Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

Pallet Wood Whiskey Barrel-type Planters?

I have mentioned that I had a number of old Whiskey Barrel planters that just rotted out and fell apart - after about 25 years of service. No complaints about them. Anyways, all that is left are the metal bands that held the half barrels together. I am considering rebuilding some of those whiskey barrel planters using free pallet wood.

Here is a sample picture of a half whiskey barrel planter like I would like to rebuild with pallet wood using my old metal bands...

Now that I have a new table saw, I can cut those wood slats at the correct bevel angle and taper the slats so they form a barrel. Well, in theory anyways. I have been looking into all the math in making a round barrel planter. I won't go into it here, but I have the math part worked out. Now I just need to see if I can cut the wood correctly on the table saw. That is more of a skill that I have to learn.

If I attempt a round whiskey barrel-type planter this year, I'll post my progress on this thread. I really liked the looks of the round planters, but it seems like it takes a lot more time and effort than building my square pallet wood planters. I can put together a square pallet wood planter in no time. A round planter looks like a lot more work.

Well, since I saved the metal bands from the original whiskey barrel planters, it might be a fun project to try to build. It certainly will be a learning experience for me.

On top of my list is to make some more of my 4X4 pallet wood raised beds this year. Dear Wife, out of the blue yesterday, asked me if I would build some more raised beds this year. Maybe she has something in mind for them?

Picture of one of my pallet wood raised beds v2.0, my latest design which I really like...

Or, maybe it's just been a long winter, and Dear Wife is looking forward for me to be out of the house and into the garage building stuff!

 

[Knobby]

That's a good buddy! Looks like some really good material there to work with. I rarely see a pallet with complete wood on top. And I love getting those few pallets with plywood tops. I can always find a good use for some plywood.

Please share some pictures of your solar panel shed when you start your build. Everyone loves to hear and see a project come together.

This is the second time that he's brought me several of these pallets. All the wood look brand new and only used once. I've used the 2 of the plywood top, already, to finish up the poop tray in my last build.

 

[gtaus]

This is the second time that he's brought me several of these pallets. All the wood look brand new and only used once. I've used the 2 of the plywood top, already, to finish up the poop tray in my last build.View attachment 4040393

That is some really good-looking free plywood. I don't do poop trays myself, but it looks like you made good use out of that plywood.

I sometimes find pallets with plywood tops. I have built a number of workbench tops with that plywood. I have also made a number of storage shelves in my workbenches using pallet wood plywood. This summer, I will be adding another pallet wood plywood floor in my coop on top of my old floorboard which is getting softer with age.

I actually put my foot through one spot in the coop.

Also, my cheap linoleum should probably be either torn out or replaced as it has started to fail after 4 years. I won't be able to tell what condition it is in until spring cleaning, but I suspect the coop needs some kind of new flooring. I wish had nice plywood like yours, but I think I can use what I have to cover the entire coop floor.

 

[chickengr]

This is the second time that he's brought me several of these pallets. All the wood look brand new and only used once. I've used the 2 of the plywood top, already, to finish up the poop tray in my last build.View attachment 4040393

will you put a tarp or something else for an easy cleaning?

 

[Knobby]

Yes, that'

will you put a tarp or something else for an easy cleaning?

Yes that's the plan. I am currently using old feed bags to line the top, and as the poop collects, just remove and replace.

 

[gtaus]

Upgrading my Sawhorses

OK, maybe not too exciting, but I have decided to upgrade my sawhorses for this coming pallet project season. I considered many options using reclaimed wood to build some new sawhorses. In fact, I really liked many of the YouTube videos I watched. However, I do have one overriding concern with my tools and equipment. That is, how do I store it in my limited space in the garage when I need to park my cars for the winter?

A few weeks ago, I purchased a pair of Masterforce steel folding sawhorses from Menards...

You can see they are on rebate sale again this week. So, I just bought another pair yesterday. Not only are they very strong, holding 1,100 pounds each, but they fold up into almost nothing and I can hang them on a wall, out of the way, for example. They take almost no room up in my garage.

