Yard Work Wagons, Blog
Plastic vs. Aluminum Yard Work Wagons: Which Garden Cart Is Best for You?
TL:DR - Plastic vs. Aluminum Yard Work Wagons
- Yard work wagons help with a wide variety of yard work hauling tasks, although occasionally, there’s a different tool that might suit you better.
- High-quality plastic yard work wagons are robust yet lightweight. Aluminum yard work wagons are even more durable for heavy-duty tasks, but weigh a bit more and come at a higher cost.
- If you do a lot of yard work, frequently moving heavy objects, aluminum might be right for you. Otherwise, for normal yard work, plastic is sufficient.
- Consider getting a plastic or aluminum dumper wagon for yard work, or a child’s wagon or foldable wagon for non-yard-work tasks.
Plastic vs. Aluminum Yard Work Wagons: Which Garden Cart Is Best for You?
Your arms can only hold so many branches as you clean up your yard after a storm. Your hands can only carry so many tomato starts from your greenhouse to your garden. And if you’ve ever tried hauling dirt or weeds in hand-held buckets, you’ve undoubtedly resolved on never again.
Thankfully, a simple garden cart or work wagon is all you need to simplify your yard work, reduce strain on your back, and overall have a more enjoyable gardening experience.
But if you’ve made up your mind to buy a work wagon, one question still remains: what type of wagon should you get? Is it better to go with a plastic version or an aluminum one?
At Lapp Wagons, we know that having the right wagon is essential to making your gardening journey a smooth, headache-free experience. That’s why, in this article, we’ll go over yard work wagons, discussing whether a plastic or aluminum version makes more sense for your needs.
Let’s get started!
The Benefits of Yard Work Wagons
Yard work requires a lot of hauling. Dirt. Mulch. Weeds. Branches. The list goes on. All that hauling takes a lot of work, not to mention strain on your back and joints.
Wagons allow you to load up and easily haul the material wherever you need it to go, saving you time, effort, and strain.
After all, the key to making yard work a semi-pleasant pastime is to have the right tools, and a yard work wagon is a key tool. But before we get into the details about plastic vs. aluminum, we should first make sure that a yard work wagon is the tool you’re looking for in your specific situation!
Wagons vs Wheelbarrows
For some hauling and dumping tasks, you may need a wheelbarrow instead of a wagon. While wagons tend to be more stable and able to haul heavier loads, wheelbarrows are easier to maneuver on uneven ground, up slopes, or in tight spaces.
It’s also easier to dump material out of a wheelbarrow than out of a cheap, standard wagon. However, some wagons, like the ones we make at Lapp Wagons, are specifically designed with a dump mechanism that’s even easier to use than a wheelbarrow!
Other Wagon Uses
Wagons have many uses beyond yard work. For example, you may be looking for:
- A plaything for children
- A way to haul things around when moving
- A way to maneuver items at the beach
Just remember that yard work wagons are specifically designed for yard work. If you anticipate using it for other purpose, a different type of wagon may suit you better, such as a child’s wagon or a foldable wagon. (If you’re interested in exploring other options, we’ve written a whole blog about sixteen different types of wagons!)
Plastic vs. Aluminum: The Basics
Plastic carries a stigma of being “low quality.” Chances are, you’ve encountered plastic buckets, laundry brackets, and storage totes that broke easily and deteriorated in the sun. But high-density polyethylene is strong, impact-resistant, flexible in cold, and doesn’t crack easily.
When made from high-quality polyethylene, plastic yard work wagons are the ideal choice for most yard work tasks, as they are robust yet lightweight.
Aluminum carts, on the other hand, have the distinction of being extra-tough. They can handle heavy loads and heavy battering—more so than plastic, even high-quality plastic.
On the other hand, even though aluminum is a lightweight material, it’s still heavier than plastic, and costs more.
So which should you choose?
Let’s look at the various factors involved!
How to Choose Your Ideal Wagon
Deciding between plastic and aluminum is typically a simple task of looking at how much yard work you do, what types of tasks you do, and what your budget is.
How Much Yard Work Do You Do?
If you own a landscaping company, frequently do yard work for neighbors, or have an extensive property that requires lots of labor, you may want to look into aluminum wagons—especially if you’re often hauling rough, heavy materials like rocks and pavers, and have the budget to invest in something top-of-the-line.
