Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

Oh boy, you have no idea how excited I was. It's in decent shape...I thought abt painting it prior to install...like spray paint...any thoughts

Sorry. Not much help. I've never used metal for roofing.

 

[fuzzi]

Quick Update on Pallet Planters

Just posting a few pictures of the pallet planters I made for Dear Wife last fall. She has flowers planted in them now, so I guess they officially have passed her approval.

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FWIW, Dear Wife wanted some new planters after our old half whiskey barrel planters were falling apart and we had to rebuild them. Started off with 6 old whiskey planters falling apart and managed to rebuild 3 whiskey barrels planters. These 3 pallet planters were to replace the lost 3 barrels.

Current cost of those half barrel whiskey planters is $65.00 at Home Depot. Curent cost of my pallet wood planters, about 65 cents each!

Can you repost photos of the insides, when you get a chance?

 

[chickengr]

Oh boy, you have no idea how excited I was. It's in decent shape...I thought abt painting it prior to install...like spray paint...any thoughts

I use paint that can be applied directly on rusty metal. sorry I don't know how you call it in english.

 

[gtaus]

Can you repost photos of the insides, when you get a chance?

Here are some of the photos I could dig up....

All my pallet wood raised beds and planters are 16 inches high. You don't need 16 inches of soil in the garden beds or the planters. I filled the bottom with tree trunks like this...

Then I had some old wood chips in a pile that I layered on top of the tree trunks to leave about 6 inches remaining to the top of the planter. This is the organic layer that fills in the holes and gaps from the tree trunks. You could use things like grass clippings or leaves, etc... But I had an old pile of wood chips that I wanted to use up...

The last 6-8 inches on top I filled with a 1:1 mixture of topsoil/chicken run compost...

I use the exact same hügelkultur method to fill my raised garden beds...

I live on a lake and my topsoil is very poor-quality sandy dirt. Not much of anything grew in it. So, I have to buy my topsoil from a local nursery at $60 per scoop load of a Bobcat.

It would be too expensive for me to fill all my raised beds and planters full of only topsoil. So, I use the hügelkultur method to fill the base and reduce the amount of topsoil required to top off the last 6-8 inches of the planters and raised beds. Also, the 1:1 topsoil/chicken run compost adds nutrients to the mix as well as providing more water retention and reducing compacting of the soil. The hügelkultur wood acts like a giant sponge and releases water to the plants later when they need it.

Now, Dear Wife has cleaned up the planters and put in some flowers...

As mentioned, I built these pallet wood planters to replace a number of half whiskey barrels planters that we had that fell apart from years of good use. They lasted a long time. However, now a half barrel planter at Home Depot sells for $65.00. I can build a pallet wood planter for about 65 cents. Dear Wife gets to tell me how big, or small, she wants a pallet wood planter.

I have not figured out how to make a round pallet wood planter, but Dear Wife has not (yet) asked me for that option. There are some YouTube videos on how to make round barrel type planters, but I have personally not made any of those yet. That project is not even high on my list, but it might be a fun build sometime in the future.

 

[fuzzi]

Here are some of the photos I could dig up....

All my pallet wood raised beds and planters are 16 inches high. You don't need 16 inches of soil in the garden beds or the planters. I filled the bottom with tree trunks like this...

View attachment 3536351

View attachment 3536352

View attachment 3536354

Then I had some old wood chips in a pile that I layered on top of the tree trunks to leave about 6 inches remaining to the top of the planter. This is the organic layer that fills in the holes and gaps from the tree trunks. You could use things like grass clippings or leaves, etc... But I had an old pile of wood chips that I wanted to use up...

View attachment 3536355

View attachment 3536356

The last 6-8 inches on top I filled with a 1:1 mixture of topsoil/chicken run compost...

View attachment 3536360

View attachment 3536361

I use the exact same hügelkultur method to fill my raised garden beds...

View attachment 3536362

I live on a lake and my topsoil is very poor-quality sandy dirt. Not much of anything grew in it. So, I have to buy my topsoil from a local nursery at $60 per scoop load of a Bobcat.

