Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Molpet]

I love how that guy runs his tests and I have subscribed to his channel for a few years. I always seem to learn good stuff from his experiments

Yes I have watched him for years too. When you said drywall screws I remembered that video because I was surprised about drywall screws.

 

[gtaus]

I use free buckets with a lid from a renovation project to store chicken feed.

I just filled up six 5-gallon buckets full of chicken feed and scratch this weekend. It's a lot easier for me to carry a 5-gallon bucket (with a handle) full of chicken feed weighing 25 pounds than trying to carry a 50 pound sack of feed without handles.

They are great to stack the chicken feed in our bike shed. Mice proof!

I keep my buckets of feed stacked in the garage. Takes up less space that way. Not only are they mice proof, but they are waterproof as well which is great for me living in northern Minnesota where we normally have lots of snow melting off the cars in the garage and getting the floor all wet.

But once in a while I read this thread with pleasure to look at all amazing projects.

Would love to see any projects you have built and/or are building. We all get inspiration from one another.

 

[gtaus]

How to Make a Cheap Workshop Workbench

Just came across this YouTube video on How to Make a Cheap Workshop Workbench using a couple of pallets and some salvaged lumber. Looks really easy to build. Love how he adds some wheels to make the workbench portable.

I built a similar workbench out of some 6-foot-long pallets I picked up last year. I love it for banging on and setting up some of my power tools for use in the garage. I put wheels on my pallet workbench as well. Makes it easy for me to roll it out of the way when I need to park a car in the garage.

If you want to add some inexpensive wheels to your workbenches, I suggest you look at getting the dolly from Harbor Freight that is rated for 1000 pounds....

That dolly is going on sale for less than $8.00 in about a week when Harbor Freight is having one of their "Parking Lot" sales events. I buy these 1000 pound rated Dollys when they go on sale just for the wheels alone, which I take off, and use on my garage workbenches. Each wheel is rated for 250 pounds, which is more than enough for my workbenches.

In comparison, if you purchased the wheels individually, you would end up paying about $6.00 each for a similar rated wheel...

No thanks. I'll buy the dolly and take off the wheels. If you pick up the dolly on sale for $8.00 at Harbor Freight next week, that's only $2.00 per wheel!

If you don't have a Harbor Freight in your town, you might be able to check out how much your local stores charge for a 4-wheeled dolly and see if it makes sense to buy one just for the wheels. I'm just familiar with the Harbor Freight hack to save money on those wheels. They have the best deal in my town.

 

[gtaus]

Simple 16X16 Inch Pallet Wood Planter

I finished building the first of two small pallet wood planters I promised to make Dear Wife. She wanted a couple of small 16X16 inch planters to replace some larger half whiskey barrels that fell apart. Well, actually, one fell apart and the other was broken into pieces when someone backed up into the barrel and smashed it - then they drove off...

Here is the picture of the first of two planters I am making, the second will be the same...

As you can see by the snow on the ground, I am well ahead of that to-do list item finishing it well before our spring planting season.

I am considering lining the pallet wood planter with some chicken feed bags I have saved. Those feed bags have some plastic like material woven into the paper, or so it seems to me. I'm thinking that lining the planter with a feed bag will protect the pallet wood sidewalls for at least a season, or longer, from the bare soil. Would love to hear if anyone else has tried lining a planter with an empty feed bag. Thanks.

I am also happy to report that some of the woodworking tricks I learned when I built the pallet wood stackable compost bin transferred over to this small pallet wood planter project. Namely, I am getting pretty good at ripping the 2X4's in half for the framing, and I have figured out how to lay out the framing to get exactly my 16X16 inch outside measurements using pallet wood of different thicknesses.

Believe it or not, when you use pallet wood of different thicknesses, you can end up with a build that is slightly out of square. Maybe not a big deal to lots of people, but I hate getting to the end of laying out the boards and find I'm 1/2 inch out of square. Anyways, I have figured out how to overcome that situation with a few simple changes in the way I lay out the initial framing.

Of course, I'm the only one who would ever know if the planter project was 1/2 inch out of square, but now I can proudly say that I'm the only one that knows the new project was perfectly square in the build!

One of the challenges that I enjoy working with pallet wood is that I have had to figure out ways to use different sized pallet wood and still get consistent, square, builds. It's a skill I never had to figure out using standard store-bought lumber because they are all uniform sizes. Not so much with pallet wood where a 2X4 stretcher can be anywhere from 1-1/4 inch thick to over 2 inches thick from one pallet to another. In fact, you often get different 2X4's in the same pallet! Figuring out those little build modifications using pallet wood has been fun for me.

In general, if the pallet project is close, then it counts. If it's good enough, it passes the test for me. I don't believe in any way that a pallet project has to be perfectly square, or built to last a lifetime. But sometimes I figure out how to build a pallet project better with a few simple modifications that just make everything easier at the same time. This week, I transferred lessons learned from one pallet project to another getting better results - with less work overall!