But if you do the basic lawn care for a normal-sized home and lawn, a plastic yard work wagon is just the ticket.
What Type of Tasks Do You Do?
Plastic yard work wagons are designed to handle pretty much all your basic tasks: hauling mulch, weeds, sticks, dirt, etc.
Aluminum wagons are actually designed for manual industries, such as roofing, where workers cart heavy tools and equipment. However, as we mentioned earlier, if your landscaping tasks require you to frequently haul around a lot of rocks, pavers, or heavy tools, an aluminum option is going to be better.
What is Your Budget?
Finally, consider your budget! Aluminum wagons last virtually forever, but they do cost more. Plastic offers a budget-friendly alternative that is just as well-suited to your basic garden wagon needs.
Beyond Plastic and Aluminum: 5 Wagon Options to Consider
Perhaps, after reading this blog, you’re even more unsure about what wagon option you want to pursue. After all, a lot more goes into a wagon than just the “plastic or aluminum” question!
Let’s briefly address five wagon categories—some made of plastic, some aluminum, and some other materials—so you can make a more informed decision about your wagon purchase.
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Children’s Wagons
Children’s wagons, which can be made of wood, metal, or high-quality plastic, are designed to be both fun and functional. Often made in a classic red color, these wagons are designed to be visually appealing to children and easy for them to use.
If you have children, you’ll find that a children’s wagon is delightful for them to play with, but also doubles as a garden wagon when it’s time to clean up sticks after a storm or haul trays of plants from the greenhouse to the garden. It’s a great way to get your children involved in yard work.
Our Speedway Kids Wagons come with no tilt auto steering, ball bearing wheels, a heavy gauge steel framework, and a hardwood bottom on the wagon bed with rounded edges and a smooth, glossy finish.
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Plastic Dumper Wagons
If you’re looking for a plastic wagon that is made of durable material, comes with a warranty, and includes a mechanism that dumps loads of material even better than a wheelbarrow can, your best bet is a plastic dumper wagon. These wagons are perfect for general jobs around the garden.
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Aluminum Dumper Wagons
Originally designed for roofers, who are often hauling heavy materials and tools, aluminum dumper wagons offer everything a plastic dumper wagon offers, with the added bonus of a robust aluminum tub. If you’ve decided that, due to your garden situation, an aluminum work wagon is better, then this is probably the best option for you.
At Lapp Wagons, we sell both a medium-sized aluminum dumper wagon and a large aluminum dumper wagon
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Aluminum Farm Carts
If you have a farm or nursery where you’re often hauling flats of fruit, vegetables, or potted plants, an aluminum farm cart is what you want. These are robust carts for hauling self-contained buckets, pots, or flats, as well as things like tools. Some of them come with removable sides.
The lattice bottom keeps debris and rain from accumulating, but if you want to haul something like dirt or mulch, you’ll have to put it in a bin and then on the cart.
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Foldable Wagons
Foldable wagons are not particularly suitable to yard work. However, if, while reading this blog, you realized that you mostly want a wagon for:
- Hauling items at the beach
- Moving groceries
- Taking your children around at the park
Or anything else of that nature, you’re probably going to be much better off with a foldable wagon.
Foldable wagons are ideal for two situations:
- You live in an apartment or similar housing situation with limited storage, and while you need to haul things sometimes, you don’t have a lot of storage space
- You need to haul things around in an area away from your home, like the beach or a park, so you want something you can pack into your car.
In both cases, the best option for you is a foldable wagon. But please note that while you can use a foldable wagon for some yard work tasks, that’s not what they’re designed for, and they may get dirty or torn.
How Lapp Wagons Can Help
Whether you’re looking for a plastic wagon, an aluminum wagon, or any other type of wagon, Lapp Wagons has the deal for you! We sell:
Or, if you’ve decided that you don’t actually need a new wagon, you just need new, better wheels on your wagon or wheelbarrow, we sell those too!
If you’re still unsure, or if you want to ask a professional about your options, contact us today!
We’d love to chat with you about how you can make your yard work experience something memorable and enjoyable instead of a back-breaking chore.