Looking for an easy way to haul and carry items during your next outdoor excursion. If so, choose the uniquely designed Ozark Trail Wagon with Tailgate and Extension handle. You will be able to haul items of all sizes and weights thank to the sturdy steel frame and set of heavy-duty oversized 7-inch wheels for traversing terrains of all types. In fact, with this wagon’s design, you will be able to conveniently transport up to 225 pounds. It also features an innovative folding tailgate so you can load and unload items effortlessly, as well as haul longer items. And to make hauling easier, this wagon has an extension handle.
Based on its listed interior dimensions, we calculated the storage to be about 3.5 cubic feet. It has a solid frame, which remained durable throughout a battery of tests, including rolling the wagon down a hill while it was filled with equipment. Even better, they can easily fold down when not in use for convenient storage. We tested two more folding wagons and one oddball gear-toting beach chair in early 2024.
The handle has two drink holders and a tray with a lid that holds an ammo box. The Mac Sports does not need assembly, which is also true of our beach-wagon pick from the same company. Two small mesh pockets at the front can hold drinks or flip-flops, and we found that these pockets were better placed and more useful than similar pockets on other folding wagons.
But it didn’t turn or pull as smoothly on sand as the Mac Sports ozark trail canopy beach wagon, and its smaller wheels seemed to sink. Personally, I’m a science writer with more than a decade of experience interviewing experts in countless fields, including parenting, environmental science, and child development. I’m also the mom of two school-aged boys whose stuff I have been hauling around in wagons since I began working on this guide five years ago (they’ve occasionally hopped in for a ride, too).
We evaluated the wagons in several scenarios and conditions. For the first round of testing in 2019, I used each wagon on trips to my son’s elementary school, traveling about half a mile each way over sidewalks and city streets during the course of two months. I also took them to the beach, rolling them down the beach path and testing them on the sand. Additionally, I tested each wagon (filled with soccer equipment) on grass and bumpy, broken concrete surfaces, paying attention to how the suspension and wheels performed under different conditions. In spring 2021, I tested four additional beach-friendly wagons during several trips from my home in Santa Monica to the beach (10 blocks away) and back.
Compared with the standard Mac Sports wagon’s helicopter handle, the Heavy Duty’s helicopter handle felt flimsy and didn’t click into place while extended. Also, the wagon doesn’t fold down to the same size as the standard Mac Sports, making it a tighter squeeze when folded in a sedan’s trunk. Despite those minor difficulties, we still think it’s by far the best for beachgoers. To start, we assessed the initial assembly of each wagon, noting any particular frustrations, as well as any extra tools that were required. (Because none of the wagons were especially difficult to put together, we did not make this a major criterion.) We also looked at how easy each wagon was to fold and pick up, and to store in a small space.