Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

Thinking about my composting this spring, I wanted to make some kind of more steady platform to put my cement mixer compost sifter on this year. As you can see in the following picture, I have been putting the cement mixer up on cinder blocks to get it to the height I need to get my 4-wheels wagons underneath.

Using the cinder blocks works, but it is not the steadiest way to elevate a rotating cement mixer that is sifting out compost. Now that I'm into pallet projects, I was thinking of just stacking a few pallets on top of each other and then securing the feet/wheels of the cement mixer to the top pallet platform.

However, it seems to me that the top pallet should be completely covered with wood because that would prevent any sifted compost from falling into the pallet, between the pallet slats, and losing all that sifted compost. Any sifted compost that blows back underneath the compost sifter can be brushed off into a bucket and not wasted.

Guess what I just picked up? Yep, a pallet with the top pallet slats covering the entire top! Exactly what I was thinking I would need for the platform. Pallet looks like this...

Sure was a nice find because I was going to disassemble a few pallets with the same thickness slats so that I could rebuild a platform that was even. Now I have a ready-made pallet for the top. Done and done!

I guess this one will fall into the easiest ever pallet projects! It is just surprising how a person can pick up a one-off type pallet and immediately think of a use for that special build.

 

[gtaus]

Just an update on putting together my pipe clamps for use maybe to build some pallet wood glue-up panels this summer. For anyone not familiar with pipe clamps, they look like this....

You buy the two end clamp pieces in a kit and then you have to buy the pipe separately. Over the past few months, I bought two pipe clamp kits at Harbor Freight using a 30% off coupon when they were available. Yes, it took me two months to buy two kits because you can only use one coupon per day. I don't live in town, and typically only drive to town about once a week. So, I had to wait for the 30% off sale to come around again. For me, it was worth the wait because I cannot do any glue-ups in the garage until it gets over 65F. Currently, our nights are about 3F, so my unheated garage is not very warm.

Today, I bought the pipe for the clamps. I went to our local Home Depot, because they can cut and thread the pipe in the store. I talked to a young man at the HD and told him I was putting together some pipe clamps and wanted him to cut a 10-foot pipe for me into (2) 3-foot sections and (2) 2-foot sections and then thread the ends.

Well, he did not know anything about pipe clamps, but he asked me why I just did not want to buy the pipe sections already cut to length. So, I pointed out to him that the precut pipes would add up to over $70.00, whereas I could buy a 10-pipe for only $30.00 and have it cut up into four pieces and threaded for the clamps.

Unfortunately, he was not very experienced with the pipe cutting and threading machine. After he cut the pipe and threaded it, I asked him to check the threads with a pipe coupler that I was going to buy. Good thing I thought of that while in the store. Turns out that his threading of the pipes was off and the pipe coupler would not screw on. Obviously, a problem.

Without getting upset, I told him that the threads had to work for the clamps or they had no value to me. He was at a loss, so I suggested he ask someone else in the store that maybe had more experience. He found a manager who knew how to operate the machine, she could see that the threads were too large to accept the coupler, so she dialed in the machine to cut the threads deeper into the pipe. Then, everything worked just fine.

Boy was I glad I had him check those threads before I left the store!

If you are wondering what a panel glue-up looks like, here is a picture...

I plan on trying this out this summer using pallet wood slats to see if I can make some nice panels for some projects. I'll have to up my woodworking skill level, but it's something I have wanted to learn.

 

[gtaus]

Yesterday afternoon I took apart the pallet I found that used 2X4's for the planks instead of the usual 1/2-inch thick pallet slats. Expected to really put some effort into that disassembly process to keep all those good 2X4s.

To my great surprise, they used 3-inch T25 exterior deck screws to put that pallet together!

Love that idea! Just took out one of my T25 star bits and used the impact driver to unscrew all the screws. The pallet came apart with no effort. I ended up with (3) 48-inch long 2X4's and (12) 40-inch long 2X4s. All in great condition. Practically new. No nails or anything to worry about in those boards. They are ready to use as is or to cut on the saw to size without concern of hidden broken off nails.

An unexpected bonus was that the screws came out in perfect condition. They look almost brand new. All in all, I got one pound of 3-inch T25 exterior deck screws out of the pallet that I can use on some other project. Just a quick look at Menards, that one pound of those screws alone costs $7.98.

For those who may not know what the T25 screws look like, here is a picture from Amazon...

In total, the 2X4 wood on that pallet alone would cost just over $40.00 at the store, and the screws at about $8.00 for one pound, I figure I managed to salvage almost $50.00 off that one free pallet!

I can celebrate the small things in life. Hope some of you can appreciate that, too. Later...

 

[Sally PB]

Excellent!

 

[ChicksnMore]

Yesterday afternoon I took apart the pallet I found that used 2X4's for the planks instead of the usual 1/2-inch thick pallet slats. Expected to really put some effort into that disassembly process to keep all those good 2X4s.

To my great surprise, they used 3-inch T25 exterior deck screws to put that pallet together!

Love that idea! Just took out one of my T25 star bits and used the impact driver to unscrew all the screws. The pallet came apart with no effort. I ended up with (3) 48-inch long 2X4's and (12) 40-inch long 2X4s. All in great condition. Practically new. No nails or anything to worry about in those boards. They are ready to use as is or to cut on the saw to size without concern of hidden broken off nails.

