Makita’s Powered Wheelbarrow Leads To Medals: The Makita 18v LXT Brushless power-assisted wheelbarrow has taken some of the back-breaking labour out of Landform Consultants inspirational garden builds at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018.
Mark Gregory, managing director of award winning Landform Consultants Limited, together with his talented team, designed The Welcome to Yorkshire Garden in Main Avenue. It was justifiably awarded the Gold & Best Construction medals as well as winning the People’s Choice Award. Landform also designed and constructed The Seedlip Garden in the Space to Grow area of the Show which was awarded a cosseted Gold medal.
“Chelsea garden show builds are always an enjoyable challenge and we take them extremely seriously so any help from Makita is very welcome,” says Mark Gregory, now a twentyone-time Gold medal winner. “This labour-saving powered wheelbarrow has helped to reduce much of the pushing of a fully laden wheelbarrow. This is a very impressive piece of kit and a fine match for the greatest flower show anywhere in the world.”
Designed principally to reduce the physical demands in the construction industry the new Makita DCU180Z is proving popular in many operating fields including commercial gardens. Capable of carrying 130kg of blocks on the tubular frame, or similar amount of ballast in the barrow bin option, this power-assisted wheelbarrow has the Brushless motor integrated into the front wheel to ensure the maximum possible traction to the heavily ribbed agri-tyre. This barrow has two forward speeds: Hi up to 3.5 km/h, Lo 1.5 km/h; powered reverse of 1.0 km/h and will climb a 12° maximum incline. Main braking is provided by the front disc brake controlled by the hand lever on the steering handles. The wheelbarrow weighs just 32.5kg, is ready to work with handles that can be adjusted to three height levels for operator comfort and also fold for easy storage. The detachable rear trailing wheels with kick down brake can be adjusted from a width of 480mm to 760mm which further improves stability and reduces operator effort.
The Welcome to Yorkshire Garden, sponsored by Welcome to Yorkshire, is inspired by the picturesque Yorkshire Dales, world famous for its dry stone walls, buttercup meadows, wild woodland, tumbling becks and artisan Wensleydale cheeses. The Landform team made cheese in the stone dairy during the show and served it in the traditional Yorkshire way – on fruit bread. “This is a celebration of Yorkshire’s stunning scenery and it is hoped that the garden will inspire visitors to experience Yorkshire’s captivating and serene beauty first hand,” continues Mark. “And we are proud to have been awarded Best Construction too. After breakdown everything in the garden will either go to charity, be recycled or reinstated, and even taken back to Yorkshire.”
The Seedlip Garden, designed by Landform’s senior designer Dr Catherine Macdonald, is sponsored by Seedlip, the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit. Inspired by the humble pea the garden was a first for Chelsea Flower Show as all the plants were from just one family – the pea family. “It’s a wonderful feeling to be awarded Gold for something I thoroughly love doing, and it’s even more special when you think the design is centred around the humble pea,” comments Catherine.
Compatible with any of the Makita 18v LXT Lithium-Ion batteries used to power Britain’s number 1 professional power tool range, the new Makita DCU180Z power-assisted wheelbarrow has soft start to ease the load away; constant speed control; twin LED driving lights and locking brake lever for maximum site safety. For site security an individual ignition lock key is provided. Previous walk-behind powered site platforms can cost several thousand pounds but the new Makita powered wheelbarrow will prove particularly attractive in relation to price competitiveness and rugged performance.
The DCU180Z is a body only machine which is available with a choice of optional accessories which can include the pipe frame set or bucket frame option.
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