Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

I want one of those mesh ones [carts] with the removable sides.

Yes, they are very nice. The big name brand in these carts, both in the wire mesh and the full watertight bin, is the "Gorilla" brand. My Gorilla-like cart is a Menards special, built like the Gorilla cart but it cost me about $50.00 less than the same size and specs Gorilla cart.

The only weak point in all these carts that I have found is that pneumatic tires will start to go flat a few years down the road. At that time, IMHO, it's best just to replace the pneumatic tires with flat-free filled tires. The flat-free tires will cost maybe $5-$10 more per tire, but you never have to replace them again. In my case, the payback period is about 2-3 years. Not bad for something that I will have for years and years.

I mention this because I just replaced all 4 of my pneumatic tires on my wire mesh cart with flat-free tires. A new pneumatic tire cost about $15 and I got my flat-free tires from Amazon for about $20 each.

Years ago, I bought inner tubes for my pneumatic tires at about $8.00 per inner tube. I thought I would save some money. But the new inner tubes only lasted a couple of years. Just save yourself the time and effort of messing with inner tubes and plan on replacing your pneumatic tires with flat-free tires.

As cheap as I am, it was still worth it to me to upgrade and buy flat-free tires for my cart. I use my carts all the time and they are just worth it to me to put in the flat-free tire upgrades when needed.

As much as I like these carts, Dear Wife likes them even more because she can move full bags of wood chip mulch to her gardens with ease.

For anyone considering buying these 4-wheeled carts, I recommend getting a cart with the handles that convert from manual pull to the other option of using it as a tow behind the lawn mower on the hitch.

 

[chickengr]

just found a new source for free pallets a person who bought some ducks and goslings from me has a bike shop. he has a lot of pallets and cages. I can't wait to get them. I desperately need a shed to store feed, then stable for goats, then coop for turkeys...

 

[gtaus]

just found a new source for free pallets

Yep, that's a big deal. Congrats. Looking forward to hearing about your upcoming pallet projects.

 

[chickengr]

Yep, that's a big deal. Congrats. Looking forward to hearing about your upcoming pallet projects.

those pallets are made of plywood and mdf, not wood. I desperately need something for siding of my coops so this plywood is gift from heaven! I also need to make nests for geese and ducks.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Yes, they are very nice. The big name brand in these carts, both in the wire mesh and the full watertight bin, is the "Gorilla" brand. My Gorilla-like cart is a Menards special, built like the Gorilla cart but it cost me about $50.00 less than the same size and specs Gorilla cart.

The only weak point in all these carts that I have found is that pneumatic tires will start to go flat a few years down the road. At that time, IMHO, it's best just to replace the pneumatic tires with flat-free filled tires. The flat-free tires will cost maybe $5-$10 more per tire, but you never have to replace them again. In my case, the payback period is about 2-3 years. Not bad for something that I will have for years and years.

I mention this because I just replaced all 4 of my pneumatic tires on my wire mesh cart with flat-free tires. A new pneumatic tire cost about $15 and I got my flat-free tires from Amazon for about $20 each.

Years ago, I bought inner tubes for my pneumatic tires at about $8.00 per inner tube. I thought I would save some money. But the new inner tubes only lasted a couple of years. Just save yourself the time and effort of messing with inner tubes and plan on replacing your pneumatic tires with flat-free tires.

As cheap as I am, it was still worth it to me to upgrade and buy flat-free tires for my cart. I use my carts all the time and they are just worth it to me to put in the flat-free tire upgrades when needed.

As much as I like these carts, Dear Wife likes them even more because she can move full bags of wood chip mulch to her gardens with ease.

For anyone considering buying these 4-wheeled carts, I recommend getting a cart with the handles that convert from manual pull to the other option of using it as a tow behind the lawn mower on the hitch.

View attachment 3794787

Love the convertible handle information. I never would have thought to look for that.