An unexpected bonus was that the screws came out in perfect condition. They look almost brand new. All in all, I got one pound of 3-inch T25 exterior deck screws out of the pallet that I can use on some other project. Just a quick look at Menards, that one pound of those screws alone costs $7.98.

For those who may not know what the T25 screws look like, here is a picture from Amazon...

In total, the 2X4 wood on that pallet alone would cost just over $40.00 at the store, and the screws at about $8.00 for one pound, I figure I managed to salvage almost $50.00 off that one free pallet!

I can celebrate the small things in life. Hope some of you can appreciate that, too. Later...

 

[gtaus]

It's been a little stormy around here lately. But in the past few days, I have turned on my little garage propane heater, brought some pallets into the garage, and disassembled about 4 or 5 of them. It's still only about 4F outside. My unheated, but attached, garage is sitting at 32F. So, the little propane heater gets it above 40F which I can tolerate for an hour or so.

I don't ever remember complaining about the cold when I was younger. But now it's a major factor in whether or not I am willing to work outside or in a cold garage.

Anyways, I am looking to build that seed starting shelf I talked about a few days ago. My current thinking is that I should try to use the 2X4 stretchers with the cutouts for the forklift tines to build the framing of the shelf. I don't have much use for those 2X4's with cutouts in most of my builds.

I haven't decided what type of design I will use for the seed starting shelf. So, I just keep banging apart some pallets hoping that inspiration will hit somewhere along the line! Maybe a stack of pallet wood ready to be used will speak to me?

I haven't picked up any pallets recently. We had some snowstorms the last few weeks and most of the places I check for pallets have snowbanks about 6 feet high. One place has some pallets sitting outside but covered in snow. I had to take a pass on those, at least for now. I have enough pallets at home that I don't need to go to town and shovel snow off a stack of pallets just to see if there is anything good to pick up. I can wait a few weeks and maybe by then the snow will have melted off.

In summary, I'm making progress on the seed starting shelf - if you count breaking down pallets and getting the wood ready to be used. I should get my Amazon order of the 50 pack of 3 inch net pots next week. I already bought a big bag of potting mix that I hope will work. If not, I'll be buying other medium for the seed starting. I bought 5 LED shop lights at Menards to use as the grow lights. I also bought just about all the seeds I wanted to start early. So, I'm much more prepared this year than last year and I think it will all come together next week.

Will post some pics when I get the shelf put together. Again, I am only looking to build a functional seed starting shelf and not something pretty. FYI, I was in Home Depot yesterday and looked at some metal shelves that could be used for seed starting. To my surprise, a metal 4-shelf unit was - on sale - for $169.00! I'll be building a 3-shelf unit out of free pallet wood and reclaimed shelving boards. The beauty in my build will be NOT spending money on it!

 

[gtaus]

Making good progress on my seed starting shelf idea. Plan on using those 2X4 stretchers that have the cut outs in them for the frame, then plop the reclaimed shelving board on top of the shelf rails. Have decided to use screws to put everything together. That should make it easy to disassemble the seed starting shelf when I don't need it anymore in a couple of months. Plan on putting it together tomorrow in the garage and maybe post some pictures afterwards. Stay tuned....

I got my 50 pack of 3-inch net pots delivered today. I think they will get the job done. Not as heavy as I hoped for, but I think they will last a number of years if I take care of them.

Also, brought inside the house my 2 cubic foot bag of Miracle-Gro potting soil that I hope to use as the seed starter medium. It was frozen solid sitting outside in the back of the old Explorer. Will have to let that stuff warm up for a day or two before planting the seeds.

We have a snow storm coming in later tomorrow through Wedensday, with as much as another 6 inches of snow. So, I will be busy inside the house/garage building the seed starting rack and filling up the pots for seeding.

 

[gtaus]

Sometimes I am faced with some nails that take more effort to pull out then you might expect. I was watching a YouTube video last night and saw this neat cordless drill nail puller attachment.

Wow, I think I could use something like that. Doesn't look too expensive.

I searched the internet and, unfortunately, found out that this tool is no longer made. It has been superseded by a pneumatic nail puller that costs about $200.

I guess I'm stuck with the large arm-strong crowbar for those tough nails.

 

[gtaus]

I followed my friends advice and used red solo cups to plant in. They've never had any issues, and garden every yr, all yr...

Have you tried the double cup red solo cup method? I might try some of these this year.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Sometimes I am faced with some nails that take more effort to pull out then you might expect. I was watching a YouTube video last night and saw this neat cordless drill nail puller attachment.

Wow, I think I could use something like that. Doesn't look too expensive.

I searched the internet and, unfortunately, found out that this tool is no longer made. It has been superseded by a pneumatic nail puller that costs about $200.

I guess I'm stuck with the large arm-strong crowbar for those tough nails.

What a pity they don't make those anymore! I'm over here drooling over that tool

Have you tried the double cup red solo cup method? I might try some of these this year.

That looks very labor intensive to me! Just because you have to constantly check the water level for each and every cup. Maybe easier with clear plastic cups so you can see the water level without lifting?
I put my seed cups in large shallow trays and water from below by simply pouring some water into the bottom of the tray...about a quarter inch deep each water. Quick and easy both to see if they need water and to add it. For tenting I plop a cut down tomato ring over or in the tray and drape it in plastic. I rarely use tenting though.
The red cups do make a pretty seed starter though!