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Folding hand trucks – Compact, collapsible carts that fit neatly away!

 

Hand trucks are your go-to equipment for handling anything bulky or heavy, and even for multiple small or light items.

If your work entails bringing things and objects from one point to another, a folding hand truck should be your trusty sidekick. Bring this workhorse in your car to wherever your job or hobby takes you, and things will be easier for you. 

 

Our Top Pick Collapsible Trolley

UpCart all-terrain 

best hand truck that foldscollapsible trolley review

Why a folding cart and not just any hand truck?

A hand truck of any type will lighten your work, no question about that. When a dolly’s work is done, though, don’t you find it occupying too much space? That’s not a problem in a warehouse, but what if we’re talking about your cramped car trunk?

Imagine that you’ve just loaded your trunk to the roof. When you turned – there’s your empty hand truck staring at you, waiting to be loaded. Certainly, you can’t just leave the poor soldier by the curbside? Your thoughts would probably go, “If only it could be folded. If only it would fit in one of those thin gaps.”

In fact, it would, but only if it were a hand truck that folded.

The foldable type hand truck saves on storage space. It is designed to collapse and fold down to size for easy stowing in closets, compartments, and cars. Most models make use of fold-up panels, rotating joints, telescoping handles, and other technologies to attain the desired compact form.

 

What types of folding hand carts are there?

There can be as many folding styles as there are hand truck types. The relevant questions are – how durable the hand truck is when unfolded and how compact it is when folded. These questions were on top of our minds when we picked up our choicest folding dollies. They’re featured below – all similar because they’re hand trucks and they’re foldable. But they’re also distinct from each other in their own way. Read on to see what we mean.

UpCart all-terrain stair climbing folding cart

UpCart The All Terrain Stair Climbing hand trolleyThis UpCart hand cart has at least two great things going for it – it climbs stairs and it folds down neatly. It has a rated capacity of 100 lb. With 6 wheels, this climber tackles stairs and reduces effort by 64%. It works even for open-riser stairs. UpCart will always run with 4 wheels touching the ground, which is an important factor in its stability and balance. Its all-terrain wheel system is perfect for uneven ground surface and varied terrains.

The handle adjusts to three lengths. The whole thing folds to a 4.4” thickness using patented wheel-folding technology. This cart works as described. But like any dolly, we don’t recommend it loaded to its maximum – a little over half its rated capacity would be more like it. Keep that in mind, and this foldable hand truck will keep you happy for a long time.

UpCart collapsible trolley price

Seville Classics folding 2-wheel hand truck

Seville-Classics collapsible trolleyThis Seville Classics hand truck has the typical L-shaped frame with a pair of wheels on the rear. It has a frame made of heavy-duty aluminum, a pair of 5” diameter wheels made of hard rubber, and a rubber-padded retractable handle which adjusts from 25.1” to 39.4”. It can carry a load of up to 150 pounds and is ideal for conveying boxes, bins, grocery items, and supplies to and from your car.

We’re interested about its folded dimension, which reduces to a mere 25.2” length and 2.36” thickness. The width does not change at 15.35”, which is the width of the toe plate, but you’d be happy to see the wheels neatly tucked. Walmart dolly buyers rated this hand truck highly for its clever design and competitive price.

Seville Classics trolley review

 

Giantex platform cart foldable hand truck

Giantex’s folding platform cartGiantex platform cart utility cart rests on four wheels, two of which are swivel casters. It has a maximum capacity of 660 lb and a baseboard area of 35.4”x23.6”. These numbers tell us something. This hand truck fits the bill for lugging heavy objects, like appliances, furniture, pots, crafts, crates, books, cases of beverage, canned goods, bricks, you name it.

The handle folds flat to align with the baseboard. The resulting thickness will be around 8.5”. Folding is kept to the minimum to maintain the dolly’s sturdiness especially that it’s designed for higher load capacity. If you haven’t got one in your garage or workshop yet, this heavy-duty dolly will give you the best value for money.

Giantex platform cart folding utility cart review

Which is more important – durability or folding capability?

If you can buy only one hand truck, will you buy one that’s durable or one that you can fold? Fortunately, your options are not that limited. You can actually choose a folding cart that’s also durable.

Durability is closely linked to a hand truck’s load capacity. The key is to be always on the conservative side. Limit the load’s weight to roughly half the hand cart’s maximum capacity. Or if you’re buying a hand cart, choose one with a rated capacity that’s twice the weight of your typical load.

This rule of thumb couldn’t be more applicable. They have more joints and moving parts, hence, loading them excessively will affect their performance and useful life. Take note also that the type with fewer folds will be sturdier than the type with multiple folds.

So choose hand trucks wisely, and always use them properly!

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