It would be too expensive for me to fill all my raised beds and planters full of only topsoil. So, I use the hügelkultur method to fill the base and reduce the amount of topsoil required to top off the last 6-8 inches of the planters and raised beds. Also, the 1:1 topsoil/chicken run compost adds nutrients to the mix as well as providing more water retention and reducing compacting of the soil. The hügelkultur wood acts like a giant sponge and releases water to the plants later when they need it.

Now, Dear Wife has cleaned up the planters and put in some flowers...

View attachment 3536381

As mentioned, I built these pallet wood planters to replace a number of half whiskey barrels planters that we had that fell apart from years of good use. They lasted a long time. However, now a half barrel planter at Home Depot sells for $65.00. I can build a pallet wood planter for about 65 cents. Dear Wife gets to tell me how big, or small, she wants a pallet wood planter.

I have not figured out how to make a round pallet wood planter, but Dear Wife has not (yet) asked me for that option. There are some YouTube videos on how to make round barrel type planters, but I have personally not made any of those yet. That project is not even high on my list, but it might be a fun build sometime in the future.

Thank you. However, I was probably not specific enough. I wanted to see how you constructed them.

 

[gtaus]

Thank you. However, I was probably not specific enough. I wanted to see how you constructed them.

OK. I don't think I made a specific step by step instructional, but I found my first post regarding these pallet wood planters and described how I built them.

Basically, 1) you build top and bottom 2X4 frames for the inside, 2) attach the 16-inch side pieces vertically to complete the planter, 3) optionally add the trim boards on top like I did, 4) optionally add some boards inside the planter on top of the bottom 2X4 frame if you were going to put the planter on a deck. Since I put all our planters out on the ground, I ended up removing the inside boards on the one planter I put them in. If we were going to put the planters on a deck or balcony, I would have used the inside boards to prevent the dirt from touching the deck and rotting out the deck wood, for example.

Note: The framing on these pallet wood planters is on the inside because these planters are small in size and they do not hold a lot of soil. On my pallet wood raised planters, I put the framing on the outside to prevent side wall blowouts from all the soil pushing outwards. You could put the 2X4 framing on the pallet wood planters on the outside as well. I would not recommend putting the 2X4 framing on the inside of a pallet wood raised garden bed.

Here is a copy of my original pallet wood planter post sometime back in late summer 2022....

Yesterday I made a few pallet planters for Dear Wife...

The first one was too big (24X24 inches), so I made a second planter (16X16 inches), and that was too small.

So, I'll be making another planter, maybe this time 12X24 inches rectangular, and hope that passes her inspection.

What I liked about the bigger 24X24 inch planter is that I was able to find some dark pallet wood and alternate that with lighter pallet wood. I did that on all 4 sides and I think it looked good. Just too big, I guess.

I then made the smaller 16X16 planter, but learned a valuable lesson. The pallet 2X4's in the smaller planter were not all the same size. So, my planter got out of square. I had to cut the final wall piece on each side on a taper, and finish it off with a planer to fit. Not a huge problem to overcome, but the top of the planter was a good 1/4" wider than the bottom. Does anybody care? Probably not. But having to cut the wood on a taper and plane it down to fit burned up extra time. Lesson learned - next time make sure the 2X4's are all the same size.

Benefits to this design is that the 2X4's inside the planter are hidden, so I was able to use the parts of the stretcher that had the cut-outs for the forklift. No waste on those 2X4's with this design. Also, on each wall side, I added the wood from the outside, left and right, and worked my way to the middle. The last piece of wall board will probably have to be cut down to size, but that was easy. Even on the smaller planter that got out of square, the last wall piece just had to be cut down on a slight taper, and planed to fit.

I topped off the planter with 45 degree cut 1X4 planks. I simply took the measurement of the side (24 inches, for example) and added 1 inch for hangover to each side = 26 inches on the long cut. Then I used my miter saw to cut 1 board with the 45 degree cuts, and used that board as a template to cut 3 more exact sized boards. That saved some time and energy as no measuring was required on subsequent cuts.

