I needed to move a bunch of logs and didn’t have a wheelbarrow so I did what all cheap arse people do who don’t want to drop $50 on one, I borrowed from a neighbor.
They had this old one against his house for at least two years, never been used let alone moved. So our Boy and I mosey on over and ask if we can borrow it. He wasn’t even sure he had it still.
“Ya you do, I can see it from my bedroom window.” Our son said. Our neighbor got a real kick out of that.
It was in rough shape. I put our Son in it and tried to go home but the wheel was deflated. No problemo, I have an air compressor and inflate it in seconds. Nope. Nada. No Gots. Rhe seal was spent and the rubber cracked.
So our Son says “Dad, why don’t we just go to Lowes and buy a new wheel?” I like the way this kid thinks. Well, like most of our projects, sometimes things just get out of hand. We figured that a new wheel was nice but if we were gonna put a new wheel on then the tub needed some work. So we applied some rust converter, primer than a flat black topcoat to it. The handles needed love as well. After all, you can’t have a new wheel and a freshly painted tub and have your handles look shabby now can you? Well, the other hardware was in need of love as well so we took the whole mess apart and cleaned her up. I didn't like the way the legs sat or the position of the brace so I adjusted as I saw fit.
Our Boy was so pleased he said “Dad, Mr. Lloyd is really gonna like his wheelbarrow. I can’t wait to give it to him. Do you think he will like it?”
“I’m sure he will.” So that night Lloyd and his wife came over for a few libations. He took one look at the wheelbarrow and couldn't believe it was his. “Wow! So if I let you barrow my truck will you rebuild the engine?”
“Just one proviso – I get to borrow it when ever I need it?” I said. His wife chirped in and said “Mike, truth is we didn’t even remember it was on that side of the house and really if we did we would have thrown it out. It was a piece of crap. It’s yours now. Really.”
“Well, OK…but you can use it anytime you want OK?”
We didn’t rebuild it to get it; we just had some fun is all. It did turn out pretty good for an afternoons worth of time with the Boy though…
