Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Smokerbill]

@gtaus , I wouldn't use those lag bolts on a critical connection. All that bending has weakened the steel quite a bit.

 

[gtaus]

@gtaus , I wouldn't use those lag bolts on a critical connection. All that bending has weakened the steel quite a bit.

I really don't make anything that needs a critical connection but point well made that bending that lag bolt has certainly weakened the steel. It's not worth risking your life to save a couple of bucks on used, straightened out lag bolts that need full strength for safety.

I'm thinking those lag bolts will be good for something like mounting a bench vise to a bench. Or some other type of simple project like that. I would never trust it for full strength.

I was mainly excited that pressing them in my bench vise got them straight enough to be used again. I did not think that was possible.

It was so nice taking apart the 2X4 pallet with T25 Torx head screws. I wish all pallets were put together with those screws. Took me almost no time to remove the screws with my impact driver. I had no broken boards, and those screws can be reused in another project. The screws are like new. No rust, etc... Very nice.

 

[chickengr]

A few days ago I picked up a pallet made of all 2X4's and screwed together with Torx T25 head screws....

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With almost no effort at all, I was able to remove all the screws and take apart the pallet. I ended up with fifteen 2X4's - twelve 2X4's that were 40 inches long and three 2X4's that were 48 inches long...

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I was able to save 89 of the 90 3-inch-long screws to reuse in some future project...

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Those screws came out like they had never been used. I don't know exactly how much they would cost new, but for comparison here is a pack of 100 T25 Torx head screws for $16.00...

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Other than a few screws holes in the 2X4's, they are in great shape. The current price of treated 2X4's locally is over $5.00 per 8-foot-long piece...

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I did the math real quick and it worked out to $34.32 for the board feet of 2X4's I salvaged from that one pallet.

All in all, it was just about a $50.00 pallet of wood and screws - if new. That's a great find, I think.

lucky you! I have to dismantle pallets with twisted nails. it slows me down. at least I have got a few "motorbike" pallets that have good, new and good size wood. duck nesting boxes are my project for them.

 

[gtaus]

The sun came out this afternoon for the first time in days! So, I ran outside to get some work done around the chicken run and the new raised beds.

First thing I had to do was setup up my cement mixer compost sifter...

I wanted to do that first because I have filled all the new raised beds with the heavy hügelkultur logs and now I need to add an organic layer in those beds before the final topsoil/compost mix.

What you see in that picture is just me going around the chicken run fence and picking up all the compost litter that has spilled outside of the fence. I have about half of the finished compost wagon filled in that picture, but I ended up filling it to the top and then some before I was done for the night. Figure I got about 8 cubic feet of finished compost sifted in the black wagon just from the spillage around the outside of the chicken run fence.

My plan is to use the rejected compost litter in the gray wagon to use as that organic layer in the raised beds. It is mostly aged, rotted, but not yet fully composted leaves. That should make a nice organic layer for the hügelkultur raised beds.

Yesterday I mentioned that I salvaged some bent lag bolts and straightened them out. They had big heavy washers...

And I also salvage a lot of T25 Torx head screws from a pallet disassembly...

It was mentioned that I should not use the lag screws that I straightened out for any critical connections. Well, I found the perfect use for one of the lag screws and washers. I used it to hold down the front end of the compost sifter...

I used some of those salvaged deck screws and scrap pallet wood pieces to lock in a rear wheel...

Now the compost sifter does not wiggle around on the pallet wood platform. Very nice.

Here is a close-up picture of some of the leaves that I ran through the compost sifter...

You can see how nice the finished compost in the black wagon is. That's some great stuff. I will be using that to top off my existing raised beds.

I was going to make one or two more 2X4 foot raised beds to place alongside the chicken run fence. Unfortunately, I left the wood in that black wagon last night to use today, with the forecast of no rain overnight.

It rained all night and did not stop until early this afternoon. All my wood in that wagon was sitting in a pool of water. The wood was soaked and will take a few days, or longer, to dry out in the garage before I can use it in a new raised bed build. That was too bad.