I don't plan on staining or painting these planters. But would ask for some feedback on that issue. If they only last 3-4 years, that will be good enough for me. I might line the inside of the planter with a plastic garbage bag before filling up with soil, that should help preserve the wood a bit longer.

Any feedback appreciated. Thanks.

 

[fuzzi]

OK. I don't think I made a specific step by step instructional, but I found my first post regarding these pallet wood planters and described how I built them.

Basically, 1) you build top and bottom 2X4 frames for the inside, 2) attach the 16-inch side pieces vertically to complete the planter, 3) optionally add the trim boards on top like I did, 4) optionally add some boards inside the planter on top of the bottom 2X4 frame if you were going to put the planter on a deck. Since I put all our planters out on the ground, I ended up removing the inside boards on the one planter I put them in. If we were going to put the planters on a deck or balcony, I would have used the inside boards to prevent the dirt from touching the deck and rotting out the deck wood, for example.

Note: The framing on these pallet wood planters is on the inside because these planters are small in size and they do not hold a lot of soil. On my pallet wood raised planters, I put the framing on the outside to prevent side wall blowouts from all the soil pushing outwards. You could put the 2X4 framing on the pallet wood planters on the outside as well. I would not recommend putting the 2X4 framing on the inside of a pallet wood raised garden bed.

Here is a copy of my original pallet wood planter post sometime back in late summer 2022....

Yesterday I made a few pallet planters for Dear Wife...

The first one was too big (24X24 inches), so I made a second planter (16X16 inches), and that was too small.

So, I'll be making another planter, maybe this time 12X24 inches rectangular, and hope that passes her inspection.

What I liked about the bigger 24X24 inch planter is that I was able to find some dark pallet wood and alternate that with lighter pallet wood. I did that on all 4 sides and I think it looked good. Just too big, I guess.

I then made the smaller 16X16 planter, but learned a valuable lesson. The pallet 2X4's in the smaller planter were not all the same size. So, my planter got out of square. I had to cut the final wall piece on each side on a taper, and finish it off with a planer to fit. Not a huge problem to overcome, but the top of the planter was a good 1/4" wider than the bottom. Does anybody care? Probably not. But having to cut the wood on a taper and plane it down to fit burned up extra time. Lesson learned - next time make sure the 2X4's are all the same size.

Benefits to this design is that the 2X4's inside the planter are hidden, so I was able to use the parts of the stretcher that had the cut-outs for the forklift. No waste on those 2X4's with this design. Also, on each wall side, I added the wood from the outside, left and right, and worked my way to the middle. The last piece of wall board will probably have to be cut down to size, but that was easy. Even on the smaller planter that got out of square, the last wall piece just had to be cut down on a slight taper, and planed to fit.

I topped off the planter with 45 degree cut 1X4 planks. I simply took the measurement of the side (24 inches, for example) and added 1 inch for hangover to each side = 26 inches on the long cut. Then I used my miter saw to cut 1 board with the 45 degree cuts, and used that board as a template to cut 3 more exact sized boards. That saved some time and energy as no measuring was required on subsequent cuts.

I don't plan on staining or painting these planters. But would ask for some feedback on that issue. If they only last 3-4 years, that will be good enough for me. I might line the inside of the planter with a plastic garbage bag before filling up with soil, that should help preserve the wood a bit longer.

Any feedback appreciated. Thanks.

Very helpful, thanks!

 

[Smokerbill]

Pallet Project!

I made a garden chicken deflector fence today using most of the cut offs from the pallet I cut usable boards from. It ain't purty, but I think/hope it will work!

 

[Plants_Pets_Projects]

Made a litte pallet A-frame for the chicks this week. They really like climbing it and sleeping under it

I cut about 15" off the end of the pallets leaving 1 bottom stringer and 2 top stringers that will be made into shelves for spray paint cans. Eventually

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

A quick stop in...
We added 4.5in lagscrews into the corner 4x4 posts for extra security...