Exactly one year ago, Black & Decker sent me their 3-in-1 collapsible cart for review consideration.
The cart, model BDST3IN1CTFF, has 3 modes – wagon (with or without fabric liner), flatbed cart, and hand truck.
It has a 150 lb load rating.
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I was reluctant, but thought I could give it a quick assessment and then pass it along to a local tester for long-term use. Why not, right?
My initial analysis was mixed, and I wasn’t sure what to think of it, so I held off on both the review and on giving it away.
Once the fabric liner is removed, you can fold down the sides and use the cart as a flat wagon.
It can then be converted to hand truck mode. I have yet to test the cart in this configuration.
It collapses for storage. The footprint isn’t tiny, but I feel it’s reasonably compact.
I donated a bunch of stuff to a local church for their rummage sale, and the Black & Decker cart was perfect for saving my back.
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I hauled kids toys, old speakers, and lots of other stuff through the parking lot and down the winding hall to the large room where everything was being sorted.
Recently, it was just the thing to return a couple of big and bulky boxes.
I didn’t want to have to make multiple trips from the car, so I packed the cart with the boxes and rolled everything into FedEx in one go.
This is not something I would have purchased. I broke a lot of light duty carts, dollies, and hand trucks in the past, and have been upgrading to more robust longer-lasting solutions.
The Black & Decker convertible cart has held up well so far, and I have have found it to be extremely useful.
I’ll still be donating my test sample, but can confidently say that I won’t hesitate to buy a replacement for personal use.
The construction is decent, converting it back and forth through the different modes is easy, and it performed its transport tasks (real-world and simulated for added testing) well.
It just… worked.
I really don’t want to donate my test sample – I would rather wrap it in plastic and store it in the attic to save workshop space – which to me is a very good sign.
I accepted the test sample thinking I would assess and get rid of it quickly, but it proved to be useful without any noticeable compromises, disappointments, or headaches.
To be frank, I thought it would be too light duty for my typical needs or wants, but that turned out to not be the case. Besides this, it’s been maybe 10 years since I’ve touched a new Black & Decker product.
I can’t tell you whether it’s fit for your needs, wants, or potential use. But if you ask me whether I’d buy one today, the answer is YES.
Price: $190
Thank you to Black & Decker for providing the test sample.
alex
I’ve found this version to be incredibly useful:
https://www.amazon.com/Cosco-Shifter-300-Pound-Capacity-Multi-Position/dp/B00LMH8CCS/
Scott K
Thanks for sharing. This looks to fold up nicely and the 300 lb capacity seems reassuring. I have an old hand-me-down that’s a pain to convert using pins.
John Blair
I have the same one. I use it for work all the time. The only thing I don’t like about it is at 6’5″, I’m too tall to comfortably push / pull it in the cart configuration (which is where I use it most). Also the bottom plate doesn’t sit entirely flat, it sags which makes the hand truck configuration something I wouldn’t load up anything heavy on. But at $65 when I bought it in July, I’d pay that again.
jake
Could the amazon links be for a different model than the pictures shown in your post? They look different to me.
Stuart
Sorry – you’re right – I fixed the price and link.
Hmm, it looks like it might not be available anymore?
Dust
What did you replace the speakers with?
Stuart
Smaller ones.
Those were Infinity Primus – a center, 2 larger bookshelves I used for front right and left, and 2 large bookshelves I used for rear right and left.
They were great until we had kids and speakers on stands became a hazard. We also moved and there was no good placement for large speakers.
I then went with small SVS satellite speakers as the front left and right, and a matching center channel.
The Infinity were taking up storage space for more than 5 years. I bought a different brand of bookshelf speaker for the garage, and realized those Infinity weren’t going to be used anytime soon. Donating them to the local rummage sale seemed like a good idea.
Jack D
I think I found it here, there’s a link from Black and Deckers site to the Amazon page. Feel free to update your link and delete this post.
https://www.blackanddecker.com/products/bdst3in1ctff/3-in-1-collapsible-storage-cart-utility-wagon-hand-truck-holds-up-to-150-lbs-black
Stuart
Yes – I updated the link earlier – thanks! It looks to be out of stock everywhere right now, but maybe the review is still helpful for when it comes back in stock.
Nathan
For 190 dollars the load rating seems rather weak. Maybe it’s just me and I undercut how bad inflation is.
I would expect at that price to be at least 300, I mean 200 would be a dollar per lbs
Stuart
I at first accidentally linked to a less expensive but much cheaper looking cart.
I also thought the load rating would make this a light duty product, which is why I didn’t anticipate keeping it around after initial testing.
But it worked, and without my ever thinking “wow it’s light duty.”
It’s been useful and reliable – easy to fold and convert, and hassle-free.
MM
It looks like it’s quite useful. It does look a little janky in terms of build quality, but so long as you’re not trying to use it to move boxes stacked with books or sacks of soil for the garden it should suffice. For moving bulky but not very heavy items it looks like it does the job. But in my opinion the price is far out of line. For $50 you can buy a Milwaukee fold-up hand truck which is much more compact than this, and would do most of the same jobs. For $80 you can buy an improved model with 300 lb load capacity and the ability to be used as a 4-wheel cart. Again, it folds up more compact than this does. For around $200 you can buy quite a high end hand hand cart or garden cart and those will gladly move stacks of books indoors or bags of sand in the yard.
And speaking of garden carts, Gorilla has a folding utility wagon with a metal frame and a cloth liner that seems very similar to this and it’s only $125 at HD.
Stuart
I bought a Magliner for heavy duty use, but it’s not fitting in my car in 30 seconds.
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/magliner-gemini-sr-convertible-cart/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The same with the Farm Tuff metal deck cart I’ve been eyeballing https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/farm-tuff-metal-deck-wagon-deal-2023/%3C/a%3E , or the plastic deck model I already own.
Jared
It doesn’t look bad honestly. Sometimes there’s a point where carts like this being too heavy duty just makes it awkward to use and transport. Light duty carts have a place because it isn’t such a chore to store or lift them.
David Settlemoir
I’ve been using Rock-N-Roller Multi-carts since the 90’s to move my video equipment (and everything else!) They are much easier to fold up and transport than the Magliners. They have a better weight rating than that Black & Decker cart, too.
https://rocknrollercart.com/
Koko The Talking Ape
The link is still broken. It looks like amazon.com got replaced with black-decker-3-in-1-wagon-bdst3in1ctff (?)
This link works:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHKL54M3?tag=toolguyd-20
(though it’s out of stock.)
Stuart
Thanks!
Whoops. The button glitched out when I updated it. It worked for me when I tested it in the editor, but not on the live page.
*fixed* (again and hopefully for good).
Koko The Talking Ape
Works now!
Koko The Talking Ape
I wonder why the side “walls” are truncated triangles instead of rectangles, like the top and bottom walls. It looks like they don’t even strengthen the dolly/cart, which actual triangles could’ve (maybe, possibly.)
JVT
I stopped using my packouts on most jobs in lieu my wifes folding wagon this last year. It’s just more versatile, and saves money and weight by not buying a packout for every ounce of kit. I still use the packout organizers, can’t replace those.
The cheap borrowed wagon started getting beat up pretty quickly, so I picked up a Radio Flyer Beast for myself. It’s pretty sweet. $130 for a 300lb weight rating, it stacks up well against the wagons mentioned here. 6 months in I’d say it’s built well, I dunno they’ve been making wagons for 120 years they gotta have it pretty down by now.