I've tried hand trucks and the 4 wheeled garden carts from TSC and HF. Here's my take on them.
On ground that's fairly flat and fairly even the hand truck does pretty good. I even built a small box and used U bolts to attache it to a 700 lb HF hand cart. I used that for 2 years to bring wood in from my wood pile in the back yard, up to 100 yards away. It worked better when attached to my ATV because I didn't have to pull it by hand LOL. Having said that, on any kind of incline, it could easily tip. Pulling it by had actually allowed me to "feel" when it wanted to tip a lot better. I would put about 8 or 10 pcs of firewood on it, and run a ratchet strap from the axle, under the bottom plate, then up to the top to hold the rounds on before I built the box. My rounds were 24" long and anywhere from 3" to 10" in across with most of them being in the 6~9" range. For shorter rounds, and not as many, it would probably be able to handle the uneven ground a little better. For pulling it through the woods, you might want to get some bigger tires for it. It would be even better if you could put a new, wider axle on it. You could use some old galv pipe for spacers. The nice thing about the hand truck is when you have to go across a small limb, you can pull it up and over pretty easy. I wouldn't give $50 for one to do this with, but then again I only gave $35 for mine when it was new, and I bought it for other purposes.
As far as the 4 wheeled garden carts from TSC, Northern, and HF, I hate them. I bought the 1,000 lb model from HF. Let me first say that it won't hold 1,000 lbs. I bought mine specifically for hauling firewood in from out back. It failed the first time. I put about 800 lbs of firewood on it, and as soon as I turned the wheels to make a turn, the front supports collapsed and I lost the load. I've since bent everything back into place, and welded in extra supports. It works now, but I don't use it much. As far as pulling it by hand, I wouldn't recommend doing that in the woods. The wheels are not big enough to easily go over any obstacles of any size. Unlike a hand truck that you can lift up and over, the cart has to be pulled across. You can lift the front axle a little bit, but not like you can a hand truck, and your out of luck completely on the rear axle. On flat even ground it works okay, but not noticeably better than my hand truck with my box attached to it. All in all it was a waste of $100. I would have been better off putting that $100 towards a small trailer, which is what I ended up getting to use with the ATV.
One thing that I haven't tried yet, but could work is one of these.
http://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Deer-...7DPO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1327018448&sr=8-3
The 20" wheels should do well on the un-even ground. I have a cheap one, and I've used it a few times to retrieve deer. It doesn't do well with a deer on and going through standing water in the woods, but then again I don't think anything does either. Other than 6" of mud (that's how far down I sank when standing in it) the deer cart on deer, so I don't see why it wouldn't work well for firewood, and it does collapse down for easier transport. Going over small (under 3") limbs really wasn't a problem. Going over bigger ones, well that's why you have a chainsaw with you right???
I have also used mine to haul all my gear (rifle case, scope stand, 18x12x24" tool box, 2 fold up chairs, shooting mat, and a medium size cooler) up and down a 1000 yd firing range at NRA high power matches, and it worked quite nice. If I didn't have the ability to use my ATV for transporting firewood out of places that my truck can't get to, I'd probably be using my deer cart for it.
On ground that's fairly flat and fairly even the hand truck does pretty good. I even built a small box and used U bolts to attache it to a 700 lb HF hand cart. I used that for 2 years to bring wood in from my wood pile in the back yard, up to 100 yards away. It worked better when attached to my ATV because I didn't have to pull it by hand LOL. Having said that, on any kind of incline, it could easily tip. Pulling it by had actually allowed me to "feel" when it wanted to tip a lot better. I would put about 8 or 10 pcs of firewood on it, and run a ratchet strap from the axle, under the bottom plate, then up to the top to hold the rounds on before I built the box. My rounds were 24" long and anywhere from 3" to 10" in across with most of them being in the 6~9" range. For shorter rounds, and not as many, it would probably be able to handle the uneven ground a little better. For pulling it through the woods, you might want to get some bigger tires for it. It would be even better if you could put a new, wider axle on it. You could use some old galv pipe for spacers. The nice thing about the hand truck is when you have to go across a small limb, you can pull it up and over pretty easy. I wouldn't give $50 for one to do this with, but then again I only gave $35 for mine when it was new, and I bought it for other purposes.
As far as the 4 wheeled garden carts from TSC, Northern, and HF, I hate them. I bought the 1,000 lb model from HF. Let me first say that it won't hold 1,000 lbs. I bought mine specifically for hauling firewood in from out back. It failed the first time. I put about 800 lbs of firewood on it, and as soon as I turned the wheels to make a turn, the front supports collapsed and I lost the load. I've since bent everything back into place, and welded in extra supports. It works now, but I don't use it much. As far as pulling it by hand, I wouldn't recommend doing that in the woods. The wheels are not big enough to easily go over any obstacles of any size. Unlike a hand truck that you can lift up and over, the cart has to be pulled across. You can lift the front axle a little bit, but not like you can a hand truck, and your out of luck completely on the rear axle. On flat even ground it works okay, but not noticeably better than my hand truck with my box attached to it. All in all it was a waste of $100. I would have been better off putting that $100 towards a small trailer, which is what I ended up getting to use with the ATV.
One thing that I haven't tried yet, but could work is one of these.
http://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Deer-...7DPO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1327018448&sr=8-3
The 20" wheels should do well on the un-even ground. I have a cheap one, and I've used it a few times to retrieve deer. It doesn't do well with a deer on and going through standing water in the woods, but then again I don't think anything does either. Other than 6" of mud (that's how far down I sank when standing in it) the deer cart on deer, so I don't see why it wouldn't work well for firewood, and it does collapse down for easier transport. Going over small (under 3") limbs really wasn't a problem. Going over bigger ones, well that's why you have a chainsaw with you right???
I have also used mine to haul all my gear (rifle case, scope stand, 18x12x24" tool box, 2 fold up chairs, shooting mat, and a medium size cooler) up and down a 1000 yd firing range at NRA high power matches, and it worked quite nice. If I didn't have the ability to use my ATV for transporting firewood out of places that my truck can't get to, I'd probably be using my deer cart for it.
