Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[ChicksnMore]

No fun getting old! I had planned on finishing my current pallet wood project and uploading some pictures today - it was about 85% complete as of yesterday - but I went to town today and picked up 3 bags of chicken feed. In the process, I strained my lower back and now I'm in some pain, taking it easy, and popping some aspirin. I had to have some young guys at the Fleet store load the bags for me and the bags are still in the car until my back gets better.

When I got home, all my projects for the day had to be put off. I wil probably watch a few YouTube videos tonight for new pallet wood ideas and hope that the old back feels better tomorrow. Hurts even to sit up in a chair right now.

On a more positive note, Dear Wife watched some YouTube videos last night with me on making small wood planters. She saw one design that she liked and has asked me to build one for her. If it turns out good, I'm sure she will want more. Of course, I talked to her about making a few modifications so I can use pallet wood, and she was OK with that. She is mainly concerned about the size of the planter and not that it needs to be built with cedar or redwood.

Pallet wood is fine with her. So, her small planer project has moved to the top of my honey-do list immediately after I finish my current project and get that out of the way. I am building everything in a single stall of a 2-car garage, so there is pretty much only room for one project at a time. But it feels great to be working in the garage in February here in Minnesota now that I got the slab heat working again. Just need to rest the old back a little and I should be back in action soon....

I'm so sorry your back tweaked on you and hope it heals fast!

 

[chickengr]

I've got some free wood from a factory. not pallet but it is a ready made fence! easier to work with. I will get more of them later when they get rid of them.

they look similar to this (google pic):

 

[gtaus]

I use the ford escape instead of the pickup because it's easier to unload. If I'm not up to it rain wouldn't matter.

I was in town today with the Santa Fe, but it's the same principle in that the feed bags can sit in the car until I am ready to move them - when my back is better.

Ditto for my old Ford Explorer which I use to pick up pallets in town. When I get home, I have the option of unloading them whenever I want and in the meantime, they are covered and out of the snow and rain. I can load up to 6 pallets in the back of the old Ford Explorer. That's good enough for a simple run into town. If I find a big pile of pallets, I just pick out the best 6 to load up.

I have a Menards wagon that is a bit lower than the escape. I put 3 bags in and roll it around and in the basement door. I just have to pickup turn (without twisting) and set it down.

Yep, I have a Menards "Gorilla-type" 4-wheeled cart that is great. I can slide off the feed bags into the cart and easily move it anywhere.

One thing I have mentioned on this thread a number of times is that I have been getting free Harbor Freight 5-gallon buckets on their special sales. For my chicken feed, each bucket holds 25 pounds of feed. So, I dump the feed into the buckets and put a lid on it. It's much easier to move a 5-gallon bucket with 25 pounds of feed in it using the handle than trying to get a grip on the 50-pound feed bag without any handles.

Also, in the garage, the buckets are waterproof which is important because sometimes the cars have lots of snow on them that melts off overnight, causing the cement floor to get wet, which would not be good for a bag of feed sitting on the garage floor. Well, also, a plastic bucket keeps out any mice that might try to get at the feed if it was in a bag. They don't get into a bucket with a lid on.

Nothing like starting your morning off getting some chicken scratch or cracked corn from a feed bag and having a fat mouse jump out at you! That happened to me a few times before I got smart and started storing my feed and grains in the buckets.

Since I have a nice stash of 5-gallon buckets now, I am using them for lots of stuff. I have been busy in the garage this past week making some pallet projects. I cut up lots of wood and the waste cut offs are tossed into a bucket. I filled up three 5-gallon buckets this past week, and that stuff will be good to burn in the fireplace ring next time I start a fire outside.

Also, I have been cutting lots of 16 inches pieces of pallet planks which I use in making my raised garden beds. I have been storing the ready to use pieces vertically in some buckets like an organizer. Storing those cut pieces vertically in a bucket takes less space in my garage then having them laid out horizontally on a shelf or something like that.

 

[gtaus]

I'm so sorry your back tweaked on you and hope it heals fast!

Thanks. The aspirin and Ibuprofen are helping. Hope to work on some projects tomorrow if I feel better. If not, maybe just do some small things like cleaning or organizing small stuff that won't bother the back. Nothing heavy for a few days in any case.

 

[gtaus]

I've got some free wood from a factory. not pallet but it is a ready made fence! easier to work with. I will get more of them later when they get rid of them.

they look similar to this (google pic):

I'm all for using salvaged wood as well as pallet wood. Part of it is saving money, of course, but the other driving factor for me is that reusing materials means less stuff getting sent to the landfills and polluting our land.