Oh well, I got a better start today on the compost sifter instead. Probably a good idea to finish off filling the raised beds I have already built before making those last two half-sized raise beds for the chicken run fence line.

 

[Molpet]

forecast of no rain overnight.

I hate when they say no rain or frost at 9pm and by morning they are wrong. Can't predict the future 12 hours in advance, even with all the fancy radar, computers and half a dz different models.

 

[gtaus]

Utility Wagon Chick Brooder

Today was new chick day! My order for delivery on Tuesday was pushed off until this morning, Thursday. Here is a quick picture of the newbies...

This post is about how I use my 35+ year old tow behind the riding mower utility wagon for use as a temporary brooder. I have had a number of brooder setups over the years, but the following brooder setup using my utility wagon has become my favorite system.

Starting off with a side view of the old wagon...

Yeah, that wagon should probably be painted this summer. Lots of rust on the side and paint flaking off. But just goes to show that you don't need to buy or build something brand new to use as a chick brooder.

Here is a picture of the back of the wagon up on blocks. I also have the front end up on those same blocks. Thats makes everything level and keeps the wagon from tipping down/up.

Here is a close up of the wire top. This is actually a 2-for-1 setup. Yes, I use it as a topper for the brooder in this case, but all I have to do is flip it over, put it back on the wagon, and now I have a manual compost sifter to use later in the summer!

The frame for that top/compost sifter is just salvaged/pallet wood banged together with 1/4-inch hardware cloth. That makes an excellent top for the brooder, and when used to sift compost, you end up with a very fine sifted compost - good enough for seed starting.

You may have noticed that I am still using heat lamps that I started off with over 30 years ago. They still work. I have had to replace a few bulbs over the years, but other than that, it's just stuff I have had forever.

One great advantage to using the hardware cloth compost sifter/brooder top is that if the heat lamps ever did fall off the wire chain, it would land on the wire and never get close to the litter inside the brooder. Since I have my utility wagon brooder set up in my attached garage, I don't want to start any brooder fires with those heat lamps!

Did you notice there is a remote thermometer inside the brooder in the beam of the heat lamp? I use that to monitor the heat from inside the house with the base station display. The heat lamps are suspended from above on a chain. I just use inexpensive carabiners to pin up the chain to get the heat lamp at my desired temps.

I start off with the typical 90-95F for the first week and reduce the heat by 5F every week. I just raise the heat lamp to reduce the temp inside the brooder. A few weeks from now, I will probably switch out the 250 watt heat lamp for a 125 watt heat lamp to save a little money.

The big thing for me is that I live in northern Minnesota and our nighttime temps are still getting down below freezing. My attached garage is sitting at about 50F right now, but that would still be way too cold for the chicks without heat.

Finally, my brooder litter is just wood chips I made with my small electric SunJoe woodchipper. You may remember that I used that chipper a few months ago to get rid of a couple 5-gallon buckets of pallet wood bits and pieces. It chipped up the wood bits pretty good, but it took too long for the amount of chips you actually make. I also chipped up some branches that fell on the ground over the winter.

Here is a picture of the inside of brooder showing the wood chips. I call it dry deep bedding. I will use that, fluffing it up every few days, and adding fresh chips maybe once or twice a week for the next 8 weeks. Then all those wood chips will be tossed into the chicken run to compost at the end of 8 weeks when I move the chicks into the main coop.

Of course, that plan depends on how big the chicks get in those 8 weeks and how well the wood chip litter absorbs everything. This year I got the chicks about 4-5 weeks later than usual. So, if the brooder starts to smell because the outside temps are warmer, I will have to clean out and refresh the litter if needed.

For those interested in the small electric SunJoe chipper I mentioned, here is what it looks like...

