Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

I have about 175 pallets collected, with hopes of being able to build a few raised beds for next season, but never seem to have the time. I do, however, continue to visit this thread so-as to gain inspiration for when I do get the time to do some building. Keep up the great posts!

Thank you. As always, I look forward to other people posting their projects to inspire me as well. Looking forward to seeing some of your projects next season.

 

[avjudge]

We have an Ace Hardware on the other side of town. Next time I am out that way, I'll have to take a look to see if they have any Simpson hex-head screws. I could not find any at our Home Depot. But like many things, sometimes you need to ask the right person before you get a good answer.

I always check stock on the website of stores that offer that, especially for odd or smaller things. Home Depot will actually give you the aisle and bin # and the quantity of items in stock (according to their system) qat the selected store.

Ace Hardware also offers that, though I’m not sure if stock counts are always accurate. But I have had a similar experience to the one you described, though at an Aubuchon hardware store, where I knew something was in stock according to the website, and I could not find it. I put myself in the hands of a clerk who finally found it someplace hidden away.

You can check official stock at your local Ace by choosing the store here, I think:

https://www.acehardware.com/search?query=simpson strong tie screws

To limit to what is in stock, click the little slider button next to the name of your store so that it shows green.

 

[gtaus]

I always check stock on the website of stores that offer that, especially for odd or smaller things. Home Depot will actually give you the aisle and bin # and the quantity of items in stock (according to their system) qat the selected store.

Ace Hardware also offers that, though I’m not sure if stock counts are always accurate. But I have had a similar experience to the one you described, though at an Aubuchon hardware store, where I knew something was in stock according to the website, and I could not find it. I put myself in the hands of a clerk who finally found it someplace hidden away.

You can check official stock at your local Ace by choosing the store here, I think:

https://www.acehardware.com/search?query=simpson strong tie screws

To limit to what is in stock, click the little slider button next to the name of your store so that it shows green.

You are correct. I often take advantage of the online resourses before I go to the stores to purchase something. If the website offers a store location for the product, all the better.

I hate to sound like an old man ranting, but I remember back in the day when stores actually had people knowledgeable about their department. For example, you would often have retired plumbers working the plumbing department, retired electricians working the electrical department, etc... I just don't see that anymore. What I see is some young person hired in the past few weeks "managing" that department and you pretty much can count on them not being there a few weeks from now. They usually know less than me about their products, and I don't know much. Just saying.

For example, I needed to replace my water heater element. You can tell that an element is going bad by measuring the ohm resistance of the element. A normal reading, for my element, should be around 13 but it was reading 6.7 - indicating a failing element. So, I'm in at Menards and there is a young girl in charge of the plumbing section. She asks me if I need any help. Yes, I do. I respond. Can you tell me what the resistance reading should be in ohms if my water heater element is good or bad.... Crickets...... Then she tried to sell me an element with a 1-inch thread diameter after I tell her I need an element with 1-3/8-inch tread, saying if it does not fit, I can return it!

You know, at that point, I just politely thanked her and left. It was not worth my time trying to talk to her about anything. I blame the stores for putting people in departments that they have no clue, or life experience in the products they sell. I know a store manager at our local Fleet store, and he tells me that they just cannot hire anyone with experience for the wages they are willing to pay. In fact, most of their employees are in and out in months. I imagine it's a problem for all the stores.

So, yes, I check the online sites for items I want to buy. I go on YouTube University to learn how to do repairs. And despite my advancing age, I find myself performing more and repairs at home that years ago I would have used a repair shop. Although I get some satisfaction in doing my own repairs and saving lots of time and money, I really do miss getting quality work done at a good repair shop at a reasonable price.

Enough of the ranting. My break is over, and I need to go back outside and work on some stuff. Later...

 

[Molpet]

For example, you would often have retired plumbers working the plumbing department, retired electricians working the electrical department, etc... I just don't see that anymore.

A guy at work was a retired carpenter. Before he applied, He had tried to get a job at Home Depot. He told them he was a retired UNION carpenter. The interview stopped. We figured they didn't want a union guy for fear of organizing. We we Union so that wasn't an issue.

