Gorilla's Vs. Harbor Freight's 1200 LB Utility Cart: What's The Difference?

With the lawn and garden season upon us, we find ourselves looking out our windows at the myriad of projects that lie outdoors. From hedges, trees, and bushes that need trimming, to flower beds devoid of desirable plant life, and garden plots that require additional soil and compost to deliver prize-winning tomatoes, they all have one thing in common: the need to haul more materials than one can carry by hand in a single trip. This situation makes a heavy-duty utility cart one of the tools everyone should have this summer. 

Gorilla Made and Harbor Freight offer prime examples of capable and dependable heavy-duty utility carts offering 1,200-pound carrying capacities. Harbor Freight is a popular retail tool outlet based on its low-cost house-brand options, and Gorilla Made products are popular with expert DIYers and available at several retail outlets. 

While the utility carts from Gorilla Made and Harbor Freight share some key similarities such as weight capacity, steel construction, removable sides, 13-inch tires, and a steel-mesh deck with a removable bed liner, it's their differences that set them apart. Let's examine each offering in detail to find out what makes each one unique.

Gorilla Made products have over 20 years of history helping DIYers accomplish home and yard projects. As part of Tricam Industries, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Gorilla Made is arguably most well-known for its line of budget-friendly ladders available at Home Depot. However, Gorilla Made offers steel utility carts for a wide variety of DIY projects with weight capacities ranging from 400 pounds up to 1,400 pounds.

The Gorilla Made 1,200-pound Steel Utility Cart is available from Home Depot via free home delivery or Ship-to-Store for $210.57. Since pulling 1,200 pounds by hand can be problematic, the Gorilla Made utility cart's patented "2-in-1 handle" allows quick conversion of the handle for attachment to an ATV or tractor providing additional pulling power.

The Gorilla Made 1,200-pound steel utility cart features a cargo surface measuring 30 inches wide by 46 inches long and overall dimensions of 30.5 inches wide, 53.3 inches long, and 28 inches high. While Gorilla Made advertises the cart's capacity at nine cubic feet, its cargo bed measures 14.2 inches tall, making the calculated capacity just over 11 cubic feet. With the bed and frame constructed of powder-coated steel, the Gorilla cart weighs 70 pounds and rolls on 13-inch pneumatic tires mounted to 0.625-inch diameter axles.

Most of the tool brands found at Harbor Freight are owned by and made for Harbor Freight, and its selection of utility carts is no different. Harbor Freight offers two utility cart options, the HFT 1,200-pound capacity version we're considering for $169.99 in-store only and a One Stop Gardens 1,000 pound version without sides priced at $89.99.

Like the Gorilla Made utility cart described above, the HFT also features a convertible handle to allow ATV and tractor towing. However, the design isn't as innovative and leaves some room for improvement.

The HFT 1,200-pound painted steel utility cart weighs 66.5 pounds and measures 24 inches wide by 48 inches long. Its listed cargo capacity is 6.67 cubic feet but reviewers claim capacity up to eight cubic feet. At least one Harbor Freight customer stated in a review that they previously owned a Gorilla Made utility cart and bought the HFT 1,200-pound model as a replacement, noting that HFT's product compared rather favorably to the Gorilla Made. 

Other than the HFT model being a few pounds lighter, six inches narrower, and two inches longer, the only major differences between it and the Gorilla Made cart are the finish and the Gorilla's patented "2-in-1 handle." While the Gorilla Made model uses powder coating to protect its steel construction from corrosion, several reviewers of the Harbor Freight utility cart claim flaking paint and unpainted surfaces started to rust within a month of ownership.

The patented "2-in-1 handle" secures all handle parts in either configuration. However, the HFT's convertible handle requires detaching and storing the D-handle portion while the cart is configured for attachment to an ATV or tractor. While storing the extra handle portion is an inconvenience, having fewer connections on a handle designed to tow 1,200 pounds could be considered a superior design.

Ultimately, either option appears capable of delivering years of service hauling loads that approach the ratings of some modern pickup trucks. If the HFT option's paint quality concerns you, it's possible to fix it and create your own custom color utility cart with a few hours of labor and some cans of spray paint.

As discussed, there are other options for utility carts, some capable of hauling heavier loads and others offering smaller, lighter packages. These two examples offer high-capacity load ratings and budget-friendly prices hovering around the $200 mark. In addition, they both provide great value with customer ratings of over 4.5 stars.