Frankly, I would only recommend it for someone who just wants to chip up occasional branches (less than 1-3/4 inch round) that fall on the ground. It chips up the wood great when the blades are sharp, but they get dull in only a few hours of use. Then the chipping really slows down. Even with new blades, it's not a big, powerful machine and it takes a long time to make even a storage bin full of wood chips.

But I have a much larger gas powered 5-HP chipper that takes up to 3-inch round branches. That is just in another class both in performance and price. But I don't use that much anymore, either.

If I want wood chips these days, I just hook up my 4X8 foot utility trailer to the pickup and go to the county landfill where I can load out my trailer with free wood chips in about 20 minutes. It would take me hours and hours, if not days, to chip up that much wood even with my big gas chipper.

Of course, I bought both my chippers long before I ever learned that I could get free wood chips at the landfill.

Having said that, my small electric woodchipper will be perfect to chip up some branches to make fresh wood chips for this brooder. I only need to chip up small amounts of branches for a weekly top off.

I guess the only pallet projects I will be doing for the next 8 weeks will be projects I can do outside. It's cold and windy today, with more rain in the forecast. Looking forward to warmer days soon. Later...

 

[gtaus]

I hate when they say no rain or frost at 9pm and by morning they are wrong. Can't predict the future 12 hours in advance, even with all the fancy radar, computers and half a dz different models.

Yep, no rain forecasted for today, either, except if I walk outside to my backyard to get some lawn work done! Started raining early this afternoon and continues with a light rain this evening. Everything is turning a nice dark green outside, so I don't want to complain too much.

Incorrect forecasting days in advance is one thing, but when you check the weather app and it tells you no rain today - when it is raining outside in real time - then I really wonder how good those weather apps are.

Probably better setting up a weather forecasting stone station...

At least the weather stone is accurate in real time!

 

[gtaus]

2X4 Foot Pallet Wood "Pole Bean" Raised Beds update

A week or so ago I made some half-normal-sized 2X4 foot pallet wood raised beds and put them alongside the back of my chicken run fence...

The idea is to plant pole beans on the side with the fencing, and then fill in the rest of the raised bed with other plants.

Like all my pallet wood raised beds, I used the hügelkultur method of filling them. First, the big logs like in this 4X4 foot pallet wood raised bed...

Then, I hit that with an organic layer of material to fill in the gaps and voids and to level off the bed leaving about 6-8 inches from the top...

Here you can see that I filled the beds with the rejects from my cement mixer compost sifter. Mostly, it is just not yet composted leaf litter. It should make an excellent organic layer.

On top of that, for the final 6-8 inches in the raised bed, I use a mixture of high-quality topsoil and chicken run compost mixed 1:1 as recommended by our local nursery "expert" in such things. The magic is in using both soil and compost mixed together for that final growing layer. Each compliments the other and provides materials not found in soil or compost alone. Well, that's the way he explained it to me.

Picture of the filled 2X4 foot "Pole Bean" raised beds with the topsoil and compost layer...

I still have about 3 weeks before our planting date, but it sure is nice to have that much finished off. I am doing all kinds of work outside, but if I get the time and energy, I would like to build another two of these 2X4 foot raised beds for that back wall of the chicken run fencing to use as a trellis.

I'm thinking peas with the edible pods. Sugar snap peas or something like that. I'll have to look into that some more.

In the meantime, I have been filling up all my other 4X4 pallet wood raised beds with hügelkultur wood and that next organic layer. I used up all my topsoil, so I will have to make a run to the garden center and have them load up a Bobcat scoop of Red River topsoil into my old utility trailer.

I always tell everybody that I build my raised beds for about $2.00 each, which covers the cost of new screws and brad nails. But the real cost is the money I have to spend on buying my topsoil at the garden center. Dirt is not cheap. Or, should I say that high quality topsoil costs about $60.00 per Bobcat scoop last year.

That makes it about $10.00 per 4X4 foot hügelkultur pallet wood raised bed. If I did not use the hügelkultur wood and organic layer, and mixing the topsoil with chicken run compost, I think it would cost me about $30.00 per bed for just the soil.

