Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Sally PB]

I have seen pallet wood walls. They look really neat. One was in a coffee shop, and they had a little sign saying where the wood came from: Pallets that they get their coffee beans on.

 

[gtaus]

I am actually planning on paneling two walls, above my workbench in my garage, using pallet wood panels. I just need to disassemble a few more panels to acquire the needed materials.

That sounds great. I would love to hear/see how that project goes for you. Please keep us posted.

 

[gtaus]

I have seen pallet wood walls. They look really neat. One was in a coffee shop, and they had a little sign saying where the wood came from: Pallets that they get their coffee beans on.

I really like the natural look of wood, and pallet wood has it's own particular appeal. After having worked with pallet wood in a number of projects these past couple of years, I know, and understand how much effort goes into some projects. I have never done a pallet wall, but I do like the look of pallet walls in the right place.

 

[gtaus]

Missed Opportunities

Well, dead of winter here. I took insurance off my old Ford Explorer a few weeks ago until spring. That's my main vehicle for picking up pallets and towing my utility trailer.

Last week I drove by a new huge gas station/truck stop that is being built in town. They had a big stack of high-quality pallets, normal and long sized, sitting outside. Wood was brand new. Boy, I wish I could have picked them up. They were gone a few days later, so I hope somebody is making good use out of them.

It's not like I need more pallets. But missing out on those high-quality pallets still hurts. Those were the type of pallets that you would load up even though you already have more than enough at home. Anyway, it was a missed opportunity for me.

 

[Knobby]

Missed Opportunities

Well, dead of winter here. I took insurance off my old Ford Explorer a few weeks ago until spring. That's my main vehicle for picking up pallets and towing my utility trailer.

Last week I drove by a new huge gas station/truck stop that is being built in town. They had a big stack of high-quality pallets, normal and long sized, sitting outside. Wood was brand new. Boy, I wish I could have picked them up. They were gone a few days later, so I hope somebody is making good use out of them.

It's not like I need more pallets. But missing out on those high-quality pallets still hurts. Those were the type of pallets that you would load up even though you already have more than enough at home. Anyway, it was a missed opportunity for me.

That seems to happen to me also....if I throw something out, that I've been saving in case I ever need it, I'll need it after it's been thrown out.

 

[avjudge]

That seems to happen to me also....if I throw something out, that I've been saving in case I ever need it, I'll need it after it's been thrown out.

Tell me about it. I donated two items and then found their companions – the really large lid for a pot, something like 13+ inches diameter and impossible to find a replacement for, and a pair of unusually shaped spreading knives that belong with a cheeseboard that has a depression specifically shaped to hold them. Both have been separated: the first was being used apart from its pot to cover a crock, the second was stored in the silverware drawer while the serving tray was elsewhere.

Now I am super shy of giving anything away, and this house desperately needs to be cleaned out. Our family has been here since 1963 and I moved back a few years ago with 40 years of my own things.

 

[gtaus]

Christmas Pallets!?

I went to Harbor Freight yesterday to pick up some stuff. They have not had any pallets outside for pickup in about a year, maybe longer. Anyway, yesterday, they had two 4-foot-high stacks of good-looking pallets for free sitting outside.

I know HF has had a lot of Black Friday and Christmas sales going on these past few weeks. Makes sense that are getting overloaded with pallets around Christmas time. Nice of them to put them outside for free pickup.

Unfortunately, like I said previously, I already took the insurance off my main pallet pickup vehicle, my old Ford Explorer with a trailer hitch, and had not planned on using it again until later in the spring. Well, that, and my utility trailer is now snowed in filled with snow. So, two strikes against me in getting any of those pallets.

After seeing all those pallets at HF yesterday and missing the opportunity last week at a construction site to pick up some high-quality pallets, I think next year I'll keep the insurance on the old Ford Explorer until after Christmas just in case I see a repeat of the stores putting out all those "Christmas Pallets" for lack of a better term.

 

[avjudge]

Christmas Pallets!?

I love that this forum software has more reaction icons than just “like,” but this post shows that even that is sometimes not enough! I wanted to give a “laugh,” because of course! (Murphy and all that). I wanted “sad,” because you missed such great pallets. And in the end I just went with a boring like/agree because taking off the insurance but waiting until after Christmas sounds like a great compromise.

