) of Matthew of Paris around 1250. The opinion that is often expressed that a wheelbarrow can be seen in a church window in Chartres Cathedral shortly after 1200 (around 1220) is, according to Lewis, “a legend. There is no such illustration, the closest thing is a handcart "

By the 13th century, the wheelbarrow had prevailed in construction, mining and agriculture. However, judging by the number of documents and illustrations preserved, the wheelbarrow remained relatively rare until the 15th century. Their use appears to have been limited to England, France and the Netherlands.

Modern times

Wheelbarrows in Europe were usually made of wood until the end of the 19th century, but as early as 1822 there were completely iron wheelbarrows in England. A barrow with horses in the fork shaft could have been the model for shifting the wheels below (or at least closer to) the center of gravity. Wheelbarrows with pneumatic tires and sheet metal tubs made from one piece have been around since the 1950s.

When working with the wheelbarrow, it makes sense to store the load predominantly over the wheel (shovel full) in order to relieve the user. When working on uneven, boggy terrain, it can make sense to take the load off the bike. In this case, the load should be placed closer to the holding brackets. Alternatively, you can reduce the air pressure in the tire in order to obtain more contact surface for the tire . However, a handcart is more suitable for transport over longer distances .

Values ​​for a typical wheelbarrow

Payload: 50-100 kg
Volume: 80–120 l
Size of the trough (W × L trough): 640 mm × 840 mm

Wheelbarrows today have a frame made of essentially a single piece of thin-walled steel tube. The diameter of the tube is 15 mm for versions for small children, otherwise from 25 mm and even for heavy versions it hardly rises above 30 mm so that the hands can still grasp the handle in an acceptable manner. Oval tubes with an outer dimension of around 20 mm × 30 mm are convenient and very stable. The tube runs in a tight arc around the front of the wheel and takes up the approx. 15 cm long hollow axle of the wheel through holes or brackets welded on at the bottom with an inserted screw and lock nut. The pipe legs run straight apart up to the ends of the handles up to about 60 cm, a kink allows the tub to be positioned deeply, and another in the opposite direction so that the handles run out almost horizontally within easy reach. One or two welded-in cross straps support the tub screwed on there at the bottom and a support bracket at the front in the area of ​​the wheel. Two storage arches under the main pipe - alternatively bent from this itself - are in the area of ​​the rear edge of the tub. The wheel has a sheet metal or today mostly a plastic rim, a tube with a kinked car valve and a tire about 10 cm wide and 30 cm in diameter. Wheels with puncture-proof tires made of heavy PU foam are offered as spare parts. The chassis is at least painted, but galvanized better protected against corrosion. The tub is seldom made of plastic, but mostly made of deep-drawn sheet metal and is stiffened on the edge, where the sheet metal retains its strength, by a round fold on the outside, which also serves as a grip groove. The tub runs wider at the front and relatively flat diagonally over the wheel to allow easy pouring to the front. With momentum and practice, the wheelbarrow is set up very far and, from a lifting angle of 45 °, rests on the tubular bracket in front of the wheel. Exactly this also makes it possible to turn the tub to the side and to empty it there in order to keep the driveway, which may only consist of a 20-25 cm narrow wooden plank, clean.

Large objects are transported lying on the upper edge of the bathtub; a second person can be beneficial to help balance the high center of gravity by hand. Large boulders can dent the tub a little, bricks are leveled in, ideal bulk materials are gravel, sand, earth and concrete. Wheelbarrows up to 200 liters are available for specifically lighter items such as hay or straw. The transport of liquid mortar takes some care, but water on its own almost inevitably spills over while driving and is therefore carried or driven more quickly with a pair of buckets.

Wheelbarrow as sports equipment

Gymnastics and skill game "Wheelbarrow"
  • In the Anglo-Saxon region, an (empty) wheelbarrow is used as a device for performing tricks (wheelbarrow freestyle).
  • There is the gymnastics and skill game wheelbarrow . One partner holds the extended legs of the other by the ankles. The person being held now walks on his hands, which only have to support about half his body weight. The game is often played as a speed competition between different wheelbarrows .
  • In the Saxon town of Bischofswerda , which in Upper Lusatian dialect is also known as "sliding barrow" (for wheelbarrows), the world championship in sliding barrow races takes place during the sliding stool days .

Different versions

Two-wheeled wheelbarrow: "Japanese"

Two-wheeled tipping troughs, usually with a watertight welded trough, the content of which can be 100 to 250 liters, are also called Japanese or tilting Japanese, whereby the trough can be fixed or tiltable; sometimes it also has eyelets that make it possible to lift the stuffed Japanese with a crane . The Japanese are also offered as motorized versions , which can be converted for other purposes such as clearing snow or sweeping due to the payload and drive power.

literature

  • MJT Lewis: The Origins of the Wheelbarrow. In: Technology and Culture. Vol. 35, No. 3 (July 1994), pp. 453-475.
  • Andrea L. Matthies: The Medieval Wheelbarrow. In: Technology and Culture. Vol. 32, No. 2, Part 1. (April 1991), pp. 356-364.

Web links

Commons : Wheelbarrow  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Wheelbarrow  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. to this dict.cc: Karrette
  2. Duden: Karrette
  3. see ostarrichi.org/
  4. bayrisches-woerterbuch.de/
  5. Christa Baufeld : Small early New High German dictionary. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1996, ISBN 3-484-10268-3 .
  6. ^ Vocabulary University of Leipzig
  7. ^ Duden : The German orthography 1996.
  8. MJT Lewis, p. 470 ff.
  9. MJT Lewis, pp. 453-475
  10. ^ Matthew Paris: Life of SS Alban and Amphibalus [1]
  11. The first wheelbarrow from the old Schanzer - an extraordinary find from the foundry site. In: Current News. City of Ingolstadt, accessed on April 15, 2019 .
  12. ^ MJT Lewis, p. 463
  13. Andrea L. Matthies, p. 357
  14. Andrea L. Matthies, p. 358.
  15. ^ MJT Lewis, p. 463
  16. ^ MJT Lewis, p. 456
  17. Andrea L. Matthies, p. 358
  18. ^ Loudon: Encyclopaedia of Gardening . 1822, p. 332
  19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viOBLD_8GSI Xtreme Wheelbarrow Freestyle - YouTube video by xxH03xx, uploaded July 5, 2006, accessed February 8, 2014