I don't imagine I will ever need more than one ton of holding strength on my projects, but another option for a person wanting to upgrade their sawhorses would be the more expensive Bora Speedhorse...

Yes, they are better than the Masterforce steel sawhorses. The Bora Speedhorse has a quick release for faster setup, they can hold 1,500 pounds each, and they have adjustable legs.

I think the adjustable legs on the Bora might be a nice feature, but I seriously don't expect to max out the Masterforce sawhorses at 1,100 pounds each. As far as quick setup, I don't do much of anything fast anymore. It only takes a half a minute to setup up the Masterforce sawhorse, which is OK for me compared to the more expensive Bora Speedhorse which takes like 2 seconds to drop the legs and setup.

Bottom line, I got 4 Masterforce steel folding sawhorses for the price of just one Bora speedhorse. That fits my budget.

Here is a YouTube video review and comparison which features the Masterforce sawhorse that is currently on sale...

I had intended on building some wooden sawhorses out of reclaimed lumber. That would have made a nice pallet project to build and post. However, I just don't have any room in my garage to store large wooden sawhorses compared to these steel folding sawhorses. Sometimes, you just have to spend a little more money to get something that better fits your needs.

 

[chickengr]

Upgrading my Sawhorses

OK, maybe not too exciting, but I have decided to upgrade my sawhorses for this coming pallet project season. I considered many options using reclaimed wood to build some new sawhorses. In fact, I really liked many of the YouTube videos I watched. However, I do have one overriding concern with my tools and equipment. That is, how do I store it in my limited space in the garage when I need to park my cars for the winter?

A few weeks ago, I purchased a pair of Masterforce steel folding sawhorses from Menards...

View attachment 4046911

You can see they are on rebate sale again this week. So, I just bought another pair yesterday. Not only are they very strong, holding 1,100 pounds each, but they fold up into almost nothing and I can hang them on a wall, out of the way, for example. They take almost no room up in my garage.

View attachment 4046914

I don't imagine I will ever need more than one ton of holding strength on my projects, but another option for a person wanting to upgrade their sawhorses would be the more expensive Bora Speedhorse...

View attachment 4046915

Yes, they are better than the Masterforce steel sawhorses. The Bora Speedhorse has a quick release for faster setup, they can hold 1,500 pounds each, and they have adjustable legs.

I think the adjustable legs on the Bora might be a nice feature, but I seriously don't expect to max out the Masterforce sawhorses at 1,100 pounds each. As far as quick setup, I don't do much of anything fast anymore. It only takes a half a minute to setup up the Masterforce sawhorse, which is OK for me compared to the more expensive Bora Speedhorse which takes like 2 seconds to drop the legs and setup.

Bottom line, I got 4 Masterforce steel folding sawhorses for the price of just one Bora speedhorse. That fits my budget.

Here is a YouTube video review and comparison which features the Masterforce sawhorse that is currently on sale...

I had intended on building some wooden sawhorses out of reclaimed lumber. That would have made a nice pallet project to build and post. However, I just don't have any room in my garage to store large wooden sawhorses compared to these steel folding sawhorses. Sometimes, you just have to spend a little more money to get something that better fits your needs.

I have a pallet wood saw horse. it is sitting outside. chickens sometimes sit on it, mostly hens running away from roos.

 

[gtaus]

I have a pallet wood saw horse. it is sitting outside. chickens sometimes sit on it, mostly hens running away from roos.

I have some bigger wooden sawhorses outside as well. They just don't fold up easy for storage like the steel folding sawhorses I just bought. I had some of the wooden sawhorses inside the garage last fall, but I had to move them outside for the winter so I could park our cars. I was looking for a better storage solution to my sawhorse needs and those steel sawhorses went on sale at Menards about the same time.

In some ways, I am both upgrading my sawhorses while downsizing my floor space and storage requirements.

One thing I am looking forward to is using those 2X4 wings at the ends of the sawhorse to quickly make a solid table with those sawhorses. I think you can screw the 2X4's into the wing/sawhorse to make it rock solid for cutting. None of my other sawhorses had that capability. So, I am looking forward to trying it out to see if it really makes the stability of the worktop better.

