OxCart Utility Cart Review – The Best Dump – Yard Cart?

I asked my wife to come out and look at the new utility cart OxCart sent me. I showed her how strong it was, and that her compost won’t stick to the bottom when she dumps it. I showed her how easy it was to dump a full load of compost with the hydraulic assisted lift. I then showed her how you can leave the cart hooked up to the tractor and spin it around to dump right in her landscape beds. I mentioned that even though it had a tailgate when you dump it everything came out. I showed her how much clearance there was underneath so she would not be catching it on her landscaping rocks if she got too close. As an afterthought I mentioned that it had self-sealing tires so she would not have to drag out the air compressor every time she wanted to use this cart.

I asked what she thought of the new cart. She had only one word for a response.

“Mine!”

Now I am going to have to ask permission to use it for my review…….

UPDATE: Go to the end to see pictures of the OxCart Utility Cart in Action!

I’m kind of a connoisseur of utility carts. I have had enough different carts to know what works for me over the years and what doesn’t. I despise the $100-$200 carts the box stores sell. They are good for hauling dry leaves and that’s about it. Don’t even get me started about the tires on these cheap carts. I’ve seen birthday balloons that are thicker.

The $250-$400 carts are not a whole lot better. Most of them have a u-channel tongue made of the same thickness metal as the side of your toaster. They work fine for a while but as soon as you try to pull a load of firewood out of the timber and go through a drainage rut the tongue deforms. Once that happens it never latches right again.  Yes, they have one inch axles and tractor grade tires. Yes, they are rated to thousands of lbs. But don’t actually try loading them to capacity and then pulling the cart around your “normal” utility.

The last time I saw the new OxCart before my wife claimed it as her’s!

So when Todd Dechant, the inventor of the OxCart, had read I was looking for a good utility cart, he asked me to give his OxCart a try. I told him, “Great, I just ordered a Polar Cart so I’ll be able to compare it to the cart that looks best on paper. I said yes, “send it over,” and it arrived four days later by UPS.

Before I get into the assembly I would like to go through the features of this cart:

My idea of the best cart made was the 80 Deere Cart from the 60’s. The OxCart’s frame is stronger, has run-flat tires and swivels to dump. The biggest feature is the assisted dump. It helps you dump heavy loads and empties cleanly. I expect the OxCart to last just as long as this 1969 John Deere 80 cart.

 OxCart calls this model “professional-grade” and I have to agree. The tubing is heavier duty than the other carts on the market. Everything fits and works well. I would have no problems letting my crews use this cart when I owned the landscape company.

The rated capacity of the cart is 750 lbs and has been independently tested at 150% capacity. (1140 lbs.) This is one cart you can FILL with bags of cement and the cart will haul it to where you want the cement and dump the load without deforming the cart or breaking your back trying to tilt the cart with that much weight in it.

Ladies – you can dump this cart even when it is full of dirt!  No I’m not picking on you. The one thing that I don’t like about most carts including my old 80 Deere is when you fill it full of dirt or sand and then go to dump it – it can sometimes take two people to lift the front end up to dump. The OxCart uses a hydraulic dampener (like the tailgate of your car or SUV) to help you tip the load. A 500 lb load of dirt tips with less than 40 lbs of effort!

To dump this 500 lb load only requires about 60 lbs of lift with the OxCart Utility Cart

 Another advantage of the hydraulic assist is when you do tip the cart it doesn’t slam the back-end of the cart on the ground. Instead of the dump pivoting on the axle like other carts the fulcrum point of the dump is farther back allowing a more controlled dump. You can actually unlatch the tub and then swivel the cart around without it becoming uncomfortable or slipping out of your hands. If you’ve ever used one of the other swivel carts with a heavy load you know what I mean here.

The poly tub is easily three times thicker than the poly tub on the cart one of the box stores was giving away last year with the purchase of a tractor.  There is a multitude of problems with that free cart but one of the most aggravating problems is as soon as you put heavy loose material in it like sand or gravel and then try to pull the load across your lawn – the tub deforms and the material falls out. This tub won’t deform when you are dumping the load either. This tub won’t deform when it’s full of heavy objects like rocks, gravel or dirt. Best of all it won’t crack like the foam poly tubs when hauling firewood in the winter.

The cart’s wheel track is just a little wider than you lawn tractor. Have you noticed when pulling heavy loads around your yard that the combination of your tractor’s weight and the cart is leaving grooves in your lawn? The OxCart’s wheel track is just a little wider than your tractor’s and this allows you to not leave grooves in your lawn pulling heavy loads. The tractors weight is supported in a different track than the cart’s weight. This is a very nice feature when pulling in soft soil like sand or a wet lawn in the spring.

