Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[chickengr]

Try eBay.

some don't ship here and if they do with the shipping cost I can get better quality here.

 

[gtaus]

Update on Protective Covers for Pallet Wood Raised Beds

I mentioned a while back that my plants grew great in my raised beds this year. I had all kinds of peppers and tomatoes on the plants and was really looking forward to a great harvest this year. Then, one night, a herd of deer must have found my garden and wiped out almost all my tomatoes and peppers. I was heartbroken.

So, for next year, I am making protective cages to cover my raised beds. I cannot go through all the time, effort, and labor on these gardens only to feed the wild deer.

First of all, I had a number of frames that I used to use to keep out rabbits in my lakeside garden. The frames are 4X4 feet and had 2 foot tall chicken wire stapled on them...

They served me well for a number of years when I only had rabbits to worry about. But with the open tops, they will not keep out squirrels or deer.

I like to use what I already have first, so I decided that I could add additional framing to the existing cages and put some new chicken wire on top to keep out the deer. Here is a picture of me adding another frame to the top of the cage...

Then I ripped some 24-inch-long pallet wood planks into about 1-1/2 inches wide and made some corner posts to add support to the cage. Then I put new chicken wire on the top, completing the protective cage...

I thought this would be a 30-minute upgrade job, but it took me almost 3 hours on the first cage. I had all kinds of unexpected problems, mainly with trying to fit the top frame into the existing wire that was already stapled on the bottom. It would have been much easier to build from scratch than trying to upgrade. But, like I said, I was determined to first use what I already had.

I had a big learning curve on that first cage upgrade, and the second cage took me less than an hour to finish. That's a lot of progress and pretty close to my original estimate of a 30-minute job. I finished 2 cage upgrades today and have 2 more cages to upgrade later when I get the right wood. I will probably be ripping some more pallet wood 2X4's down to 2X2's for the top frames.

I am very happy with the final result, however, and these upgraded 4X4 foot 2-foot-tall chicken wire protective cages will work great for some of my shorter plants. Here is a picture of the "new" cage on top of one of my pallet wood raised beds...

That should work great to keep the deer out of my lettuce, kale, and Swiss chards plants, for example. I also planted 100 onion bulbs this year, and something ate most of them too. All those types of plants should have no problems growing under that 2-foot-tall limit of that cage.

I am already thinking of potential future upgrades. First of all, the cage is small enough, and light enough, that I can lift it off as needed to tend the plants and garden bed. However, I might consider adding some hinges to one side and a support stick or two to keep it propped up. Also, I am thinking about stapling some clear plastic over the wire to turn it into a cold frame to extend my growing season. I believe that kale and Swiss Chard are cold hardy plants that might continue to grow for another month, or two, if under a cold frame. I'll have to look into that and maybe give it a try this year.

Upgrading these cages costs me less than $3.00 each. I used pallet wood that I ripped on my table saw to make the new framing. The new chicken wire top comes to about $2.75 for a 4X4 foot section. And I only used a few short drywall screws and a row of Arrow staples to fasten the new wire to the cage.

If the upgraded protective cages keep the deer from eating my plants - priceless!

I have also started working on protective frames/cages for my taller pepper and tomato plants. That is actually going better than expected and I hope to post an update soon. It's still a work in progress. I will not be using a simple cage design for that effort. The panels are much taller and need to be removable. So, I am trying out a number of options and learning as I build. Stay tuned if that interests you.

 

[Molpet]

I thought this would be a 30-minute upgrade job, but it took me almost 3 hours on the first cage

There's no such thing as a 30 minute job, takes that long to find the tools and parts

I believe that kale and Swiss Chard are cold hardy plants that might continue to grow for another month, or two,

I have kale that overwinters at 10f without snow protection. -15 with.
This spring was the first time a Chard was still alive. Mild winter and then it was buried in snow for the few cold days. Usually it turns to goo when it's below 20

 

[gtaus]

Found a Good Supply of Long Pallets

Stopped at our local Bobcat dealership this morning on my weekly trip to town. Asked about any free pallets and they said I could take whatever I wanted. Very nice.

Checked them out and found lots of pallets with 6- and 8-foot long 2X4's on them. I'll have to hitch up my trailer before I can bring any of them home. Also, will probably have to take a bucket full of tools to breakdown the pallets there on site. No way I could lift and load some of those heavy pallets by myself.

I got my eye on those longer 2X4's. They would be excellent for more trellis framework for my raised beds. Those 2X4's are solid, without the notches you see in most pallets.

I also checked the pallets for any special hardware that might be able to be reused. I found one pallet that was put together with those star head screws, probably a T15 screw head. Those are the best to take apart with a bit and the impact driver. Hardly any work at all. The Torx head screws can be reused for another project. I love those kinds of pallets.

There was one pallet that had a couple of heavy-duty lag screws and large, thick washers for tie downs. If the lag screws are not bent, they are worth some money. Even if bent, I have been able to straighten them out good enough in my bench vise to be used in non-critical applications. I just pre-drill a hole for the lag screw and it goes in straight even if the lag screw itself is slightly bent.

For those looking for places for free pallets, you might want to check out dealerships like Bobcat. They get all kinds of equipment on shipping pallets that are larger than normal pallets. Even better, the manager told me that he has to pay for someone to haul out the old pallets for disposal, so anything I can take for my use saves him money.

 

[Sally PB]

Hubby made a flatbed conversion for our trailer so that we could bring home the pieces of our new shower from Menards. He bought the 2x4s, but they could have been salvaged from a pallet if you had 6 foot long 2x4s from a pallet. All told, it was under $60 for the wood, the eye bolts, and the bolts to attach it to the trailer. It is removable, so we can put it on when we need it.

Like to bring home 8 foot pallets...