 

[gtaus]

Pallet Wood Elevated Planter Stand with DIY Self-Watering Planter

I finished building my pallet wood elevated planter stand last week and got all the parts for the DIY self-watering planter (27-gallon tote).

But my garage is small, and it took me some time to clear out enough things to take a picture of the planter stand. But those pictures will be coming up shortly.

First of all, let me show you what I was attempting to build out of pallet wood with a picture of the plastic version sold at Menards...

I like the idea of the self-watering elevated planter. However, I live in northern Minnesota and the last thing I want is a plastic box with water freezing in it in the winter and cracking the plastic. For $110.00, or even $80.00 on sale, I want a planter to last much longer than one season.

Also, and this might be just me, I like the look of real wood better than plastic. So, I decided to build an elevated planter stand and build it to hold a standard sized 27-gallon industrial tote for use as a planter. Those industrial totes are currently on sale at Menards for $8.00 (after rebate)....

There are lots of gardeners using these industrial tote and converting them to DIY Earthboxes or DIY Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIP's). My idea was to convert the tote into a SIP and put it inside the pallet wood planter stand.

So, here is a picture of the elevated planter stand with the tote on top. I made the stand 36 inches tall, which is the recommended height for someone in a wheelchair for accessibility....

Here is a picture of the stand with the tote inside...

My idea was to make the planter stand large enough that I can easily put in or take out a tote. That way, maybe I could start an early cool weather crop in the house and drop it out into the planter and then later start a summer planter with other plants in a separate tote. And maybe have a third tote started for late fall plants. Well, it's an option.

The advantages to this pallet wood elevated planter stand are that it is much stronger than the plastic stand sold at Menards and it will not crack in the winter. Instead of paying $110, or even $80 on sale, I built this stand with free pallet wood and maybe had $15.00 into the tote and drain pipes I used. In this specific case, I already had the drain pipes and PVC left over from previous projects, so all I put into the project was the $8.00 tote. That's not too bad.

If I wanted, I could have just lined the pallet wood elevated planter with a rubber liner and turned the entire stand into a sub-irrigated planter. I have three such stands already, and they work great. But in this project, I wanted to build a stand where I could use totes that I could swap out if I wanted.

Here is better look at the tote with the sub-irrigated parts ready to fill up with potting soil....

Menards also sells that same industrial tote in a 40-gallon size. No way would I try to move one of those totes when full of soil and water. But the manager at Menards told me that lots of people are buying those totes for container gardens out on their decks. The 40-gallon tote sells for less than $20.00. A similar sized "garden planter" sold in the garden center sells for over $100.00! Hence, lots of people just buy the industrial totes.

I have made other sub-irrigated elevated wooden planters based on the build concept from YouTube videos by AldoPepper. Here is one link that walks you through the concept of making your own sub-irrigated planter systems...

Although not a pallet project per se, here is a picture of one of the elevated sub-irrigated planters that I made before I got into pallet projects...

I think I paid over $50.00 for the wood alone in that project, and that was before the sky high lumber prices due to COVID-19 shortages! Today, if I built that same planter again, I would build it out of pallet/salvaged wood. Anyways, you can see how well my beans were growing in that sub-irrigated planter. Much, much better productivity than my beans planted in-ground in the main garden.

I hope to see similar results with my new elevated pallet wood planter stand and the DIY sub-irrigated planter tote.

 

[Sally PB]

Also, and this might be just me, I like the look of real wood better than plastic.

No, it's not just you.

 

[ChicksnMore]

How to Make a Cheap Workshop Workbench

Just came across this YouTube video on How to Make a Cheap Workshop Workbench using a couple of pallets and some salvaged lumber. Looks really easy to build. Love how he adds some wheels to make the workbench portable.

I built a similar workbench out of some 6-foot-long pallets I picked up last year. I love it for banging on and setting up some of my power tools for use in the garage. I put wheels on my pallet workbench as well. Makes it easy for me to roll it out of the way when I need to park a car in the garage.

If you want to add some inexpensive wheels to your workbenches, I suggest you look at getting the dolly from Harbor Freight that is rated for 1000 pounds....

View attachment 3758482

That dolly is going on sale for less than $8.00 in about a week when Harbor Freight is having one of their "Parking Lot" sales events. I buy these 1000 pound rated Dollys when they go on sale just for the wheels alone, which I take off, and use on my garage workbenches. Each wheel is rated for 250 pounds, which is more than enough for my workbenches.

In comparison, if you purchased the wheels individually, you would end up paying about $6.00 each for a similar rated wheel...

View attachment 3758489

No thanks. I'll buy the dolly and take off the wheels. If you pick up the dolly on sale for $8.00 at Harbor Freight next week, that's only $2.00 per wheel!

If you don't have a Harbor Freight in your town, you might be able to check out how much your local stores charge for a 4-wheeled dolly and see if it makes sense to buy one just for the wheels. I'm just familiar with the Harbor Freight hack to save money on those wheels. They have the best deal in my town.