 

[Knobby]

I have some bigger wooden sawhorses outside as well. They just don't fold up easy for storage like the steel folding sawhorses I just bought. I had some of the wooden sawhorses inside the garage last fall, but I had to move them outside for the winter so I could park our cars. I was looking for a better storage solution to my sawhorse needs and those steel sawhorses went on sale at Menards about the same time.

In some ways, I am both upgrading my sawhorses while downsizing my floor space and storage requirements.

One thing I am looking forward to is using those 2X4 wings at the ends of the sawhorse to quickly make a solid table with those sawhorses. I think you can screw the 2X4's into the wing/sawhorse to make it rock solid for cutting. None of my other sawhorses had that capability. So, I am looking forward to trying it out to see if it really makes the stability of the worktop better.

View attachment 4047010View attachment 4047011

I have so many various types of sawhorses, from when I used to do construction, but my favorites were the simples ones built from a few pieces of 2x4s. All of them would be destroyed when I'd be sawing up materials with a circular saw, but it didn't bother me since they were nice and cheap. If I were to use these fancy horses, I'd be too worried to destroy them and it would affect my production time..hehe..just me.

 

[gtaus]

I have so many various types of sawhorses, from when I used to do construction, but my favorites were the simples ones built from a few pieces of 2x4s. All of them would be destroyed when I'd be sawing up materials with a circular saw, but it didn't bother me since they were nice and cheap. If I were to use these fancy horses, I'd be too worried to destroy them and it would affect my production time..hehe..just me.

That's a great example of matching your tools to your needs. There will always be a need for nice and cheap disposable sawhorses for a construction site. I have never made a living on a construction site, but I have built many sheds, entryways, garages, etc... on places where I have lived. I grew up with homemade wooden sawhorses.

I, too, was concerned about sawing material up with a circular saw on these new "fancy" steel sawhorses. One method would be to just toss a sacrificial pallet on top of the steel sawhorses and use that as a disposal top. That would certainly be easy enough.

Another option that I had was buying some new sawhorse brackets, where I could cut my legs to the desired height and put a sacrificial 2X4 across the top for cutting that material with a circular saw. In fact, I also picked up some of those sawhorse brackets at Menards on sale this week just for that purpose...

That's only $2.00 per sawhorse if I use free reclaimed or pallet wood lumber! That's pretty cheap. At only $1.00 after rebate, I picked up 8 of those brackets. I consider them almost disposable items because they are for lightweight duty only. A pair of those brackets is rated for only 150 pounds, which is enough for cutting up plywood on the sawhorses, but nowhere near as strong as the steel folding sawhorses I bought that are rated for 1,100 pounds.

I'll use those inexpensive, disposable, sawhorse brackets for outside sawhorses. One nice thing about the brackets is that I can take off the top piece and fold the legs together. That will definitely save room if I store them in my shed, for example.

But this time I was really looking to upgrade my sawhorses for inside the garage which could fold up into a nice, neat, tight package for storage. That's why I got those folding steel sawhorses for inside the garage. The folding steel sawhorses are both stronger and fold up into a tighter package for storage.

But, thinking about construction site sawhorses thrown together with wood, I have seen designs like this...

Which would be easy enough to make with free pallet wood I have on hand. However, they don't fold up for storage. Those are the type of sawhorses I grew up with and they work just fine.

I just don't have room in my garage for non-folding sawhorses when I need to park the cars in there for the winter. And, that is my priority here in northern Minnesota in our snow months. Tonight, for example, we are expected to get down to -24F. That's cold, even for us. But I have the floor heat set on about 45F inside the garage which makes it much easier on the cars when we need to start them up to go to work, town, or whatever. At -24F, a parked outside might not start in the morning unless you have an electric oil pan heater and a battery maintainer on your car.

If I told Dear Wife that she had to park her car outside because my sawhorses needed the room in the garage... well, you can imagine how that would work out for me!