Best Hand Truck and Dolly

The best hand truck and dolly for you really depends on your application for use. There are literally thousands to choose from. The best way to help you navigate through all the options is to contact a hand truck sales team professional. Too often hand truck and dolly purchases are made without knowing the different options available to them. I will share with you the most common questions and concerns we receive when customers contact us to help them decide which hand truck or dolly is best for them.

1. Weight Capacity: Weight capacity is a very important part on narrowing down which hand truck will work for you. When moving appliances, typically you will need a hand truck or dolly rated with a 500 lbs. capacity or greater. The same is true for moving most furniture. For general household tasks like moving plants, garbage cans, or groceries hand trucks with at least a 100 lb. capacity will work fine.
2. Material: Steel, aluminum, wood, and composite material are the standard. Steel hand trucks and dollies are the strongest. Most of the time they are all welded without the use of bolt fasteners making for a rigid and strong hand truck. The downside is that steel is the heaviest material making it difficult to lift in and out of vehicles. Aluminum is very strong and lighter than steel. Most aluminum hand trucks are bolted together. Over time after heavy use the bolts make loosen and need to be tightened. Many aluminum hand trucks have replacement parts available like the handle, frame and toe plate. Another advantage aluminum has is that it will not rust. Wood dollies are very common in the moving industry. They are lightweight but over time and heavy use they can start to break down which may require the rubber or carpeted ends to be replaced. Composite hand trucks are lightweight and usually have high weight capacities which makes them ideal for those wanting to travel with the hand truck. Composite material also resist corrosion.
3. Tires: The most common tires available to customers are pneumatic (air), solid and foam. Air tires provide a smooth ride over rough or uneven terrain. This is great for use with landscape hand trucks and applications that require outdoor use of your hand truck or dolly. Solid tires are a non maintenance option. They will never go flat and offer a smooth ride over flat surfaces. They are often heaver than their counterparts. Foam tires are another maintenance free option. The have the same characteristics as an air tires without the worry of going flat. They do tend to be more expensive but should last longer than an air tire.
4. Cost: You don’t need to spend a lot to get a lot when it comes to hand trucks and dollies. However, if you are a professional and use a hand truck for everyday tasks it is best to make sure you buy hand trucks manufactured in the USA. The quality is far greater then those that are imported from overseas. With that said, those higher quality hand trucks come with higher price tags and are well worth the money spent. If you are on a budget you still have many good options in all categories.

So as you can see there isn’t just one hand truck fits all. Finding the right fit for your moving needs can take some time. From moving groceries from your car to your home or moving a washer and dryer a great place to start is Hand Trucks R Us.

Suncast Commercial Products

Hand Trucks R Us is proud to be offering Suncast Commercial material handling products.  Suncast platform carts and service carts are proudly made in the U.S.A.  Hand Trucks R Us has been a proud supporter of American made products.  Our customers often ask for high quality products and we steer them to our American manufacturers knowing they provide the highest quality and built with pride products.  Suncast Commercial is no exception.   Suncast is a market leader in high-quality resin, wood, and metal products made in the U.S.A. for over 25 years.

You can find their Platform Carts and Service Carts at HandTrucksRUs.com.  We provide the best prices, free shipping and  stellar customer service to answer any questions you might have regarding all our products.  Suncast and HandTrucksRUs.com are a great fit and we are proud to carry their high quality product line on our website.  Don’t compromise on quality when it comes to your moving needs.  Buy U.S.A material handling products and know you have made a educated and smart purchase that will last you for years to come.

Customer Service Matters!

Too often customers are looking for assistance in finding the right product for their needs and head right into road blocks.  This is especially true in eCommerce.  Product specialist are very hard to find when shopping online and you have specific questions about a product you expect to get the answers you need to make an educated purchase.  Recently, I was shopping on Amazon for a specific tool.  I found it and several other viable options as well.  I wasn’t sure about the two that I had narrowed down.  I still had questions even after thoroughly reading the descriptions on each. So reluctantly I called Amazon’s customer service to get additional information.  I was greeted with a happy and eager representative ready to provide me will all the information I need.  After explaining to her what information I was looking for, I found her reading the online descriptions back to me.  I explained that I had already read all the information online about the two products I was inquiring about.  I was meet with a long pause and now fumbling customer service person who was guessing, and providing her own opinions on what she thought the answers were to my questions.  I was confused as to why I was getting vague answers and personal insist to very specific questions.  After a while on the phone I kindly said thank you for your help and abandoned Amazon.

