We use our gorilla cart daily. I’ve literally used it to move dumptrucks full of dirt and mulch and the abuse shows. I know many people who at the first failure would just buy a new Gorilla Cart, but, I am the kind of person that wants to keep things around for many reasons — saving money, saving the environment, etc.
1st Failure of our Gorilla Cart – Front Axle Rust
We leave our Gorilla Cart outside because we use it so often for chicken food, hay, dirt, mulch, etc and they rust very badly. Ultimately it will be rust that kills it or the tub will crack in half, but for the first failure it rusted to a point which allowed me to pull the wheels clear off of the cart!
Since this was the first failure, my goal at fixing the rusty gorilla cart was to keep the dump function. To fix it, I drilled two holes and threaded steel wire about 20 times through and tied it off. This failure occured after about 1 year outside in Florida. My repair held for another 2 years. After those two years and much more abuse, the steel wire gave out and I had already disabled the dump function due to another repair below. This time I drilled a hole through the pipe and into the plastic tub, using a large washer and 3 inch bolt, I was able to repair this obvious weak spot again.
2nd and Probably Most Common Gorilla Cart Failure – Pneumatic Air Filled Wheels
About the time the 1 year default warranty goes out, the tires will pop. Two of them popped then and the other two held on about another year. There is a very good and easy fix for this one though. Amazon and local hardware stores sell a Flat free version of the tire for the cart. I bought two at a time and besides applying some lubricant between the axles and the wheel hub, they have been absolutely maintenance free for 3 years — No air to fill, no flats, no tubs, just ready to go when you are. You’re looking for a 10″ Flat Free 5/8″ bore tire if you have the 600lb version, currently only a little more than $10 per tire.
Don’t forget that if you end up getting a new cart, you can easily transfer your flat free wheels to your new Gorilla Cart.
NOTE: The 10″ tires are for the 600lb capacity Gorilla Cart. There is a 1200lb Gorilla Cart with 13 inch wheels and a 1500lb Gorilla Cart with 16″ Wheels. I don’t want to publish links for those versions because I’m not 100% sure of the bore size.
3rd Failure was with the Dump Cart Function and Tub Cracking
Eventually, the bolts that rotate the tub and dump the contents will pull through separating your tub from the cart frame. This one was an easy fix with a drill, drill bit, and some pair of bolts. You can see in the photo where I secured the tub . . . repeat on the other side
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4th Very Common Failure – Cotter Pins
There are a few places on Gorilla Carts that use Cotter Pins. Ours happened to be missing one right out of the box. I believe my initial fix was to use a paperclip, In other projects I’ve used nails, but recently I’ve discovered its only a couple dollars to have a variety of sizes of Cotter pins(Supposed to be single use) or hitch pins(Multiple Use)
Conclusion
We love how much work our Gorilla Cart saves us but we don’t want to replace it every year when one part breaks. Our cart is nearing 5 years old and I know that the tub is eventually going to fracture — which will be unrepairable. I hope this guide helps you to fix your Cart as I have several times, leave a comment if it helped out!
If your cart is beyond repair or if you’re cart is on its last legs as mine is, maybe its time to get yourself a new 600lb, 1200lb, or 1500lb version
2 thoughts on “How to fix a gorilla cart – DIY Popped Wheels, Rust Repair”
Is there a similar but better long lasting cart you’d recommend?
The newer version of this cart has fixed all of these poor design choices (Except the tires are still pneumatic). The turning mechanism is much improved over the older design shown here. Gorilla Carts really did a nice job on the never version. Here is the newer 600lb version, and here is the newer 1200lb version.