Over the past few months, I've been sharing my personal reviews of the Lifetime Yard Cart.  I've come to the conclusion it's an awesome product with lots of cool and unique features.  So far, the only drawback I've discovered is that it is difficult to dump multiple small loads because when the load shifts it is hard to tip the cart back down, both in wheelbarrow and trailer modes.  Ironically though, this negative turned into a huge positive for us when we were spreading our compost. 

At first, I thought Lifetime had thought of everything with this product... cup holders, tool holders, trailer mode conversion, slats for building up the sides, and more.  However, after using the Yard Cart for a while, I now have a few more ideas that I think would truly make the Lifetime Yard Cart "the bestest Yard Cart ever in the whole wide world." :)  Yes, my 5-year-old helped write the title of this post! 

So, let's see.  First, the size of this thing is great for big jobs and getting your work done efficiently. But, wow, does it take a lot of space to store.  Remember that sweet 5'x8' Lifetime shed my husband and I built in our backyard?  The Yard Cart won't fit in there!  Aaah!  Check out the picture of my kids laying in the Yard Cart after we assembled it...see what I mean? I must admit, we've had a bit of a dilemma of where to store it.  So, right now, it's leaning up against our fence in our backyard, hidden behind a tree.  Thank goodness it's made of plastic and powder-coated steel so it won't rust being left out in the elements. Anyway, here's what I was thinking.  Know that cool, folding utility trailer that Lifetime makes?  It sure would be nice if they could use that same technology to figure out a way to make the Yard Cart fold in half for storage... without compromising it's strength or size, of course.  A wheelbarrow that's twice the size but stores in half the space!  Hmmm, I like the sound of that.

Speaking of folding, one of my other ideas is to have the end panel of the Yard Cart tub somehow unlatch and flip down so you can easily rake or push dirt, rocks, etc. out of the cart without actually having to dump it.    It would allow you to rake out just a little at a time, and you could easily get all the remaining debris out instead of always having just a little left that seems impossible to get without turning the cart upside down. Plus, it could make filling it more convenient because you could push the Yard Cart flush to a pile or wall if needed. 

The Lifetime Yard Cart tub is made of high-density, blow-molded polyethylene.  The edge of the cart tub has a rounded edge with a "lip" underneath kind of like a giant handle all the way around. My neighbor, my friend, and my husband and I all ended up using the Yard Cart to spread compost by dumping the Yard Cart and then dragging it along while it was dumped so we could quickly and evenly rake out the dirt.  While this technique worked great, the one downside is the Yard Cart "lip" on the end of the cart would tend to catch the grass a bit and tear it. Obviously, our technique is not the intended use for the Yard Cart so this "lip" was probably never considered an issue in the initial design. But, if the front edge of the Yard Cart tub was completely rounded under like a table edge (with no empty space underneath for a "handle"), it would allow for a totally smooth drag.  Ooooh....or, just add a third wheel in the front to make it even easier to drag!

Let's face it, these are all pie-in-the-sky requests that I don't even know if they are physically possible for engineers to design.  But, hey, I can always wish, right?  The one true critique I do have is that we have discovered the rubber handle grips tend to slide off if you are using the Yard Cart like a wheelbarrow and pulling (not pushing) a full load.  It's not like they just slip right off like a pair of socks, but they do wiggle off a bit easier than it seems like they should.  A minor issue though given all the other positives with this cool cart.

So, that is MY Yard Cart wish list.  I'm sure some of you out there have thought of some creative improvements, too.  If you have, and you want to share your ideas for the "the bestest Yard Cart ever in the whole wide world,"  please leave us a comment!