Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Smokerbill]

Thrift Store salvaging...

OK, not exactly pallet wood projects, but yesterday I picked up some nice wood products from our local church charity thrift store for free.

On my long list of things to build with pallet wood, I wanted to have a magazine rack for the "reading room", aka the bathroom. As luck would have it, I found this for free outside the Thrift Store....

View attachment 3596986

It's in really good shape. No idea why they put it outside for free, except that maybe the young people today do all their reading on their smartphones?

Alongside the magazine rack, there was a wooden towel holder that matched. So, I picked that up, too....

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I have not yet decided where to put this rack. For the picture, I just put it on the floor to give you an idea of what I found. They look like a matching set to me.

Both are simple designs and if you had some good pallet or salvaged wood, they would be pretty easy to make. But, picking them up, already made, for free is even better.

Those were a nice find, but there was also a patio deck table umbrella there as well. It's not brand new, but no tears or rips and the crank works. Here is a picture of it after I put it on our patio table and opened it up to stretch out....

View attachment 3596996

It's actually a heavy-duty umbrella and has a tilt feature if you want to block out the sun from a certain direction. I opened it up all the way and maybe those wrinkles will work out after a little time. If not, no big deal. It was free and it works great just the same.

Nice score!

I reconfigured my large raised bed chicken and deer deflector system (haha) yesterday. I used 4 of the screened panels from my raised beds to form the majority of the raised bed fence. Miscellaneous fencing and rabbit cages were used to secure the remainder. Rope strung along the tops of the fence posts as hopeful deer prevention, and rope also strung across the top of the bed, also for maybe keeping deer from jumping the fence.

My 6x2x2 foot rabbit cage is now the "door" between the downhill side of the other two beds, and since that path between them is critter proof, that's where I took the panels from to form the new fence. Hope it makes sense.

Free stuff used: rabbit cages, remesh/fencing, wood odds and ends, and 6 foot Tposts that were left here when I bought the house.

Pictures of before:



and After:

 

[gtaus]

Nice score!

I reconfigured my large raised bed chicken and deer deflector system (haha) yesterday. I used 4 of the screened panels from my raised beds to form the majority of the raised bed fence. Miscellaneous fencing and rabbit cages were used to secure the remainder. Rope strung along the tops of the fence posts as hopeful deer prevention, and rope also strung across the top of the bed, also for maybe keeping deer from jumping the fence.

My 6x2x2 foot rabbit cage is now the "door" between the downhill side of the other two beds, and since that path between them is critter proof, that's where I took the panels from to form the new fence. Hope it makes sense.

Free stuff used: rabbit cages, remesh/fencing, wood odds and ends, and 6 foot Tposts that were left here when I bought the house.

Pictures of before:

View attachment 3598531

and After:

View attachment 3598532View attachment 3598533View attachment 3598534View attachment 3598535View attachment 3598536View attachment 3598537View attachment 3598538View attachment 3598539

That is some professional work there. Very nicely done.

Hope it keeps out the deer. Deer can be pretty smart when hungry. Let us know if it solved your deer problem. I think it will.

BTW, the other day I found some pepper plants had their tops eaten off. Not a lot, but you could see something ate the top right off. I'm suspecting deer. The tops of the pepper plants were about 3 feet off the ground. If it becomes a real problem, I'm going to make some wood frames out of pallet wood and staple on 4 foot tall chicken wire. That should be tall enough for the pepper plants.

 

[Smokerbill]

That is some professional work there. Very nicely done.

Hope it keeps out the deer. Deer can be pretty smart when hungry. Let us know if it solved your deer problem. I think it will.

BTW, the other day I found some pepper plants had their tops eaten off. Not a lot, but you could see something ate the top right off. I'm suspecting deer. The tops of the pepper plants were about 3 feet off the ground. If it becomes a real problem, I'm going to make some wood frames out of pallet wood and staple on 4 foot tall chicken wire. That should be tall enough for the pepper plants.

Thanks! Once deer get a taste for your plants they can be relentless. I made the mistake of not doing anything when I first noticed a few leaves missing. The next night the deer pretty much destroyed all my hard work.