We use the tires that never need refilled too. Our ancient wheelbarrows and our hand trucks all have them. They make so much more sense than inflatable tires. We get ours at harbor freight...it's been so long that I can't remember what we pay for them. I'll have to check prices and see how they compare to Amazon. I've bought car ports from Amazon but never thought to check them for tires!

 

[gtaus]

those pallets are made of plywood and mdf, not wood.

I love finding pallets with plywood on them. I pick them up whenever I see them. I have a number of partial plywood sheets saved up at this time.

One project I need to do this year is reinforcing the floor of my chicken coop. Some of my plywood floor by the chicken waterer is getting spongy underneath the linoleum. I have to replace some of the old linoleum and probably lay down some of my pallet wood plywood sheets on top of the old flooring to strengthen it. That will use up some of those partial sheets of plywood that I have salvaged in my pallet pickups.

 

[gtaus]

Love the convertible handle [on garden carts] information. I never would have thought to look for that.

I have riding lawn mowers. So, it just made sense to me to make sure all my carts had that convertible handle. I don't often fill up a cart with stuff so heavy that I cannot pull it by hand but when I do, it sure is nice to hitch it up behind the lawn mower and let the machine do the work instead of my back.

I'm at that age where I don't want to stress the body too much. Riding mowers are great. Also, I have 3 acres of property and sometimes it is just so much easier to hitch the cart behind the mower and move it from one end of the property to the other.

We use the tires that never need refilled too. Our ancient wheelbarrows and our hand trucks all have them. They make so much more sense than inflatable tires. We get ours at harbor freight...it's been so long that I can't remember what we pay for them. I'll have to check prices and see how they compare to Amazon. I've bought car ports from Amazon but never thought to check them for tires!

I don't know if you read my earlier posts, but I actually bought a set of four 13-inch flat-free tires from Harbor Freight on sale for $17.99 each - regular price $22.99. They looked like great tires.

Unfortunately, the Harbor Freight tire hub at 3-inches was too wide to fit on my Gorilla cart hub size of 2-1/4-inches. I either had to buy more tools to cut the HF tire hub to my width or get a different set of tires.

I found a set of four 13-inch wheels on Amazon made as Gorilla cart replacements - with the correct hub width - and paid about the same price for that set ($19.00 per tire) after a 5% discount at the time of the purchase.

That was cheaper than using the Harbor Freight tires, buying $20 worth of cutting tools and supplies needed for the modification, and then spending all that time and effort to cut the hubs down to size.

I was disappointed that I could not find those flat-free tires I needed locally, that would have been my first choice, but Amazon had the best option for me.

FWIW, if/when you need to replace the pneumatic tires on your garden carts, you need to measure three things: 1) tire size (e.g. 13-inch for my cart), 2) axle size (5/8 inch for my cart) AND 3) hub width (2-1/4-inches for my cart).

I buy lots of stuff from Harbor Freight, but they did not have the tire size to fit my cart. So, I had to wait 5 days for my Amazon shipment and then it took me less than 15 minutes to replace all the tires when I got them.

Speaking of riding mowers and tow behind carts, one of my most useful ideas for a pallet project was to make what I call a mobile pallet work bench on a tow-behind cart...

That was nothing more than a pallet with some 2X4's screwed in the underside to fit that particular wagon so it would not slip off when I towed it around the yard. I just put all my saws, tools, supplies, etc... under the pallet in the cart and take them out when I get to the worksite. That same concept could be used on the 4-wheeled carts as well. Just take off the pallet work bench when you don't need it and want the cart or wagon by itself. Very nice.

Sure is better for me to work on that pallet work bench rather than getting down on the ground to work on my projects out in the yard like I used to do. Easiest pallet project ever. Just toss the pallet on top of the wagon, basically. But I used that mobile bench top for most of the summer. Really handy.

 

[fuzzi]

Well, many projects can be built on site. That works if you have a heavy project that you won't move after built.

Sometimes you can build a project in sections, and assembly them at final site. The sections could be small enough to move by themselves whereas the entire build might be too heavy.