My search continued to a specific tool website that had both tools that I was comparing.  Again, I called the customer service department and reach a gentleman who had full knowledge of both tools and guided me to the best purchase for my application.  The online store was a small Mom and Pop website that sold just tools.  They didn’t sell trampolines, hammocks, or bird feeders.  They sold tools!  I knew I was getting the right information from their customer service and felt confident when placing my online order.  Although I could have easily have placed the order with Amazon or Walmart who offered the item for less I was happy to give the Mom and Pop website my business because they were there for me to make the right purchase.

This hasn’t been my first experience with big eCommerce sites who have minimal knowledge on the products they sell.  Product knowledge is essential for making an educated buying decision and should be a part of any brick and mortar or eCommerce store.  Much of what customer service was back in the day has slowly faded into the sunset with eCommerce.  The feeling you would get when you walked into your favorite store and someone greeted you and asked how could they help you today has disappeared.  I get the obvious difference between walking into a store and shopping online but at least when I have a question about a certain product don’t refer me to the catalog.

Hand Trucks R Us – Steel U-Boat Narrow Aisle Platform Truck

The Steel U-Boat Narrow Aisle Platform Truck with a 1980-lb. capacity is ideal for transporting items in confined areas. Heavy-duty, all-welded steel construction ensures strength and durability. Four 4in. polyurethane swivel casters and 2 rigid wheels allow smooth transport and efficient maneuverability. 60in.L x 16in.W.

Source: Hand Trucks R Us – Steel U-Boat Narrow Aisle Platform Truck

Hand Trucks R Us – 1200 lb. Steel Appliance Cart with Ratchet 60′ Height

Source: Hand Trucks R Us – 1200 lb. Steel Appliance Cart with Ratchet 60′ Height

This appliance hand truck has a load capacity of 1,200 pounds and measures 24 x 17 inches (W x D). (W is width, the horizontal distance from left to right; D is depth, the horizontal distance from front to back.) The cart has a nose plate that measures 24 x 5-1/4 inches (W x D). This appliance cart is intended for use in professional and industrial environments.

Stair Climbing Hand Trucks

Preventing a back injury is much easier and cheaper than repairing one. The best way to prevent back injuries in the workplace or at home when moving equipment up and down stairs is having the right hand truck for the job. Stair climbing hand trucks can greatly reduce accidents, property damage, and back injuries.  Struggling with heavy equipment when traversing stair is an everyday occurrence for a lot of professionals.  Movers, HVAC technicians, and Plumbers regularly have to content with boilers, AC units and large furniture.  Having a stair climbing hand truck should be a required tool for any employer who has employees that are faced with large moving tasks.

Employee training and the use of proper ergonomic equipment such as a hand truck can help keep back injuries and back pain incidents low.  According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OHSA), back injuries at work are second only to hand injuries as the most prevalent in the workplace.

Back pain from a workplace injury can have several causes. It can come from lifting a box that is too heavy, or from a slow, constant strain on back muscles, ligaments, and the disks protecting your vertebrae. Tedious movement, such as lifting, pulling, pushing, loading, can eventually cause your back to weaken and become strained.

To help prevent such injuries at the workplace or home it is best to use equipment designed to help with the heavy lifting.  Hand Trucks are ergonomically designed to assist the user and make moving equipment easier.  Take the time to research to right hand truck for your application and ask a hand truck professional about different options that can make decision easier.

Best Hand Truck Brands Made in the USA

Hand Trucks made in the USA are not hard to find.  There are many large and small manufactures that crank out some really well made hand trucks.  Some of the largest are Milwaukee Hand Trucks (not to be confused with the tool company) , B&P out of Cadillac Michigan, and Harper out of Wichita Kansas.   There are of course many more but I will keep the focus on these three for the purpose of this article.  The competition has been pretty fierce for many years between the major hand truck mfg’s.

Harper hand trucks is a major player in the hand truck industry focusing on mostly steel hand trucks.  The catalog ranges from small folding carts to monster appliance hand trucks.  They cover all the bases which also allows them reach a larger consumer slice of the pie.  You can find Harper hand truck in large box stores across the nation but with a limited selection.  Most consumers looking for a hand truck for home use are going to need a huge hand truck or want to spend a lot of money for one just for a once in a while use.  The quality of Harper Hand Trucks is very good.  Nice welds and components are used to construct all of their hand trucks.