When you dump the cart it swivels and with the hydraulic assist you can put the load right where you want it. I can back a 50 foot semi trailer down two city blocks in Philadelphia and miss cars by 1/2 an inch but when backing a dump cart up to a landscape bed I can never get it quite right. When I’m hauling mulch the trailer always ends up so half the load goes into the bed and the other half onto my lawn.  Swivel carts are nice but this one is even better. You can unlatch the bed to swivel and the hydraulic assist helps you control the dump until you get the load exactly where you want it.

One last feature – Run-Flat Tires. I would have paid $200 a tire back when I owned the landscape company to have tires like these on my mowers. Flat tires on this cart are a thing of the past. Not only are the tires made of thick, heavy rubber but they are coated on the inside so any puncture the tire may get is instantly sealed. You don’t lose air. You never have to find the air compressor, wait for it to charge up and then drag it out to the trailer to fill tires before you can use it.

You can’t get this cart at Home Centers

There are only two places to get the OxCart. First, the version I review here is only available at your local lawn tractor/zero-turn dealer store. Go in and tell them you want an OxCart. It they don’t carry it yet, have them go to oxcart.com and get one on the way for you.

Second: Craftsman saw this product a year ago and instantly snatched up the red version for 2015.  You can order one and pick it up at your local Sears store.

Buy The Red/Craftsman Version Here: 12 cu. ft. Swivel Dump Cart with Hydraulic-Assisted Lift & Run-Flat Tires

Oxcart Gravel Test

Putting The OxCart Together:

I’m going to show you a lot of pictures of the OxCart assembly but in reality it only took me 15 minutes to assemble the OxCart by myself. All the hardware for each step of the assembly was laid out in a blister pack. All the little steps that make so many of the other carts an hour-long project were already done.

The OxCart arrived in a very sturdy box. Even UPS was not able to wreck the box!

OxCart out of the box. Everything is zip tied together so nothing can fall out if the shipping box gets damaged.

The Instruction Booklet is laid out well.

OxCart parts all laid out ready to assemble. Notice the blister pack of all the parts!

The full frame is mounted to the tub with 4 heavy-duty bolts, washers and vibration proof lock nuts. You may want another person to help you at this step to hold the bolt while you put the nuts on them.

The Swivel Pin is one inch. The tubing is reinforced so this will area will never crack or bend.

Two more pins and the frame is installed. Notice how the fulcrum point – the dump pivot is behind the axle. This makes it a lot easier to dump heavy loads.

The dampener mounted. OxCart supplies the little wrench to make this easy

It’s got Tractor-Grade Run-Flat tires and graph-oil bushings. The wheels are held in place with a washer and cotter pin.

That’s it! The cart is assembled and ready to use.

If you would like a video instead of my pictures here is one: Oxcart – The Assembly

My Review:

Over the next few months I will add a few pictures of using the OxCart. The ground is still frozen up here so I can’t load it up and show you how well it actually works.

By the way: I canceled my order for the Polar Cart. I realized that the Polar Cart that I had ordered did not dump cleanly. The way the rear of the Polar is designed when you dump the cart it actually just tips. Hardly anything spills out the back and you have to use a shovel or rake to get the material out.

Buy The Red/Craftsman Version Here: 12 cu. ft. Swivel Dump Cart with Hydraulic-Assisted Lift & Run-Flat Tires. You can order one and pick it up at your local Sears store.

The rest of this article I will show you the highlights of the cart and what I think makes it one of the best carts on the market.

One of the biggest features for you is where the fulcrum point is in relation to the axle. By having the combination of the dampener and the pivot point behind the axle it makes heavy loads a lot easier to dump. It also allows the cart to dump loose materials cleanly.

The OxCart swivels 110 degrees to either side. This way you can get close to where you want to dump the load and then swivel the cart to exactly where you want the load to go. The hydraulic assist helps you to hold the load until you are ready to dump it.

I wish I had one of the cheap u-channel hitches to show you how much stronger this hitch is. It’s also more compact and the edges are rounded off so you won’t pinch your finger trying to hook the cart up to you tractor.

Take a close look at the dump latch. There is a rounded lip between the trailer tongue and the latch plate. This gives you clearance to get the cart dirty.  It will still latch full of mud.

All of the metal joints are completely machined through and the joint is completely welded on both sides. No spot welds that will break over time.

This swivel joint is a little hard to describe but the joint is sleeved and the sleeve welded into the frame. This joint will not get sloppy over time and make the trailer hard to latch.

Every part is made of thick tubing or heavy steel plate. The powder coat paint rivals the quality of your sport bike or ATV.

Finally, a cart strong enough for the Raven.

As you can see here, there is plenty of room for your tools and debris.

There is plenty of room in the OxCart Utility Cart

The OxCart Utility Cart is just the right size for the Raven MPV-7100

400 lbs in the OxCart Utility Cart