I have made a number of raised bed frames only, was able to move them to their end location without much problem, then finished them off with the side wall boards that add all that weight.

I have built things on a cart, moved them to their site, and then it was easy to drop it off where needed. I have a cart like this which is rated for 1,200 pounds. I would not want to test that limit, but 4 wheels make life much better for many jobs...

View attachment 3794341

My cart also has those side panels that can be removed. I have used it a few times like that, with a flat bottom. It's a nice feature that my other full bin Gorilla carts cannot do. I have a couple of these as well...

View attachment 3794349

I prefer to use the full watertight Gorilla cart for most of my gardening. I don't have to worry about topsoil or compost falling through the watertight bin. But if I am loading up pallet wood or lawn clean up fallen wood on ground, for example, I like to use the wire mesh cart in case it rains because the water will not pool up inside that cart and soak the wood.

Both types of carts have their advantages which is why I ended having both types.

These carts are relatively expensive compared to a wheelbarrow. IMHO, they are worth the extra cost. But they are easily stolen. I had one cart disappear on me by the side of my garage. Since then, I store my carts out of sight or inside a shed.

I love my Gorilla cart!

 

[gtaus]

I love my Gorilla cart!

That's why I mention them every so often. I spent most of my life using a one-wheeled wheelbarrow and thought that was always good enough. But as I got older, I got more concerned about moving a heavy load in the wheelbarrow and it tipping. I did not want to wrench my back trying to keep a load from spilling all over the place.

So, I got my first 4-wheeler Gorilla cart and it was just so much safter, easier, and allowed me to move larger loads than ever before by hand. Plus, with the convertible handle to tow behind the riding mower, I can move really heavy loads with no problem at all.

Even a bin full of topsoil is not too heavy to move by hand pull. But if I have to go from one end of the property to the other end, I'll just hitch it up behind the mower.

I use the solid, watertight Gorilla carts most of the time. I have 2 of them. But I also have one wire mesh Gorilla cart and that is really good for things that I don't want to be sitting in a pool of water if it rains.

It's nice to have both types but I would recommend getting the solid bin version first because I move lots of topsoil and compost to my raised beds. I love that dumping feature of the solid bin version, as in the picture you posted, which the wire mesh carts do not have.

FYI, I have been using my wire mesh cart this past week to pick up branches and other wood that fell off the trees over the winter. I like the wire mesh cart because if it rains, like today, the water just goes through the wire mesh and the wood dries out faster. I was hauling my wire mesh Gorilla cart around the yard to some new pallet wood planters I made for Dear Wife. I filled them halfway with cut branches to reduce the amount of topsoil or potting soil needed in the new planters for her flowers.

Speaking of cutting branches, one of my new and increasingly favorite tools is my Ryobi 18v 6-inch Prunning chainsaw which is great for cutting branches up to around 4 inches...

Just about everybody is making these types of small one-handed pruning chainsaws now. I think they all are about the same. For small branches, I find they work better than my larger two-handed chainsaws. I can pick up a small branch with one hand and cut it with the 6-inch pruning chainsaw in the other hand. I cannot do that with my larger chainsaws which require both hands on the chainsaw.

For many, many years, I used a reciprocating saw with a pruning blade for small branches. And that works great, too. But these small pruning chainsaws work even better. It was hard for me to admit it, but I tried out the 6-inch pruning chainsaw and after about an hour of using it, I decided to keep it as a replacement for my reciprocating saw with a pruning blade. But I seem to use these saws many times per week on my property, so a tool that makes my job easier is worth it to me.

 

[gtaus]

@Swiss just posted a (pallet wood) coop update on the gardening thread. I think if works even better here.

@Swiss reported...
Coop update:
Slowly, but surely it is getting done! Just a few more finishing touches, and the coop will be done. Then, focus will shift to the run. We were originally starting to call it The Close Enough Coop, but changed to calling it The Patchwork Coop, and that seems to be sticking! Chicks arrive on Monday, I think. Their hatch date is Sunday, so Monday makes the most sense.