Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

I put up a section of pallet fence today to try to keep my chickens contained to the backyard. I used one complete 40" x 10' pallet, and a 43" section of a flimsy little pallet. I stood the short section of pallet on one corner and pushed down to twist it into a parallelogram shape that would follow the slope to the house. A few T-posts, some wire, some plastic fencing, and some free scraps of lumber. The pneumatic narrow crown stapler made attaching the wood and plastic fencing a breeze.

View attachment 3549820

Nicely done.

I like how you were able to push and twist that one pallet into a parallelogram shape to follow the slope to the house. I just don't understand how you were ablet to do it. Was it a special pallet type that allowed you to do this? There are so many nails in most of my pallets, that the boards would break before I could ever get it to bend into another shape.

 

[gtaus]

Chicken Run Grazing Frame Update

Last time I talked about my grazing frame in the chicken run, I showed pictures of me building another frame under the original frame to lift it up another 3-1/2 inches off the ground. That brings the total height up to 7 inches to the top of the hardware cloth. The idea was to life the frame higher so the chickens would not be scratching chicken run litter on top of the grazing frame, blocking out the sun, and killing the grass growing under the wire. So far, I can say that the increased height has worked out well.

Here is an updated picture of the grazing frame....

Notice how full of fresh grass it is under the wire. That grass is 7 inches tall up to the level of the wire. You don't see any grass poking through the wire because the chickens know to hit the grazing frame first thing in the morning, and they trim everything sticking above the wire down to the wire level.

There are a few sticks and stuff on top of the wire. I'll have to get in there and sweep that off. But last year the grazing wire was covered with about 2 inches of chicken run litter and all the grass in the grazing died for lack of sunlight.

I celebrate small victories!

 

[gtaus]

Just posting an updated picture of my newly designed pallet wood raised bed I made this year. To fill the raised bed, I used the hügelkultur method of using tree trunks, branches and twigs, wood chips, an organic layer, and the top 6-8 inches was filled with a topsoil/chicken run compost mix 1:1. The cherry tomato plants I started in the house this March have just exploded outside in the new raised bed. These plants are up to 52 inches tall, whereas I normally have maybe 18 inch tall, at best, plants this time of year.

Sometimes it's nice to see a pallet project in full use. Well, here you go...

Oh yeah, I put grass clippings on top of the dirt as a mulch. I like the looks of the green grass clippings, so I hope it is doing a good job as a top mulch for the bed.

 

[Smokerbill]

Nicely done.

I like how you were able to push and twist that one pallet into a parallelogram shape to follow the slope to the house. I just don't understand how you were ablet to do it. Was it a special pallet type that allowed you to do this? There are so many nails in most of my pallets, that the boards would break before I could ever get it to bend into another shape.

Yeah, it was a weird, lightweight pallet made with soft pine, I think. The boards were small, and there were only 5 pieces of wood making up the pallet. With just three nailed joints on each end, it twisted pretty easily. The middle board was only attached with one nail to each of the cross pieces underneath.

 

[gtaus]

A few days ago, I mentioned that I had to build some squirrel screens to protect my bean seeds in the elevated planters. I am happy to report that the seeds have started to sprout, and it looks like I will have only a small number of seeds to replant. I don't know if the squirrel ate them, or they just did not germinate. Anyways, I'll put new seeds in those spots maybe this weekend.

Here are the pics of the beans starting to sprout under the pallet wood squirrel screens...

I don't know how well you can see the bean sprouts in these pictures, but in real life, I can see almost all the seeds are sprouting under the wire.

 

[gtaus]

Yeah, it was a weird, lightweight pallet made with soft pine, I think. The boards were small, and there were only 5 pieces of wood making up the pallet. With just three nailed joints on each end, it twisted pretty easily. The middle board was only attached with one nail to each of the cross pieces underneath.

OK. I don't think a person could do that with a "normal" pallet. I was just wondering if you had some special talents...?

 

[Smokerbill]

OK. I don't think a person could do that with a "normal" pallet. I was just wondering if you had some special talents...?

I'm magic. LOL

Two of those big pallets I tore apart were twisted, but I'm sure they were hit with a forklift. I tried to straighten them with my massive bulk and had no luck.

 

[Smokerbill]

I added to my fencing to try and keep the chickens out of the front yard. I ran a length of hog wire fencing (another old section found in the woods) between the front corner of the house and the corner post holding up the roof behind the shop.

I added slats between horizontal fence boards that the chickens were able to crawl between, and added more slats at the top of the fence. One of the cockerels has flown to the top of the fence a couple times, so that needed to stop.

Then I used a pallet today to create a sort of door, between the coop and a support post. The boards were too far apart so I stapled boards between them.

Tomorrow I have one more 14 foot section to build a barrier across. When that's done, the chickens will have to go a long way to get to the front yard. But they probably will figure it out eventually.

And yeah, everything I used today was free, found stuff. Except the staples.

 

[gtaus]

And yeah, everything I used today was free, found stuff. Except the staples.

I get a lot of joy out of using all free stuff on my projects. First of all, I like saving the money, but also, I enjoy reusing stuff and giving it a second life instead of filling up the landfills. Except, usually the nails, screws, or staples are new.

I have managed to salvage a bunch of long wood screws from a few pallets and will be using them. I don't use nails much, but I have salvaged at least a couple pounds of pallet wood nails I removed from the pallet wood. But I have a nice powered 18g brad nailer and a powered Arrow T-50 type stapler. So, I use my tools when I get a reason.

BTW, yesterday I made a trash run to our local transfer station. I had a couple bags of kitchen trash and a bin full of water damaged sheet rock. Anyways, there was an older couple ahead of me inside the station and they were tossing all kinds of leftover lumber into the trash compactor. Good stuff too, including some 2X8's that were at least 4 feet long. I estimated they tossed out around $100 or more of useable lumber. It was fed into one of those big bins with an auger to grind up and pack things tight. No way will that lumber every be used for anything again.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Yeah, it was a weird, lightweight pallet made with soft pine, I think. The boards were small, and there were only 5 pieces of wood making up the pallet. With just three nailed joints on each end, it twisted pretty easily. The middle board was only attached with one nail to each of the cross pieces underneath.

We get pallets like this at work. They are annoying to work with bc theyvdo twist so easily. Can't build up a square pallet with product if it twists of you nudge it....(we ship pallets full of product)

I'm magic. LOL

Two of those big pallets I tore apart were twisted, but I'm sure they were hit with a forklift. I tried to straighten them with my massive bulk and had no luck.

I'd bet money you are absolutely correct. People hit pallets constantly at work backing into them, or going forwards into them and just not having the forks lined up. Usually they crunch pretty good...but occasionally they just twist.