 

[fuzzi]

Yep, it's a long slow process. This time of year, I mow my yard two or three times per week to vacuum up the falling leaves. I have found that if I mow them up as they fall, I do not get to the point where there is a thick mat of leaves that clogs up my riding mowers. Also, if it rains and freezes, I don't want a thick mat of leaves on the ground to block out and kill all my grass in the spring.

I still have leaf rakes, but mostly I use my riding mowers, collect the leaves in the grass collection bins, and then dump the leaves in the chicken run and now, in those pallet wood chicken wire cages I built for my raised beds.



It's like having money on the ground! So many good uses for leaves around the homestead.

I can hardly believe, back in the day, that we used to rake up all those leaves and burn them! What a waste. But back then I did not know or appreciate the value of leaves. Having chickens has opened my eyes to many home recycling efforts.

Some chicken TV pictures with leaves in my chicken run...

View attachment 3956877

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I run over leaves with my push mower. I'm glad I paid extra for a mower with a bag!

 

[fuzzi]

Looking at your raised bed "toppers" I had a thought. Would it be practical or possible to put a couple hinges on one side where the top is attached to the raised bed? If it's sturdy enough you could just flip it open to work on the plants.

 

[gtaus]

A guy at work was a retired carpenter. Before he applied, He had tried to get a job at Home Depot. He told them he was a retired UNION carpenter. The interview stopped...

I talked to a guy who works at our local Home Depot. He says they only hire part time college students because the wages they offer cannot keep anyone interested in the long term.

I guess they would rather hire cheap, temporary labor than paying money for skilled workers. Could be they stopped the interview because they probably knew any offer of employment at a low wage would just be an insult to a person with real experience who made decent money at their craft.

I know Home Depot is having problems. I used to buy lots of stuff from them years ago, but they have really changed a lot. They don't back their tool sales like they used to with warranty repairs and replacements, the military discount has been limited because some people used it "too much" and their sale ads don't even make it in the local papers anymore. Those are just things I have been affected by.

One more complaint about Home Depot... I owned a few rental properties and bought a number of door locks because I was told that they would lifetime rekey them for free if the renters moved out and I needed to change the key. That was fine for a few years, but the last time I went in there, I was told by a new guy that was never the policy, and that Home Depot will not rekey the locks for free. I could either buy new door locks and have them keyed at purchase, or I could buy the rekey kit for something like $150.00. I was extremely unhappy about that because I had paid extra for those door locks at Home Depot precisely because I wanted that lifetime rekey guarantee. What a rip off!

Well, it's not just Home Depot that is lacking in good customer support. Menards does not even pretend to offer customer support. As much as I would like to support our local businesses, I have no guilty feelings if I order from Amazon or eBay and get the same item at a savings to me. Times have changed.

 

[gtaus]

I run over leaves with my push mower. I'm glad I paid extra for a mower with a bag!

I am lucky in that I have riding mowers, so it's not a big deal for me to vacumn up the leaves and dump them into the chicken run, or into those protective cages I recently made.

If I used a push mower, I think I would mow over the leaves a couple times, shredding the leaves to little bits, before putting the bagger on and vacuuming them up. You would be able to get a lot more leaves in the bagger that way.

There are a number of YouTube videos of guys using their push mowers to shred up weeds, leaves, etc... for their compost bins. That is probably a good idea. Even better, just get some backyard chickens and let them do all that work!

Google picture of chickens working the chicken run litter...

 

[gtaus]

Looking at your raised bed "toppers" I had a thought. Would it be practical or possible to put a couple hinges on one side where the top is attached to the raised bed? If it's sturdy enough you could just flip it open to work on the plants.

Yes, and no. The frame is strong enough to have a couple hinges on one side to flip it open, but my beds are 4X4 feet and I can only reach in about 3 feet at most. That's why, for the 2-foot-high cages, the removable top is a better option for me as I can then access the entire bed.

Your idea is right on target, and I think it would work on beds that were 3 feet or narrower. My raised beds are just a bit too wide for me to reach across all the way.

 

[chickengr]

unexperienced and unmotivated salespeople here as well. result: empty stores and a lot of them already closing.