 

[gtaus]

Hubby made a flatbed conversion for our trailer so that we could bring home the pieces of our new shower from Menards. He bought the 2x4s, but they could have been salvaged from a pallet if you had 6 foot long 2x4s from a pallet.

That's why I get excited about finding long pallets and/or salvaging long lumber for reuse. For lots of projects, you don't need to buy new wood if you have some leftover lumber laying around.

All told, it was under $60 for the wood, the eye bolts, and the bolts to attach it to the trailer. It is removable, so we can put it on when we need it.

Lumber has come down in price to a more reasonable level, but it can still be the biggest cost in most of my projects. I only buy new lumber when absolutely necessary. In most cases, I can make do with pallet wood and/or salvaged lumber from other projects.

I think making any accessory removable, like your flatbed addition, adds value to the project. If you can make it really easy to take off and put on, then you are more likely to reuse it many times.

Case in point, last summer I converted a pallet to fit on one of my tow behind trailers. All I did was to add some 2X4 rails to the bottom of the pallet so it slips on/off the trailer with ease. The rails help keep the pallet on the trailer as I tow it around the yard. Here is a picture of that...

Just needed to flip it over and, presto, I have a working height mobile workbench!

Your post about removable additions was timely because I just loaded up that mobile workbench this evening as I was taking apart some pallets I had in the back of my old Explorer.

It's so much easier for me to work on the pallets at waist height than having to bend over if the pallet was on the ground. I use that pallet wood mobile workbench a lot because it only takes me a minute to put on and take off.

 

[fuzzi]

Yeah, I don't know if eBay has service in Greece where @chickengr lives. If so, it might be an option.

BTW, I used to buy stuff off eBay years ago, but it seems to me that the stuff I was interested in is no longer sold on eBay at the lowest price. I think the last thing I bought off eBay was over 5 years ago. Just wondering if other people are still using eBay? If so, what kind of stuff do you buy?

I buy books, children's toys, power tools, anything and everything.

 

[gtaus]

I buy books, children's toys, power tools, anything and everything.

Thanks for the feedback. I used to use eBay a lot in the past, but maybe the stuff I am currently wanting to buy is cheaper elsewhere.

Case in point, I purchased a Milescraft 1406 Featherboard for my table saw this week because I am ripping down pallet wood boards to make new/upgraded cages for my raised beds. I did a quick look on eBay and Amazon.

eBay cheapest listing...

Amazon's cheapest listing...

I actually ended up buying the featherboard locally, at our Menards...

I always try to support our local brick and mortar stores first if the item is not being sold at a premium price. I play the rebate game at Menards, so I compare the final price after rebate. Plus, I had a rebate check from Menards that I used, so, no money out of pocket.

I have been using that Milescraft featherboard today, getting a good feel for it, and will post a mini review sometime soon. I like to use a product for a while before I give it a rating, or review, that I am willing to share with others. I will try to post my thoughts about it sooner, rather than later.

 

[Sally PB]

Because I have no idea what a featherboard is!

 

[gtaus]

Initial Review of Milescraft 1406 Featherboard

Well, I got a full day's worth of working with the Milescraft 1406 Featherboard on my table saw and will post an initial review of my impressions. For those of you who don't know what a featherboard is, or what it looks like, here is a picutre...

Its primary use is to guide boards that you are ripping on a table saw. Here is what it looks like set up and in use ripping a board...

The featherboard pushes against the board into the ripping fence, in theory making a better-quality rip cut than free handing the board on the table saw.

The featherboard also serves a couple of secondary safety functions. 1) You can see how those "feathers" are angled upward in the picture. That reduces the chance of a kick back because the wood is only meant to go in one direction - forward - and the feathers will stop, or at least reduce, the momentum of any kickback. 2) If you use a featherboard, you do not have to put your left hand anywhere near that spinning blade to hold the board against the ripping fence.

Table saw accidents are one of the most common power tool injuries. I still have all 10 fingers and plan on keeping them. So, I bought the featherboard for the safety benefits even more than the better-quality cuts it gives. Frankly, I'm working with pallet wood and the highest quality cuts are not really needed. I don't use my table saw very much so I still have a very healthy respect for the damage it can do with potential kickbacks and/or cuts.

As to the review itself, let me start off saying that the featherboard comes with both 5/8 inch and 3/4 inch expanding rails for the miter slot on your table saw. I have a 30+ year old Craftsman table saw that has the older 5/8 inch miter slot standard. That's why I bought this Milescraft featherboard kit. I bought a different brand featherboard last year but it only came with the 3/4 inch rails, which were too big for my miter slot, so I had to return it.

The featherboard is easy put together and set up on the table saw. Only takes a few minutes, at most. The expanding bolts tighten the rails into the miter slot and it will not move on you. I really like that.

Because I was working with pallet wood, I would have to readjust the featherboard almost every time I ripped a new board. No such thing as standard width boards with the pallet wood I was using. It is pretty easy to make those adjustments for each pallet wood board. Maybe half a minute for each board. Nothing much to complain about.

If you bought standard lumber from the big box store, you would only have to set it once and rip many boards.

Overall, I would give the Milescraft 1406 Featherboard a solid 4.5/5.0. I get better-quality rip cuts using this featherboard than free handing the boards. More importantly, it feels much safer to me using the featherboard and keeping my hands far away from the spinning blade.

I deducted 1/2 star because it does take a little time to readjust the feather board for each pallet wood board that I rip because they are not all the same width. The curve on top the featherboard slows down the ability to quickly reset the featherboard. If both clamp downs were on straight slots like the bottom, I think it would be easier and faster to make adjustments. But like I said, this is probably only an issue for me because I am using nonstandard width pallet wood boards. Having said that, I plan on keeping this item.