I'm ending up with an awful long list of future projects from this thread

 

[gtaus]

I'm ending up with an awful long list of future projects from this thread

That's a good thing. I'm just posting things I find interesting relating to pallet wood projects. Some projects I build, others I just offer up for others to consider. We all have different needs. If you have any pallet projects you think are interesting, please share them here so others can consider them as well. As always, looking forward to seeing and hearing about any pallet related projects you might be working on. Thanks.

 

[fuzzi]

Simple 16X16 Inch Pallet Wood Planter

I finished building the first of two small pallet wood planters I promised to make Dear Wife. She wanted a couple of small 16X16 inch planters to replace some larger half whiskey barrels that fell apart. Well, actually, one fell apart and the other was broken into pieces when someone backed up into the barrel and smashed it - then they drove off...

Here is the picture of the first of two planters I am making, the second will be the same...

View attachment 3758715


As you can see by the snow on the ground, I am well ahead of that to-do list item finishing it well before our spring planting season.

I am considering lining the pallet wood planter with some chicken feed bags I have saved. Those feed bags have some plastic like material woven into the paper, or so it seems to me. I'm thinking that lining the planter with a feed bag will protect the pallet wood sidewalls for at least a season, or longer, from the bare soil. Would love to hear if anyone else has tried lining a planter with an empty feed bag. Thanks.

I am also happy to report that some of the woodworking tricks I learned when I built the pallet wood stackable compost bin transferred over to this small pallet wood planter project. Namely, I am getting pretty good at ripping the 2X4's in half for the framing, and I have figured out how to lay out the framing to get exactly my 16X16 inch outside measurements using pallet wood of different thicknesses.

Believe it or not, when you use pallet wood of different thicknesses, you can end up with a build that is slightly out of square. Maybe not a big deal to lots of people, but I hate getting to the end of laying out the boards and find I'm 1/2 inch out of square. Anyways, I have figured out how to overcome that situation with a few simple changes in the way I lay out the initial framing.

Of course, I'm the only one who would ever know if the planter project was 1/2 inch out of square, but now I can proudly say that I'm the only one that knows the new project was perfectly square in the build!

One of the challenges that I enjoy working with pallet wood is that I have had to figure out ways to use different sized pallet wood and still get consistent, square, builds. It's a skill I never had to figure out using standard store-bought lumber because they are all uniform sizes. Not so much with pallet wood where a 2X4 stretcher can be anywhere from 1-1/4 inch thick to over 2 inches thick from one pallet to another. In fact, you often get different 2X4's in the same pallet! Figuring out those little build modifications using pallet wood has been fun for me.

In general, if the pallet project is close, then it counts. If it's good enough, it passes the test for me. I don't believe in any way that a pallet project has to be perfectly square, or built to last a lifetime. But sometimes I figure out how to build a pallet project better with a few simple modifications that just make everything easier at the same time. This week, I transferred lessons learned from one pallet project to another getting better results - with less work overall!

Wouldn't lining the inside trap moisture against the wood?

 

[gtaus]

Wouldn't lining the inside trap moisture against the wood?

That's an interesting thought. I know that without lining, the wet soil will be directly in contact with the wood. If I put a barrier between the soil and the wood, that direct contact would be broken. But would you trap moisture against the wood? I don't know.

Here is a guy who sells raised bed liners, claiming that they preserve the wood longer...

But then I found this article on Should You Line A Raised Garden Bed? (4 Things You Need To Know) which states that a raised bed liner will cause the wood to rot faster - which answers your question affirmatively.

Maybe where you live has the greater effect on the benefits of using a raised bed liner, or not. Where I live in northern Minnesota, it's the opposite of hot and humid. Having said that, I have never lined any of my wooden raised beds and they are still rot free after 5+ years. Using untreated pallet wood, I can expect 3-5 years of rot free service according to the sources I have found. In my backyard, the oldest pallet wood raised beds are going on year 4 and have no signs of rot.

One of the advantages to building your own pallet wood raised beds is that you know how to repair it if/when a board rots out. Here is a picture of one of my pallet wood raised beds v2.0 up on some sawhorses in process of being built...

You can see how the pallet planks are on the inside of the 2X4 outer framing. The main advantage in that design is that the soil will be pushing outwards against the planks, into the stronger 2X4's, and I should never see any sidewall blowouts as many people have discovered if they put the planks on the outside of the 2X4 framing.

If a pallet plank rots out, I can simply remove that piece and put in a new one, or if not too badly rotted out, I could maybe just slip another pallet plank piece inside the original which would never show looking from the outside.

Frankly, these pallet wood raised beds v2.0 are holding up much better than I had hoped. My current plan is to use them until they fall apart and just replace the whole raised bed at that time. It costs me less than $2.00 to build each one of these raised beds and I can build one in less than an hour.

Getting back to your concern about lining the small planter with a chicken feed bag and would that just cause the wood to rot faster... I think I won't line the planters after looking into this issue. Thank you for asking that question. Again, these small planters take me less than half an hour to build and cost practically nothing out of pocket for me, so why put a liner in them when they might only cause the wood to rot faster? Probably not worth it.