 

[gtaus]

I answered a question on pallets from a member on another thread, but think I will copy my response here as well...

Where do you get free pallets? I can buy used ones for $4-5 (still cheap), but free would be better.

I started getting free pallets at Harbor Freight. Maybe only one or two per week, but it added up. Then I found a NAPA auto parts store that had free pallets out in the back by their dumpster. Across the street a paint store would stage free pallets out by their dumpster. Then I found a tractor company that had lots of free pallets piled up in their backyard. They were more than happy to give them away because it cost them money to have the pallets hauled off. Our local Co-Op also had some pallets for free.

So, basically, I just drove around the back of businesses where they had dumpsters and if I saw pallets there, I would ask the manager if I could pick them up for free. For a while, I was also talking to anyone and everyone asking if they knew about where I could pick them up for free.

I don't live in town, but when I went into town I would just drive by each place and pick up a pallet or two if available until my old Explorer was full. I can fit as many as 6 pallets in the back of the Explorer. Sometimes I came back home with a full load, other times a partial load, and sometimes I got skunked. Over a number of months, I had amassed a nice pile of pallets.

Last count I had about 80 pallets in my backyard. Dear Wife said I had to stop picking up pallets until I worked down my stock. Well, OK. I have been making some raised garden beds, work benches in the garage, shelving, etc... and am slowly working down my stockpile. But honestly, I probably have enough pallets for a number of years.

If I come across an exceptionally good pallet, or a pallet that has special features about it, I will pick it up. For example, I have salvaged about $40 worth of high quality torx deck screws from some pallets, bolts and washers off a few pallets, and 6 and 8 foot long pallets with long 2X4's for bigger projects. I have picked up some pallets with half sheets of plywood on the top. Those plywood tops make great work benches for the garage, or for shelving. I also got a few pallets that used 4X4 beams instead of 2X4's. I salvaged lots of rope off a few pallets that I keep in my truck to use as quick tie downs.

The best thing about having a good supply of pallets is that I can really be picky about any new pallets I take home. I only take really good pallets, or specialty pallets, at this point.

Having said that, if I take apart a bad pallet and end up with lots of broken and unusable boards, I just burn them in my fire ring where I am burning out stumps. So even the bad wood gets used for something good.

Anything you can use a pallet for is a plus for the environment. Where I live, the pallets that get dumped out at the local county landfill are just buried in the ground. That's a complete waste.

 

[gtaus]

Update on DIY wood filler using sawdust and glue...

I mentioned that my sawdust and glue DIY wood filler was a partial success, but that the end product was bumpy. I sanded it down to a point, but it really could have used a lot more sanding to get it perfectly smooth on the wood. Good enough for the chicken coop, but it would have been a failure on trim board inside the house.

Earlier tonight I came upon a YouTube video on DIY wood fillers, and the guy stated that he only uses sawdust from sanding wood with 100 grit, or finer, for his DIY wood filler! Holy Cow! I thought saw dust was saw dust, so I took my collection bag off my chop saw and used that. Those pieces are like large rocks compared to the fine powder of 100 grit sanding saw dust. No comparison at all.

I don't have a sander with a collection bag, so I guess I won't be saving any 100 grit fine saw dust for a DIY wood filler. The saw dust from the chop saw will still work for filling large gaps and cracks, but for fine work, I guess I should have used a much finer powdered saw dust for finishing work. Live and learn.

To be fair to myself, after my DIY wood filler dried and I saw how bumpy it was, I only took the time to sand it down a bit with a 18v finishing palm sander. If I really needed to make it perfectly smooth, I could have taken out my big electric belt sander and smoothed it out in a few minutes. I don't think the chickens will care, and you can't see the imperfections from a few feet away, let alone way out in the backyard. It's just one of those imperfections I will always see because I know it's there. Bottom line, my DIY wood filler was used to fill the cracks and gaps to keep the rain out. It did that.

Another lesson from the school of hard knocks. At least I learned something.

 

[Sally PB]

If/when they ever die, I'll buy a newer Instant Pot because they can do more things. But I can't see myself tossing out a good crock pot that still works.

