Fiskars 9424 Garden Bucket Caddy
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List Price: Our Price: $13.76 You Save: $3.23 (19%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Lawn & Patio See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Fiskars 9424 Garden Bucket Caddy
Customer Review: Nicely Done
Summary: 5 Stars
This has proven to be a wonderful addition to our arsenal of gardening tools! We're always toting around 5-gallon plastic pails for weeds, soil, mulch, etc and now we can easily carry our tools along as well. The product is very well designed specifically for gardening needs and well-constructed from sturdy materials. Buy one! Buy one now!Customer Review: Nicely done, but a couple of improvement could be made
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very convenient way to keep all your gardening tools handy. It's similar to the bucket tool caddies that contractors used with one key different -- there's no flap that goes inside the bucket, so it's possible to use the bucket to carry dirt, weeds, plants, etc. without getting dirt all over the caddy.
Construction is decent. I had no problems fitting it to a five gallon bucket, but it's essential that you find one that does not have a lot of ribs around the lip. The caddy straps on with velcro, and the ribs would make it hard to get a good fit. Thus, buckets you buy at places like Home Depot will not work well - you need an old 5 gallon paint bucket for best results.
There are plenty of pockets. The pockets on one side are closed at the bottom; the pockets on the other are open on the bottom. Chances are you'll be able to fit all the tools you want to carry. The only problems I encountered were with long handled weeders. I'll end up carrying them inside the bucket as before.
The seed pocket (sort of like a wallet with cutouts to stash seed packets) is a nice touch but, alas, one that I can't use since I purchase most seeds in bulk bags not envelopes. Wish there was an option to remove that and replace it with a pocket suited for tools, but hey - at this price, I can't complain at all.
My only concern is construction. While it is decent for the price paid, I expect it will be a bit ragged after significant use. Reenforced seams with rivets would be great - I'd be willing to pay a bit more for that. A better gripping mechanism would also be a nice touch - perhaps some type of spring clamp that grips the bucket so the burden of holding this on is not born by just a single piece of velcro. Lastly, a built-in sheath for a garden knife would be an excellent addition.
Customer Review: Perfect Fit
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great invention and it fits perfect around a 5 gallon bucket I bought at Home Depot for $4.00. You want to put it over the handle on both ends it is beautiful. I am very pleased with this product! Buy one!Customer Review: Perfect for my gardening sister
Summary: 5 Stars
I was surprised to see what a really unique item this was. It has so many pockets for everything even for her seed packets and a journal holder too.Customer Review: Right idea? Wrong execution?
Summary: 2 Stars
EDITED NOTE: This review is of the 9424 GARDEN Bucket Caddy. Please note, this product is marketed as a gardeners product. It isn't marketed as a heavy duty tool or construction tool caddy. My review is based upon the product's intended useage - in the garden. While the product may have other uses (and I think it may), I would NOT recommend this product as a heavy duty or specialized "tool" tote.
The Fiskars 9424 Garden Bucket Caddy surely has appeal to somebody, but I can't imagine the Caddy really having any kind of mass appeal. It's a good idea - for someone who has the need to tote a bucket and yard tools - but that leads to this question: Who needs to tote a large bucket and garden tools?
Answer: gardenders who do a lot of weeding?
That's the answer I got from a number of people who said that the bucket had "all kinds of uses in the garden" and then had difficulty explaining those needs coupled with the need to tote the tools with the bucket.
I'm not intending to be short sighted here. Believe me, I see lots of uses for a bucket and tools - weeding, harvesting, seed toting, bulb toting, or just extra space to store larger gardening items - like bags of lime or fertilizer.
But you should ask yourself first, before you buy - do I tote things in a bucket and need my gardening tools when I do?
The design seems fine, but has some flaws. For starters, some of the pockets have no bottoms... and if you don't have the right size tool in there, these pockets are then useless. When you do have something in there that's large enough to provide resistance, it's a bit unweildy.
Loaded down, the Caddy is heavy, maybe even too heavy to fit nicely on the bucket. The more you have in the caddy, the snugger the fit. Completely loaded with a series of tools, we found the caddy almost impossible to fasten aroung the bucket we had. There is no counterweight overlapping the lip of the bucket, extending into the interior of the bucket, as you might have seen with a construction bucket tote. And be careful selecting a bucket. Buckets with heavy trim or banding near the top may be the right volume but will not work with this caddy - it just won't reach around.
Fiskars would be wise to recommend a bucket or two to send customers in the right direction. You may find a quick trip to your local bix bog hardware store doesn't yield a good bucket.
The other major issue is this: You can't empty the bucket with the caddy on unless you want to play fruit basket turnover with your tools. There's no locking mechanism or tie back to keep the tools in place when the bucket is inverted - so you can fill the bucket, but you'll have to remove the caddy first before you then empty the bucket.
Also, depending upon the handle on your bucket - you may find it difficult to get the handle out of the way when the caddy is in place.
Bottom line: I'm just not sold on this device that looks like it should be handy and useful in the photographs. Practicality, design issues, and limited use make for a below average product.
UPDATE: We saw an AVID SCRAPBOOKER with this device, wrapped around a bucket. She has all sorts of scrapbooking tools in the caddy, and the bucket became a portable trash can. Not the intended use, but very resourceful. Go figure!