Just wanted to give a shout out to our local Harbor Freight store. Not only did I get lots of free pallets from their parking lot his summer, but I also purchased a number of tools and supplies that I used on my pallet projects. I saved lots of money by building my new raised beds and planters out of that free pallet wood. I also saved money on lots of the small supply type items I bought from Harbor Freight. If you are careful in what you buy, you can get some pretty good stuff at a lower prices than Menards or Home Depot. But, you have to know what you are buying.
Harbor Freight also has a membership program that you or may not be aware of. Last winter, I bought a one-year membership for $30.00 just to give it a try for the first year of the store opening. Their membership is called the Insider Track Club (ITC) membership. Every month they have a new list of items marked down in price just for the ITC members. I saved more than my initial $30.00 on those deals. But, and here is what they don't tell you, I got a $20.00 store gift certificate on my birthday and just recently they sent me another $20 gift certificate for my annual membership. I don't know if they do that all the time, but I got $40 back in HF money just for buying into the $30 ITC membership.
Sometimes they have special items as give aways to ITC members. Like a free 5 gallon bucket with a small purchase, or free flashlights just for coming into the store. I also got a few 4 inch magnetic parts holders for free that I use all the time. Just this past week I got an $18.00 set of step drill bits for free for making a $25.00 purchase. That was nice.
One time I got a free $30.00 brad nailer/stapler for making a $15.00 purchase as an ITC member! I am anxious to use that staple gun on a pallet project. I am planning on making some pallet wood bins and fastening them with that staple gun. Should work out great. They did not have the staples I wanted in stock at that time, but I got a raincheck. I would check in with the store every week or two and talk to the manager. Long story short, one of the managers gave me another 50% discount for having had to wait so long. Menards sold the same staples for $20 a pack, but Harbor Freight had them for $10.00 (on sale) and I managed to get them 50% off the sale price. So, $5.00 for a $20,00 pack of staples for the gun!
Another thing to consider is getting a Harbor Freight credit card for store purchases. You get 10% off on your first HF credit card purchase. At the time, I was buying a nice wood workbench with drawers and vise for $150.00 and a few other items on my list. So, I banked about $20 on the initial purchase with my HF card. After that, you still get 5% on all purchases with your HF card. In the past year, I got about $25.00 back just for using my HF card to buy things I needed. In comparison, my normal bank credit card has a 1.5% cash rewards program, but that is straight cash that can be spent anywhere. Your HF card rewards are only good at Harbor Freight.
The funny thing is that I was like many people and did not consider Harbor Freight for anything other than disposable products and supplies. But now that they have a store in our town, I am finding that many of their HF brands are the same exact brands made in China and sold elsewhere at big box stores under other brand names for 2X the price.
Anyways, just wanted to pass along that I was able to save lots of money at Harbor Freight this past year, and I imagine anyone reading this thread about pallet projects is looking to save money where they can.
As you know, I'll pass on good info from other stores like Menards and Home Depot as appropriate. I'm all into finding good deals and saving money. Kind of goes with my idea of using free pallet wood or reclaimed wood to make projects that I use. Later....
The tower system I use makes it so easy to grow the fodder. Less than 5 minutes per day growing about 9 bins of fodder on the racks. It's really that easy.
The only problem I have ever had was that one winter, during COVID-19 lockdown, I got a "bad, old" bag of barley seed that ended up growing more mold than fodder. Turns out that the mill got an old supply of barley grain from a farmer's warehouse silo and was already old stock. That was all that was available that fall. So, disappointing for use as fodder. I ended up mixing the dry barley seed into my chicken scratch and used it that way. It was good enough for use as dry feed, just no good for making fresh green fodder.
This winter I seem to have gotten a good fresh bag of barley as I don't see any mold growing in my fodder bins. The quality of the seeds makes all the difference in the world.
I really have no way to judge the quality of the seed I buy at the mill until I actually try to grow it into fodder. Basically, if I see lots of mold in my first few fodder bins then i just give up on that stock and mix it dry into my chicken scratch. Nothing gets wasted. Moldy fodder gets tossed into my compost bins, so that does not go to waste either.
For me, growing fodder is just something extra and nice I do for my girls. Do they need fodder? No. But they really do enjoy it. The biggest difference I notice is that the egg yolks get a darker orange when they are on fodder supplement. I think that is a good sign.
Why would anyone put toxic wood in a children's playground?! Seems to be a no-brainer that is a very bad idea. Are you sure about the toxic bit? I mean, when I lived in Europe, German people, for example, loved their children as much as everyone else. I cannot imagine the German people allowing toxic materials in their kid's playgrounds. Or parents anywhere, in any country.
You can never have too many 5-gallon buckets and lids in your shop/garage/work area!
