6 tips for selecting the right cart

1. Find the right manufacturer.

This is the most important factor for greenhouse operations to consider when choosing carts. Some cart suppliers offer many different types of carts to choose from, so finding a manufacturer that will have a consultative approach is imperative for every grower “Each customer has their own specific requirements from the point of view of where or how the carts are going to be used,” says Doug White, president of Wellmaster Carts in Tillsonburg, Ontario.
 

2. Know how you’d like to use the cart.

Growers may have more than one style of cart in the greenhouse, depending on their needs. “They may have a cart that’s used and left at the store, which is a more economical cart and has a better display feature to it, as opposed to some of the work carts, which they maintain in their trucking environment as well as the greenhouse environment,” White says.
 

3. Understand your maintenance needs.

If growers are less concerned about having to maintain the cart, they may want to purchase a less-expensive cart that may require more regular repairs as it wears. And if they are concerned with maintenance, they may want to purchase a more expensive cart with a lesser chance of repairs. “It’s like a car,” White says. “You buy something that will last with little maintenance, or you buy something that will require a great deal of maintenance later on.”
 

4. Determine the size you’ll require.

Will your carts be used for bedding trays? Will they be a part of your delivery system? What is the size of your truck? Determining uses can help you figure out the size of the cart you’ll need. “If [a grower] has a box truck that has a narrow width inside, and a shorter length in terms of the nature of the box, that will dictate a different type of cart,” White says.
 

5. Know your terrain.

Getting the right cart for the type of ground it will be pushed along is a way to reduce maintenance and transport materials easier. Whether that be black top, cement or gravel, growers need to know where their carts will be. “If their customers are all garden centers...the [the grower] has to know what his customers’ surfaces are going to be,” White says.
 

6. Consider weight.

The weight of the growers’ product is important when choosing cart size and durability. Overloading them will lead to damage. “If a cart is designed to carry 600 pounds and you load it with 1,200 [pounds], you would only cause early breakage and spoil the products because you undersized your cart in relation to the product you’re transporting to your truck,” he says.