 

[gtaus]

I love that this forum software has more reaction icons than just “like,” but this post shows that even that is sometimes not enough! I wanted to give a “laugh,” because of course! (Murphy and all that). I wanted “sad,” because you missed such great pallets. And in the end I just went with a boring like/agree because taking off the insurance but waiting until after Christmas sounds like a great compromise.

Yeah, mixed feelings myself. I had to choose between carrying insurance on the old Ford Explorer or our "second" SUV for Dear Wife in case we have problems with her car this winter. Of course, having a backup car for her won the day.

Financially, I could have kept insurance on the old Ford Explorer over winter, it's just minimal insurance on that vehicle, but the problem comes in with taking up room in the driveway with all the snow and needing to plow or snow blow the driveway. So, I had to park it out of the way for winter. Next year, I'll just see if I can wait longer until after Christmas season.

 

[gtaus]

Stackable Compost Bin Leaf Storage Update

This fall I moved my pallet wood stackable compost bin next to the chicken run and filled it up with leaves...

I got smart and cut a 50# bag of chicken feed open and used that as a tarp to cover the top of the leaves, then I put the top wire frame on top of the compost bin so the bag/tarp does blow away. We have about one foot of snow on the ground now, and everything is working pretty good. The feed bag/tarp keeps the snow off the leaves.

We have been getting snow for the past couple of days, so the chicken run was covered with about 4 inches of snow. My chickens will not go out into the chicken run with snow on the ground. So, after it snows, I'll take some leaves out of the stackable compost bin and toss them into the chicken run. Then the girls will go outside and get some fresh air and sunshine.

One of the questions I had was if that stackable bin was going to hold enough leaves for the winter months. This morning, I used the last of the leaves in that top tier and took it off the bin. So, basically, that first tier of leaves lasted me about one month. Not too bad. At that rate, I should have enough leaves to make it through the winter. I still have six tiers of leaves remaining.

I'll try to take a follow up picture of the chicken run, full of snow, but with the leaves scattered out front. It's just been bitter cold with temps down to -10F, so I only go outside long enough to feed the chickens, collect the eggs, and get back inside the house as fast as I can. We have warmer weather in the forecast this coming week and it should be a good time to maybe take an update photo.

EDIT: Just went outside to gather some eggs and took the opportunity to get a few pics.

Here is the pallet wood stackable compost bin full of leaves...

You can see the feed bag I cut up and am using it as a tarp. It keeps the snow off the top of the leaves and that is all I needed.

Did you notice my hand-made handles on top of the wire frame? Those are from the notches on the 2X4 pallet wood stretchers. I just ripped the top half of the 2X4 stretcher to make 2X2's and then cut off the bottom notches to make those handles. Works really good.

Here is a picture of the chicken run in front of the pop door. I spread out just enough leaves to encourage the chickens to come outside up and off the snow...

I currently have 15 chickens. They have been shut up in the coop for the past couple of days when we got about another 4 inches of fresh snow. Today, I spread out some leaves about 6X6 feet patch and they came outside this morning for the first time in about 3 days. It's not a really big patch, but my chickens seem to take turns coming outside for a short while, and then beating feet back into the coop. I'll toss a little chicken scratch or cracked corn on the leaves to make it more interesting for them.

More to the point of the pallet wood stackable compost bin, I really like how it was so easy to move alongside the chicken run fence and restack the tiers. As I use the leaves on the top, I can remove the top tier when empty which makes it easier to get the remaining leaves. I don't have to reach over and down into the bin. Just take the empty tier off and it's super easy to take the next bunch of leaves. I suspect that will really be an advantage come this spring when I am down to maybe only a few tiers left of leaves in that bin.

I converted my entire chicken run into a chicken run composting system, so I don't do much compost bin composting these days. But I sure do like the idea and design of the pallet wood stackable compost bin. I took the plans from a standard wood stackable compost bin design and reworked it for use with pallet wood. In order for the concept to work with pallet wood of different thickness and width, I had to make the inside measurements the same. In the "standard" wood plan, they just used outside measurements because all the wood was the same width and thickness. That would not work with pallet wood.

At the time I built the pallet wood stackable compost bin, I think I priced out standard lumber for the project at around $60.00. Of course, my pallet wood was free. I don't know about you, but I think saving $60.00 was well worth my time breaking apart a few pallets.