The history of wheelbarrows is a long one

The wheelbarrow has been around for a long time. If you think about it the need for transporting things is as old as history itself, so a wheelbarrow would be a very useful tool for centuries. Though they aren’t quite that old.

Originally the wheelbarrow was invented in ancient Greece and has been documented from around 400BC. The evidence for that comes from documents about Greek construction sites.

And there is documentary evidence of the use of Wheelbarrows in Europe from around the 1100s

Images of single wheeled wheelbarrows can be found from China around the 2nd century.

The wheel barrow has to be one of the single most useful inventions for transporting small amounts of goods.

Unfortunately there is insufficient evidence to show who invented the wheelbarrow. There is evidence of the use of wheelbarrows by the Greeks around 400 BC but it is not clear what they were used for.

However there is no doubt that the invention of the wheelbarrow was an extremely useful advance for carrying heavy loads, and therefore wheelbarrows would have been used throughout history for that purpose.

There is ample evidence of the use of the wheel barrow in China from around the 2nd century. Images of the use of wheeled carts can be found in various places in China including some of the murals from the Han dynasty.

And it would also seem from some evidence that wheelbarrows were even being used by the Chinese around 30 BC.

Whilst it is unclear exactly who invented the wheelbarrow there is no doubt that this invention was one of the most important in advancing the ability of individuals to carry loads much heavier than they would be able to carry on their backs.

Manually carrying heavy loads is slow and cumbersome and fraught with the risk of injury. By using mechanical assistance any task previously required the carrying of heavy loads manually could be done faster and safer with the use of a simple wheelbarrow.

Therefore there would be no doubt that the invention of the wheelbarrow was a huge leap forward for the construction industry.

In modern times wheelbarrows have been to produce in a variety of industries including construction, gardening and the nursery industry.

Any gardener worth his salt will have a wheelbarrow to hand to help him with the daily heavy chores involved in keeping a garden.

Any builder will have made use of a wheelbarrow many thousands of times throughout his career.

And any nurseryman will have carried thousands of plants in a simple wheelbarrow.

Here’s a fun video about wheelbarrows to get you into the mood to grab one of your own.

And if you’re interested in finding out more about wheel barrows then here’s some more good information. Here’s a wheelbarrow definition, the weightless wheelbarrow, hire wheelbarrows, wheelbarrow facts, and more.