A finish for outdoors on a wheelbarrow

Boiled linseed oil on the wood products is good. I have that wheelbarrow. Jackson C6. I store it indoors so keeping the wood from creating splinters is the main thing. The varnish is all gone from my wood now (20 years old or more) so I need to refinish mine also. I am considering BLO unless there is some reason I shouldn’t.

Hi Grandpa,
The wheelbarrow that just died on me was 15 years old. It was an Ari Fab with a plastic tub. The tire cracked and the wood rotted. The metal work held up because it was galvanized. I use BLO on my hammer handles which works well but they are not out in the weather. I found some Spar varnish that is supposed to be the best around,I am going to give it a go. Since I am 76 years old it does not have to last as long as the first one. Thanks for the reply

I am with you on not lasting as long as the first finish. I have never found anything that lasts well in the sun and UV rays. House paint and that wouldn’t look good on your tools. Try that varnish and then you can check back with a report. I will tell you that the best tire for this tool is the one that doesn’t hold air. My grandson bought me one that is solid and you never have to worry about it. I had the old one plugged once. When you aired it up tight it would leak through the multiple payers of cord in the plug. I put slime in it and it would blow green bubbles. It did stay at a constant pressure when it got to a medium pressure though. It was always a little too low to move wood on. I like to pile it up really big and roll it to the house in the winter. Doesn’t snow much here and you might have figured out. I rubbed most of the paint off the inside of the tub on mine cleaning it. When I added to my house about 15 years ago, I hired a kid from the technology school down the road. He had just won #1 in the state contest and #2 in the national contest in masonry. I figured I couldn’t go wrong. He worked by the hour and I was his swamper. It came to about half the cost of hiring a regular mason. I cleaned the tools though. I used a piece of window screen folded about 4 plies thick. It cut the mud off the tub but it took a lot of paint too. I need to repaint. That doesn’t bother some people but I like to clean things well. Can’t tell by looking at my shop though. I guess I should say when I clean I like to clean thoroughly. On a wheelbarrow you need to clean it while it is fresh. Report back and let us know how that varnish is after awhile.

The Varnish I am going to use is called “Epifanes Clear Varnish” it is formulated with Tung oil. I expect it will need to be re-applied now & then. The Wood Whisperer recommends it.
The tire on the Jackson is made in China so I don’t expect it to last very long. I will be checking out the “No Flat Tires”
when the time comes.