Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

I have to add... my dentist is too young to know the song, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. I filled in that hole in his music education.

I was in a bar cover band for a number of years. We played In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida almost every show. Love the classics.

 

[chickengr]

Could not believe my eyes this afternoon at our local Fleet store. They had a small 4X4 foot chicken coop prefab for sale for $1299.99!

Well, I guess it only takes less than 60 minutes to put it together with a "screw gun" as they advertise. Believe me, I was there in person and it's only 4X4 feet although it looks bigger in their advertisement with small chickens outside.

Maybe I'm just the other kind of chicken owner.., the kind that wants to save money where I can. Honestly, if you can pound some pallets together, you would have a stronger chicken coop for free. I encourage people to build their own coops, pallet wood or not, for a fraction of the cost of this kit.

4x4 for 10 chickens? maybe they wanted to say bantam chicks.

 

[gtaus]

4x4 for 10 chickens? maybe they wanted to say bantam chicks.

On the picture, they show full sized chickens, not bantams. In any case, they lie about how many chickens you can comfortably put in those coops. If we go by the 4 square feet per bird, then a 4X4 feet = 16 square feet. 16 square feet/4 square feet per chicken = 4 chickens.

Just doing quick math, that would be over $300 per bird for that prefab coop. Again, I just think a person would be much better off building a pallet coop, or any coop built at home, and save lots of money.

 

[gtaus]

Not much to report lately. Got my second set of 3/4 inch pipe clamp ends today at Harbor Freight, using a 30% off coupon.

Now I have a pair of these clamps. I plan on going to Home Depot and having them cut down a 10-foot 3/4-inch galvanized pipe into sections, and threading the ends, so I can put the clamps together. Hope to do some panel glue-ups when it gets warm enough in the garage for the glue.

If anyone has any experience with these type of pipe clamps, I would like to know what is the best lengths of pipe I should have. I'm thinking cutting a 10-foot pipe down to (2) three-foot lengths and (2) two-foot lengths. Also, I might buy some pipe couplers to join the three-foot and two-foot sections together to make five-foot bars. As I have no experience in this area, I'm open to any suggestions.

I really have no idea what I will make. Other than trying to cut some pallet slats and gluing them together to make some panels, I have nothing in mind. This is truly a case of learning a new skill and hoping to translate it into a project later on.

Wish me luck!

 

[gtaus]

Wish we'd thought of the couplings. There are a few clamps around here but they are always the wrong length.

One of the advantages to using pipe clamps is that you can thread the ends of the pipes and connect them with a coupler to make a longer clamp. I don't know if I would ever need a five-foot clamp, or longer, but it is certainly possible with pipes and connectors.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Not much to report lately. Got my second set of 3/4 inch pipe clamp ends today at Harbor Freight, using a 30% off coupon.

Now I have a pair of these clamps. I plan on going to Home Depot and having them cut down a 10-foot 3/4-inch galvanized pipe into sections, and threading the ends, so I can put the clamps together. Hope to do some panel glue-ups when it gets warm enough in the garage for the glue.

If anyone has any experience with these type of pipe clamps, I would like to know what is the best lengths of pipe I should have. I'm thinking cutting a 10-foot pipe down to (2) three-foot lengths and (2) two-foot lengths. Also, I might buy some pipe couplers to join the three-foot and two-foot sections together to make five-foot bars. As I have no experience in this area, I'm open to any suggestions.

I really have no idea what I will make. Other than trying to cut some pallet slats and gluing them together to make some panels, I have nothing in mind. This is truly a case of learning a new skill and hoping to translate it into a project later on.

Wish me luck!

 

[ChicksnMore]

Got the asphalt emulsion on the joined coops. Got the roofing supplies bought. Hoping the asphalt keeps the osb good long term. I loved how the asphalt goes on, love how it cures etc, but hating how black it is. I'll wait and see if the colors a problem as summer comes and lighten it if needed. Figure anything good for coating fence posts before burying or sealing planters should do a bang up job protecting wood. And it's cheaper then paint.

Think I'll have to at least add some white trim though...

Editing to add that's one coat. Used about a third of the 5 gallon bucket. It goes on thick and auto fills cracks etc beautifully. So easy application...but the color....!

 

[gtaus]

Hoping the asphalt keeps the osb good long term. I loved how the asphalt goes on, love how it cures etc, but hating how black it is.

Yeah, just wondering if a black coop is going to turn into a chicken roaster in the summer desert heat of Arizona?

Can you paint over that stuff without having the petroleum stuff bleed through?

+1. I imagine the desert heat in the summer would be soaked up by a black wall and turn the coop into an oven. If you can't paint directly over the asphalt, maybe you could staple and hang a white/silver tarp over the black walls for the summer.

BTW, I used OSB on my coop build. I painted it with red barn paint. It has lasted 3 years, but I will have to repaint it this summer. It's really showing its age with paint flaking off and some of the OSB has rotted and will have to be replaced. Nothing major to redo at this point, but it will need a facelift this summer to keep it in shape.

How many years of protection do you expect to get out of the asphalt? I like the idea of something filling in the cracks and holes. That might be perfect for a pallet project with nail holes in the wood. I'm thinking for a slanted roof, if nothing else.

Let us know if the asphalt can be painted over with a lighter color. Or, if the black turns out to work fine without anything lighter to deflect the sun.

 

[gtaus]

Figure anything good for coating fence posts before burying or sealing planters should do a bang up job protecting wood. And it's cheaper then paint.

Wondering if that asphalt is waterproof when it cures? I have made some sub-irrigated planters using pond liner on the inside. Pond liner is expensive. Would this stuff cure and make a waterproof seal on the inside? Also, is it safe for things like storing water used for a food garden? I know the pond liner is safe for that, but don't have any experience with the asphalt stuff you used. Thanks.

 

[gtaus]

On soil it is not bonded to anything except a thin surface layer. Without a stable surface to bond to, It does not have enough lateral strength and will fall off.

I should have been clearer. What I built were some elevated sub-irrigated planters on legs. So, the planter had wooden sides and bottom. I stapled in a pond liner inside the planter to make a water reservoir. What I am wondering is if the asphalt stuff that you used could be used to "paint" the inside of the elevated planter to make it waterproof and hold water.

The pond liner is one the major expenses in the building of my elevated sub-irrigated planters. If the asphalt stuff you used is safe for growing food, and can hold water once cured, I'm thinking it might be a better option than buying expensive pond liner.

I really like these elevated sub-irrigated planters. They have a water reservoir of 3 inches in the bottom, which amounts to about 15 gallons. In a normal summer with average rainfall, I only have to refill the planter maybe 2-3 times. Not only does that make things easy for me, but the plants never go dry or get overwatered in this system. The roots just take up water when they need it.

I built three of these elevated sub-irrigated planters about 5 years ago. But I'm thinking of building a few more using pallet wood this summer. What has held me back on building more of these elevated sub-irrigated planters is the cost. They produce the best crops, but they also cost more than any other of my regular raised garden beds.