Milwaukee hand trucks have been around for a long time.  Many get them confused with the Milwaukee power tool company but the are not the same.  Milwaukee hand trucks are very similar to Harper and they often copy one another.  Again like Harper you can find Milwaukee hand truck sold across the country in stores but again with a limited selection.  The craftsmanship of a Milwaukee hand truck is great.  Their welds and materials used are usually high quality.  Hand Trucks in box stores like (Lowes, Home Depot, Sams, BJ’s, Costco) are often not the best hand trucks put out by these manufacturers.    In order to keep cost down they use cheaper parts and materials you might find from a Chinese import.  This is where these manufactures start to fail.

B&P Liberator Hand Trucks.  This is the Cadillac of aluminum hand truck on the market today.  B&P is by far the absolute best at what they do when it comes to quality of construction and materials used.  They are innovators in the hand truck industry and have the attention of thousands of companies needing and wanting their products.  Hand Trucks R Us has been selling B&P hand trucks for nearly 15 years.  You will not find their hand truck in your box stores.  You can find them at small local material handling stores across the US and online at Hand Trucks R Us.

Hand Truck Wheels

Hand Truck wheels haven’t changed a lot over the past 15 years.  Most are imported from overseas mostly from China and Taiwan.  This has been a huge problem for the consumers for years.  There have been many recalls and serious injuries as a result. Pneumatic (air) tires have been notorious for not staying inflated, being wobbly, or the bearings just fail rendering the hand tuck useless.  Not all pneumatic hand truck tires are the same.  There are two main types of construction for pneumatic wheels.  You have 2-ply and 4-ply construction, 2-ply not being as strong as the 4-ply.  It’s just like buying a cheap pair of tires for your car compared to a more expensive higher quality tire.   Most hand truck manufactures put 2-ply tires on their hand trucks for cost savings leaving the consumer with a “cheap” tire on a nice hand truck.  4-ply tires are more expensive but usually last a very long time.  It is worth the money spent to ensure that next time you need to use your hand truck for a move that it will perform and not fail on you when you need it most.

Solid wheels are great!  No worries about losing air, blow outs, or wobbling.  Solid wheels will usually hold up the lifetime of a hand truck.  With one exception being the bearings that can fall out, pop out, or simply break under heavy use.  Most bearings can be replaced for a fraction of the cost of an entire new wheel.  But they may not always be available.  Another solid wheel for hand trucks is the foam wheel.  Foam wheels are puncture proof and have the same characteristic as a pneumatic wheel.  They have been gaining in popularity for several years because they are maintenance free which means no worries when you go to use your hand truck.  You will pay more for foam tires but it is worth the small investment.

Very few consumers read the side walls of a hand truck wheel to see what PLY wheel the are getting.  They trust that the hand truck looks good and can hold 800 lbs then the wheels must be great as well.  Always, “kick the tires” before purchasing a hand truck.

Heavy Duty Hand Trucks – Hand Trucks

Source: Heavy Duty Hand Trucks – Hand Trucks

If you want or need a Heavy Duty Hand Truck HandTrucksRUs.com has just what you’re looking for.  We carry the manufactures that make the strongest and most reliable hand trucks on the market today.  Whether you are needing a capacity of 800 lbs. or 1600 lbs. we have the hand truck to get the job done.  Most heavy duty hand trucks are constructed of a heavy gauge steel frame and high capacity wheels.  If you need assistance in picking which heavy duty hand truck is right for your application we have the staff that can help.  call 866-508-4877

Bounce House Hand Trucks – Hand Trucks

Source: Bounce House Hand Trucks – Hand Trucks

Hand Trucks R Us has a large selection of Bounce House Hand Trucks to suit every need.  We hand selected the most versatile hand trucks that will last and stay strong when moving large bounce houses over rough terrain and through yards.  Most are made in the USA which means high quality which is a must when running a business and needing to get the job done without breakdowns.  If you have any questions on which hand truck will meet your business needs HandTrucksRUs.com has specialist that can answer your questions and supply you with the knowledge to make the best decision for your application.