Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I operate a small farm with no employees, and certain tasks are becoming more difficult as the years go by. I'm a middle aged female weighing about 140 lbs. Stooping over (killing my lower back) or kneeling (killing my knees) weren't good options. So I began researching mobile garden seats in the hopes of staying out of the ibuprofen bottle. This particular seat became the clear choice because of the rugged metal construction and real tires; plastic seats that can degrade with UV exposure aren't an option for the kind of work I do. I was specifically looking for a seat that would aid in the following tasks: weeding, picking low growing row crop vegetables like bush beans and shell peas, and seed sowing. We are a partially mechanized farm and use tractors and implements for the big work of field prep and making beds, but there is no getting away from a certain amount of manual labor that involves working close to ground level. Amazon offered the product for the best price, so I ordered it using my Prime membership. It arrived promptly. I realized when I first moved the box that my seat was not going to be a lightweight. And when I opened it, an exceedingly strong chemical smell poured out of the box. I mean, STRONG. I left the box open, outside, for the better part of a week, hoping for the smell to abate. It did, a little, but this may pose an issue for any person with chemical sensitivities. I believe the source of the odor is the rubber tires. It's been on the property for close to three weeks now and while fainter, it still smells. A week after delivery, I finally had time to assemble it. We lost the directions that were included in the box, so I found a photo of the unit online. Assembly wasn't that difficult, but for someone with no mechanical aptitide, the instructions (which are nowhere to be found online) might be important. Most of the hardware is bolts, washers and locking nuts, sized so that it makes sense what belongs where. An assortment of ratchets and/or end wrenches and a phillips screwdriver will be needed for the job. One thing to consider is how much the plastic black caddy area under the seat is wanted/needed. It is poorly and awkwardly designed, and an argument can be made for leaving it off. The brackets that hold it onto the tubular steel flex, and it just doesn't really fit on securely. I left mine on because it will only ever hold a small water bottle...if you are counting on using this space for serious storage, think again. The rear mounted basket is better constructed and far more useful, but smaller. I use a smartphone often for music while I work, and it safely holds this and some seed packets or other small objects away from the soil. The wire basket is made such that the gaps are relatively small, so things like hand clippers or 1/2" irrigation connectors can't fall through. Finally it was time to try it out in the garden...I grow vegetables in many locations, so lifting and transporting this seat is required. It weighs 32 lbs. I can pick it up and carry it for some distance, but if it were any heavier it would really be no fun. I cannot always haul it by the drawbar in front because I can't have the wheels running over vine crops, but when that is not the case, the drawbar handle works well enough. Another caveat: if you pull the seat by the drawbar, the possibility exists of dumping out the items that are in the plastic caddy, depending on how tall a person is (the front wheels will be lifted off the ground, unless a person plans on stooping down to pull it). I wouldn't want to have to haul it long distances by the drawbar; it's an awkward motion that involves some bending while walking. The seat fits nicely on the rear rack of my ATV, and loads easily through the rear passenger doors of my old station wagon with the seats folded down. Our garden rows are flat on top, with reasonably wide furrows. In the future, crops for which I plan to use this as a harvest device will have the rows designed with the seat in mind. What I hoped to achieve by purchasing it was to be able to move down the level furrows, and push or pull myself along with my feet while as I completed work in each area of the row, moving about 1.5' at a time. The seat works great for this, with a caveat: the soil must be fairly level, dry and firm. If any of those conditions are not met, the seat does not roll so easily. I had my very tall 200lb husband try it on the packed gravel driveway; he reported that it scooted along easily for him. I really liked how I was able to work in the seat. I could swivel and lean over forward, backward, sideways, letting me work fluidly while not remaining in just one position. Mobile seat yoga, if you will. The seat itself is comfortable and very stable. There is no need to get up to adjust directions; it is possible to move the drawbar handle while seated, in order to change direction by some degrees. The seat is mounted on a worm screw, and raises and lowers within about a 4" range. Overall I am happy with the purchase and expect many years of use. I am unsure how the weight issue could be resolved without sacrificing overall quality of the seat. There is no one item on the market that functions perfectly for every gardening scenario; as long as it is used for appropriate applications I think this is a great thing to own and quite a back-saver.