Speaking of which, last week I found an abandoned Oscillating Stand Fan outside our local church Thrift Shop.

The front cover was not on the fan, but I thought it would be good enough to circulate the air in the workshop/garage if it worked. So, I went over to pick it up and laying beside it was the front cover. I tossed everything in the back of my Santa Fe and took it home. I plugged it in, and everything worked just fine. The front cover was easy enough to put back on.

I don't know why someone would just toss a perfectly good working fan out to the curb, but I gave it a new home in my shop. I'm sure someone else would have tossed it into the garage bin as trash without even checking it out.

When it gets hot in the garage this summer, I will be chilling in the breeze of that fan as I work on some pallet projects, or something.

 

[Sally PB]

In fact, many times I was taught to make an initial proof of concept model with inexpensive materials, tweak the build until you get everything just right, then upgrade to more expensive materials if that is your goal.

Hubby said he did that a lot at work. P.O.C. (proof of concept) with cardboard. Or cheap wood. Or scrap left overs.

One thing I have mentioned on this thread a number of times is that I have been getting free Harbor Freight 5-gallon buckets on their special sales. For my chicken feed, each bucket holds 25 pounds of feed. So, I dump the feed into the buckets and put a lid on it. It's much easier to move a 5-gallon bucket with 25 pounds of feed in it using the handle than trying to get a grip on the 50-pound feed bag without any handles.

I was in the grocery (and most everything else) store yesterday. They have plastic 5 gallon buckets with their name on them for $5. Oh, if you want a lid, that's another $2.50. I don't know if they're food grade or not.

It's about time to go to the ice cream/donut shop and get a few more of their buckets.

 

[gtaus]

hey have plastic 5 gallon buckets with their name on them for $5. Oh, if you want a lid, that's another $2.50. I don't know if they're food grade or not.

If it's any help....

If you only have a recyle code, here is another chart...

The 5-gallon buckets I get at Harbor Freight normally sell for $4.98, but I wait until I can get them for free on their special sales events. The HF buckets are stamped HDPE Recycle Code #2 which in the above list indicates they should be food grade safe.

Bucket lids are extra. If you can get both a food grade bucket and lid for cheap from a local bakery shop, that might be a great option. But I buy lots of consumables from Harbor Freight so I just wait until I can get the free buckets with any purchase as an Inside Track Club member.

You can never have too many 5-gallon buckets around the house. So useful for so many purposes.

 

[gtaus]

I made my weekly run into town today. Picked up a 3X3 foot section of 1/2 X 1/2 inch hardware cloth at our local Co-Op store. They will cut what you want, and you just pay for the wire by the running foot.

It was cheaper for me to pay the Co-Op by the foot compared to buying a 10-foot roll at Menards or Home Depot. I would have had to buy a 25-foot roll of hardware cloth to get the price down cheaper than buying it by the foot at the Co-Op. Well, that, and I only needed a 3X3 foot section.

To refresh anyone's memory, I am going to build a wire top for one of the stackable compost bin tiers and use it as mini grazing frame for the chickens in the chicken run.

I have the boards cut and ready to finish that job, but I hurt my back yesterday and am taking today off from any work. I feel better today, compared to yesterday, but I don't want to set myself back a step or two by being too ambitious while my back is still sore.

I should have that wire top finished in a few days and I'll upload a picture in case anyone is interested on how it went. I already have a really big grazing frame in the chicken run, something like 3X10 feet, but the idea of this "mini grazing frame" is to make something more portable.

 

[gtaus]

Pallet Wood Stackable Compost Bin (Final?) Update

OK. My back is feeling better today. I was able to get back out in the garage this morning and do a little more work. I just finished the wire top for the stackable compost bin to use a bin tier as a mini grazing frame in the chicken run....

All I needed to do was to make a frame to fit inside the stackable bins, staple some wire on top of that frame, then I added some 1X4 trim board on top to cover any staples and/or pointy wire ends from the hardware cloth. Here it is fitted inside a bin tier as it will be used for a mini grazing frame...

As a bonus, I made some handles for the wire frame to make it a little bit easier to put on and take off. Here is a closeup of the handle, can you guess how I made them?

Last week I got the idea to cut out some handles from a 2X4 stretcher with the cutouts...

