A.M. Leonard Four Wheel Hose Cart with Flat Free Tires (Model # FHW300): Product Review
I like the ease of use and look forward to using this cart for many years.
If you’re sick and tired of dragging garden hoses around your property, then you’ll like the Four Wheel Hose Cart with Flat Free Tires, manufactured by A.M. Leonard. It’s a heavy-duty hose cart that lets you move up to 300 feet of garden hose (that’s a LOT of hose!) around your garden/yard/property with ease.
The cart was extremely well packaged. No damage happened in transit.
Specifications
- heavy duty, four-wheel cart
- 13 gauge steel frame
- brass and galvanized plumbing
- extra-long 8-foot inlet hose
- holds 300 feet of 5/8″ hose
- wire basket to keep your nozzles and other tools handy
- flat free tires with full front and rear axles, tough welded housing and galvanized rims
- Dimensions: 32″ length x 24″ wide x 36″ high
Easy to Assemble
The A.M. Leonard Hose Cart arrived in a well-packed box that fit the frame perfectly. All the metal parts were wrapped in plastic. The hardware and the plumbing were not only in a plastic bag but also boxed, as was the basket.
The assembly instructions were very easy to follow and you should be able to put everything together without any help. The only tools you’ll need are 2 adjustable wrenches.
A.M. Leonard Hose Cart parts all laid out. We’re ready to start building.
Although the instructions show how to put the hose swivel parts together, the hose swivel actually arrived pre-assembled; that was a little confusing until I realized that it didn’t need assembly. The hose swivel assembly was well engineered and rotated easily.
The hose swivel assembly was well engineered and easily rotated.
Extra Long Leader Hose
The leader hose (also called the inlet hose) that connects the hose cart to your spigot is 8 feet long, which gives you considerable flexibility when hooking up the cart. I found it came in particularly handy when working with the hose bib in the flower beds as it let me easily hook up the cart without rolling it all over the beds.
A nice feature of the leader hose is that it attaches to the cart underneath the basket at the opposite end from the crank arm. This prevents the crank arm from bumping it while winding or deploying the yard hose.
Leader hose is 8’ long – ample enough to reach virtually any spigot.
Handle, Crank Arm & Reel
The handle grip has a non-slip cover and is set so you don’t hit your hand on the reel while rolling the hose up. The reel is set up so you can use either hand to roll up the hose. The hose is very easy to wind and unwind even when you’re cranking with a lot of hose on the reel.
I found that there were no problems with “freewheeling” when I pulled the hose out; the wheel stopped moving when I stopped pulling.
The reel crank handle was easy to install
Quality Construction
This A.M. Leonard Hose Cart is extremely well made, with the construction and design of a commercial grade product.
The powder coating on the steel surface is well done and I expect it will stand up to heavy use. That said, any scratches, chips or dings should be touched-up right away to prevent rust.
Highly Mobile
With the flat free tires, you don’t need to pump up the tires or worry about a flat (as you would with pneumatic tires).
I found it very easy to push the cart around, even when loaded with a long hose that still contained water. The wheels move smoothly over pretty much any terrain.
It’s also quite maneuverable and easy to turn. If I need to make sharp turns, I just pop the front up (basically, I do a wheelie) and spin it on the rear wheels to make the turn.
At the same time, the A.M. Leonard Hose Cart is quite stable and very hard to tip over (you really need to push hard to get it to tip).
The one feature that’s missing is some kind of brake for the wheels to stop it from moving while in use. Without wheel locks on this cart, you will need to check it when parked on a slope – I always keep a rock in the basket for that purpose.
It is a bit bulky but still fits comfortably through standard gate openings. 
However, it will take up a good amount of space when not in use so you may want to think about storage options before buying it.
Limited Lifetime Warranty
A.M. Leonard warranties the cart to be free from all defects in materials or workmanship for the life of the product. If any parts do eventually rust, that’s not covered by the warranty.
Recommendation
I would recommend the A.M. Leonard Hose Cart for anyone who needs to move garden hoses around a larger yard. It truly is a fantastic piece of gear. It’s sturdy, stable, highly maneuverable and simple to use. And, even when fully loaded with a long, premium-grade garden hose, it’s still easy to push around on the flat free tires. Plus, I like the handy basket to carry hose nozzles and small gardening tools. One thing I felt was missing was wheel locks. I did mark off one star for this in terms of performance, but a little Yankee ingenuity (like using a brick, stone or log under the wheels on those steep hills) quickly and easily solves that problem. Also, the instructions should be altered to show that the hose swivel plumbing is pre-assembled, as this could confuse some folks.
Where to Buy:
The A.M. Leonard Model FHW300 hose cart can be purchased from Amazon for $256.00 (free shipping) or from the A.M. Leonard website for $229.99 (plus $34.99 shipping).
There is also a pneumatic wheeled version of the cart:
Last update on 2023-03-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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