Another picture of the cement mixer compost sifter setup I use...

The rejected unfinished compost material in the grey wagon is what I have been using in the hügelkultur raised beds as that "organic" layer. The sifted finished chicken run compost in the black Gorilla cart is what I use to top off existing raised beds, or I will mix it 1:1 with topsoil for the new beds.

Anyways, I have already sifted out about 24 cubic feet of finished chicken run compost this spring in maybe one hour total of run time on the sifting machine. If I had to buy bags of compost at the big box stores, at the current prices, I figured it would be somewhere around $130.00. And I'm only halfway done for the springtime top offs and new bed fillings.

Lots of love goes out to my composting chickens, earning their keep with $$$ worth of compost they make for my gardens. Plus, I get eggs...

 

[gtaus]

Cherry Tomato Trellis update...

Weeks ago, I was asking for suggestions on how to trellis or cage my cherry tomato plants for this year. Last year my cherry tomato plants grew past the 3-foot-high tomato cages and ended up flopping over from the weight of the fruit when they got about 5 feet high. Not the end of the world, but it would have been better if they had more support.

I appreciate all the suggestions I received. I decided to go with the suggestion to run the cherry tomato plant up a center rope and use plant clips to keep it growing up the rope. In order to do that, I made a trellis system out of some 8-foot-long 2X4 boards I salvaged on some of my pallet pick up runs. I screwed the frame into my existing raised bed. Then I added some cross boards to tie off the rope at the top....

The inside three 2X4's are spaced out at 16 inches on center. That allows me to have as many as nine cherry tomato plants in a 4X4 pallet wood raised bed. I just have to drop a rope down where I want to the base of the plant.

Last year, I had nine cherry tomato plants. We had too many tomatoes to use. I think my chicken run compost must be the magic ingredient! Anyways, we froze bags and bags of cherry tomatoes and still have too many bags left even after using them all winter for sauces and cooking.

Dear Wife told me to cut back on the cherry tomatoes this year. So, maybe I'll only have three or six cherry tomato plants and grow something else in the bed. Maybe some other kind of tomatoes.

I found a nice section of 2X4 inch wire fencing back behind one of the sheds a few weeks ago when I was outside cleaning. It is about 5 feet wide by 8 feet long. I thought it would make a great trellis on one side of my cherry tomato trellis I just built.

So, I took out my staple gun and attached the wire fence piece to one side of the cherry tomato trellis. Now I can grow something up that side - maybe cucumbers.

Well, total cost to me was pretty much FREE as I just used salvaged wood and old fencing for this project. Maybe 50 cents in new drywall screws to put everything together.

Wish me luck on growing the cherry tomatoes up a rope. I have never tried that before. Hope it works good for me.

 

[gtaus]

Partial Pallet for Tool Organization

Here's a quick tip for a very simple pallet project.

I like to pick up half and partial pallets when I see them. Those smaller pallets are sometimes the perfect fit for my needs. Case in point, I have a number of rakes and shovels outside on my chicken run fence. They were just kind of leaning against the fencing, falling down sometimes, getting stuck in the snow in the winter.....

Today, I decided to up my tool organization game and fix that situation for the tools I keep at the chicken run.

Here is a picture of a partial pallet I picked up a few weeks ago...

I actually had a number of partial and half pallets to choose from, but this one was the perfect size for what I needed and it did not have to be cut down or anything.

I just used a couple of zip ties to attach it to the chicken run fence...

Total cost of this project - about 2 cents! Actually, even less than that because I learned how to reuse those zip ties by slipping in a screwdriver into the zip tie head to release the tie so you can pull it out and reuse it for some other project.

Anyways, here is a picture of my tools now stored with handles down, looking much better than before. Also, I think in the winter time the handles will not freeze in the snow as bad as the bottom of the tools did.

Don't pass up on those half and partial pallets if you can pick them up! It's amazing what you can use them for.