I thought that was a pretty good idea to use that piece as a handle. I was thinking of different handle options for a few days before I thought of just cutting it out of the 2X4 stretcher. Simple, free, and effective. I screwed it into the 1X4 top trim board from the bottom before I attached the trim board frame to the wire frame below. The handles work good.

You might be thinking that it seems like such a waste to cut up a full 2X4 stretcher just to harvest a couple of handles. And you would be right if that is what you thought. However, what I do is that I rip the 2X4 lengthwise into a 1-1/2 inch strip the entire length which yields a 2X2 standard size (which is 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 inches) piece of wood 4 foot long that I can use as standard framing in many projects. Then I cut out the handles from the bottom half of the ripped 2X4 which leaves almost no waste because I can use the remaining bits of wood as legs for the stackable compost bin tiers.

I have pretty much completed everything I wanted to do with the pallet wood stackable compost bin. I will probably make a few more bin tiers just for the fun of it. The hardware cloth cost me $5.00 at the Co-Op. I did not have any used wire laying around to use. So, unless I want to make a number of mini grazing frames in the chicken run, I don't expect to buy more hardware cloth for those wire tops.

I might use a couple bin tiers as a portable raised bed. We love Buttercup squash, but it over takes the entire garden. So, I might set a few of these bin tiers out in the middle of the yard, plant some Buttercup squash in it, and just let it grow.

Google picture of how big the Buttercup squash plant can get, overtaking the entire garden...

My Buttercup squash plants did not get that big, but they did take over a number of tomato, beans, and pepper plant beds, making it difficult to maintain the garden. That is why I am thinking of trying a couple stackable bins out in the middle of nowhere and just letting the squash vines grow wherever they want.

As always, if you have other suggestions for use of the stackable tiers in that build, please let me know.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Pallet Wood Stackable Compost Bin (Final?) Update

OK. My back is feeling better today. I was able to get back out in the garage this morning and do a little more work. I just finished the wire top for the stackable compost bin to use a bin tier as a mini grazing frame in the chicken run....

View attachment 3753803

All I needed to do was to make a frame to fit inside the stackable bins, staple some wire on top of that frame, then I added some 1X4 trim board on top to cover any staples and/or pointy wire ends from the hardware cloth. Here it is fitted inside a bin tier as it will be used for a mini grazing frame...

View attachment 3753806

As a bonus, I made some handles for the wire frame to make it a little bit easier to put on and take off. Here is a closeup of the handle, can you guess how I made them?

View attachment 3753808

Last week I got the idea to cut out some handles from a 2X4 stretcher with the cutouts...

View attachment 3753809

I thought that was a pretty good idea to use that piece as a handle. I was thinking of different handle options for a few days before I thought of just cutting it out of the 2X4 stretcher. Simple, free, and effective. I screwed it into the 1X4 top trim board from the bottom before I attached the trim board frame to the wire frame below. The handles work good.

You might be thinking that it seems like such a waste to cut up a full 2X4 stretcher just to harvest a couple of handles. And you would be right if that is what you thought. However, what I do is that I rip the 2X4 lengthwise into a 1-1/2 inch strip the entire length which yields a 2X2 standard size (which is 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 inches) piece of wood 4 foot long that I can use as standard framing in many projects. Then I cut out the handles from the bottom half of the ripped 2X4 which leaves almost no waste because I can use the remaining bits of wood as legs for the stackable compost bin tiers.

I have pretty much completed everything I wanted to do with the pallet wood stackable compost bin. I will probably make a few more bin tiers just for the fun of it. The hardware cloth cost me $5.00 at the Co-Op. I did not have any used wire laying around to use. So, unless I want to make a number of mini grazing frames in the chicken run, I don't expect to buy more hardware cloth for those wire tops.

I might use a couple bin tiers as a portable raised bed. We love Buttercup squash, but it over takes the entire garden. So, I might set a few of these bin tiers out in the middle of the yard, plant some Buttercup squash in it, and just let it grow.

View attachment 3753819
View attachment 3753820

Google picture of how big the Buttercup squash plant can get, overtaking the entire garden...

View attachment 3753823

My Buttercup squash plants did not get that big, but they did take over a number of tomato, beans, and pepper plant beds, making it difficult to maintain the garden. That is why I am thinking of trying a couple stackable bins out in the middle of nowhere and just letting the squash vines grow wherever they want.

As always, if you have other suggestions for use of the stackable tiers in that build, please let me know.

I absolutely love how that turned out! I'm definitely going to try making handles that way! I don't have good building skills or knowledge but I think I can.

Lovely and professional finished piece you made there.