Once I got my Instant Pot, my crock pots began gathering dust. If I had to pick ONE countertop kitchen appliance, that would be it. I liked my 6 quart so much that I bought the 8 quart one for cooking bone broth (main use) and any other larger dishes. I also bought the air fryer lid (for the 6 quart model) and use that a lot too.

A few years ago I looked into how much it would cost me to get a whole house solar setup, and how long the payback period would be. Of course, that all depends on where you live and what incentives the local or state governments provide. For me, the cost of the system would have a payback period of almost 20 years. I'm already in my 60's, so I just passed on the idea. Maybe it would have made more sense if we were a young couple just starting out

We'd probably never reach break even either. If we go solar -- or wind -- it would be to get off the grid.

Was your exterior siding already primed? Our local lumber stores sell some kind of siding that is already primed and ready to be final coat painted. It costs less than plywood, but certainly more than the cheap OSB I used.

No, the siding was not primed. Raw wood. I could hear it soak up the first coat of paint. We looked at primed siding, but it wasn't worth the price difference, as I recall.

 

[Sally PB]

Not a pallet project, but a reclamation project. We are taking the metal roofing off an old farmhouse, and it's in plenty good shape to use for something else. (I'll be posting about this in my Sally's GF3 Thread.) Underneath is some good planking on the porch roof. I told DH that that wood could be my pantry in the basement. I have wanted a pantry built under the stairs for years. Decades. This will be the year. Get all those cans of tomatoes and applesauce and salsa organized and put away.

 

[gtaus]

Once I got my Instant Pot, my crock pots began gathering dust. If I had to pick ONE countertop kitchen appliance, that would be it.

That's what I heard. Our cooking instructors said if you are buying something new that is the way to go with the Instant Pot. If you still have a good crock pot, you might not want to upgrade until the crock pot dies - if you want to save money. They both have Instant Pots and don't use their crock pots anymore. But, for soups, stews, etc... the crock pots still work great, just take more time.

 

[chickengr]

Update on DIY wood filler using sawdust and glue...

I mentioned that my sawdust and glue DIY wood filler was a partial success, but that the end product was bumpy. I sanded it down to a point, but it really could have used a lot more sanding to get it perfectly smooth on the wood. Good enough for the chicken coop, but it would have been a failure on trim board inside the house.

Earlier tonight I came upon a YouTube video on DIY wood fillers, and the guy stated that he only uses sawdust from sanding wood with 100 grit, or finer, for his DIY wood filler! Holy Cow! I thought saw dust was saw dust, so I took my collection bag off my chop saw and used that. Those pieces are like large rocks compared to the fine powder of 100 grit sanding saw dust. No comparison at all.

I don't have a sander with a collection bag, so I guess I won't be saving any 100 grit fine saw dust for a DIY wood filler. The saw dust from the chop saw will still work for filling large gaps and cracks, but for fine work, I guess I should have used a much finer powdered saw dust for finishing work. Live and learn.

To be fair to myself, after my DIY wood filler dried and I saw how bumpy it was, I only took the time to sand it down a bit with a 18v finishing palm sander. If I really needed to make it perfectly smooth, I could have taken out my big electric belt sander and smoothed it out in a few minutes. I don't think the chickens will care, and you can't see the imperfections from a few feet away, let alone way out in the backyard. It's just one of those imperfections I will always see because I know it's there. Bottom line, my DIY wood filler was used to fill the cracks and gaps to keep the rain out. It did that.

Another lesson from the school of hard knocks. At least I learned something.

I get sawdust at the local small business. it is literally dust. they also have pine shavings.

 

[Sally PB]

If you still have a good crock pot, you might not want to upgrade until the crock pot dies -

My original crock pot is the kind that has the knob you turn to "low," "high," or "auto-shift." The latter was a newfangled addition (2 hours on high, then low until turned off), what... 30 years ago? No electronics to go bad. The only way it would die is if I broke the crock or the wiring failed. My newer one... eh, I don't like it as well.

Love my Instant Pot! Just saying.