Pushing a loaded wheelbarrow around is hard work, especially when you're using it to haul wet concrete mix. John Houston says his self-propelled wheelbarrow, made out of an old zero-turn riding mower, does most of the work for him. It even dumps its load automatically. 

"I built it to use with my concrete mixer, but it can also be used for many other jobs," says Houston. "The wheelbarrow extends about 4 ft. in front of the mower. I drive the wheelbarrow under the concrete mixer?s spout and load it up, then drive to the site of the building foundation and dump it. It has no trouble moving 300-lb. loads unless the ground is real muddy."

He bought the used Woods zero-turn mower on Craigslist for $800. He removed the deck and the pto shaft that belt-drives the blades. He removed the wheelbarrow's handlebars and built a metal support frame that attaches to the wheelbarrow's axle and also to a rectangular steel frame that attaches to the mower. 

"I left a couple of stub shafts on front of the mower and welded a length of 1-in. dia. tubing onto them. The tubing serves as a pivot point for the frame, allowing the wheelbarrow to float up or down on uneven ground," explains Houston.

The wheelbarrow is raised or lowered by a 12-volt DC actuator rated at 2,000 lbs. It operates off the mower's battery and is activated by pressing a switch on the mower.