Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

I decided to redo parts of the kitchen and have been trying to use pallet wood in places that I can. I needed to hide the bathroom pipes in the ceiling so I made a drop ceiling type thing from pallet wood.

Well, you did a great job because I cannot tell where you used pallet wood for the drop ceiling. It looks really good - but I'm partial to that kind of wood look. Very nice.

 

[gtaus]

Pallet Wood Backer Boards

It finally warmed up enough here in northern Minnesota that I can move the car outside of the garage and start working on some pallet projects again. Happy days!

Over the winter, I picked up a few items that would be great wall-mounted. One was a plastic tool organizer shelf that I got at the Thrift Shop for about $1.00, and the other was a new fast charger for my Ryobi batteries. I wanted to mount them in the garage, but the problem was that everything is sheet rock and the holes in the tool organizer were not made for 16 inches on center studs. For some reason, the closest I could find were some holes that were 24 inches on center, but honestly, it just looked like the holes on the organizer were placed were convenient for the plastic shelf.

I found a nice pallet wood board and cut it to length for the tool organizer shelf and cut another piece for the charger. I took the pallet wood and screwed it into the studs of the wall. Then it was no challenge to mount the items to the pallet wood because I could put those screws anywhere in the wood.

I'm not the first to think of this idea. I found out it's called backer board mounting. You just put up some wood on the wall, securing it into the studs, and then you are free to mount your items easily anywhere on the wood.

I tossed some items on the tool organizer for a picture to give you an idea, but it will get filled with screwdrivers, pliers, tape measures, etc... later.

That stuff got mounted in a place that has easy access year-round. So, my plan is to put my most used items on the tool organizer. That new Ryobi fast charger charges both 18v and 40v batteries in 2X-3X times faster than my other chargers. I don't usually care about how fast the battery charges because I have lots of batteries, but this charger can charge both the 18v and 40v batteries in one unit. That's nice. Plus, my other chargers and battery shelf on my main workbench are harder to get at in the winter with both cars in our garage.

Well, it's not a big pallet wood project, but like I say, sometimes these small projects have great value. The concept of using free pallet wood as a backer board was what I needed for this project.

Future plans...

Dear Wife has put in an order for some more pallet wood planters for her flowers this spring. Our ~25-year-old half whiskey barrels are falling apart and will be retired this year. She likes the fact that she can special order how many and what size(s) pallet wood planters she wants. And I like making them.

I also want to make some kind of low garden bed around the chicken run where the run litter naturally overflows through the wire fence. I don't know if that will be another pallet wood project or if I have enough salvaged landscaping timber for the project. But I'll share some photos of that project if/when I work on it.

Hope to hear about pallet projects others are doing this year. Share what you can. Later.

 

[akroberts1085]

Pallet Wood Backer Boards

It finally warmed up enough here in northern Minnesota that I can move the car outside of the garage and start working on some pallet projects again. Happy days!

Over the winter, I picked up a few items that would be great wall-mounted. One was a plastic tool organizer shelf that I got at the Thrift Shop for about $1.00, and the other was a new fast charger for my Ryobi batteries. I wanted to mount them in the garage, but the problem was that everything is sheet rock and the holes in the tool organizer were not made for 16 inches on center studs. For some reason, the closest I could find were some holes that were 24 inches on center, but honestly, it just looked like the holes on the organizer were placed were convenient for the plastic shelf.

I found a nice pallet wood board and cut it to length for the tool organizer shelf and cut another piece for the charger. I took the pallet wood and screwed it into the studs of the wall. Then it was no challenge to mount the items to the pallet wood because I could put those screws anywhere in the wood.

View attachment 4315638

I'm not the first to think of this idea. I found out it's called backer board mounting. You just put up some wood on the wall, securing it into the studs, and then you are free to mount your items easily anywhere on the wood.

I tossed some items on the tool organizer for a picture to give you an idea, but it will get filled with screwdrivers, pliers, tape measures, etc... later.

That stuff got mounted in a place that has easy access year-round. So, my plan is to put my most used items on the tool organizer. That new Ryobi fast charger charges both 18v and 40v batteries in 2X-3X times faster than my other chargers. I don't usually care about how fast the battery charges because I have lots of batteries, but this charger can charge both the 18v and 40v batteries in one unit. That's nice. Plus, my other chargers and battery shelf on my main workbench are harder to get at in the winter with both cars in our garage.

Well, it's not a big pallet wood project, but like I say, sometimes these small projects have great value. The concept of using free pallet wood as a backer board was what I needed for this project.

Future plans...

Dear Wife has put in an order for some more pallet wood planters for her flowers this spring. Our ~25-year-old half whiskey barrels are falling apart and will be retired this year. She likes the fact that she can special order how many and what size(s) pallet wood planters she wants. And I like making them.

I also want to make some kind of low garden bed around the chicken run where the run litter naturally overflows through the wire fence. I don't know if that will be another pallet wood project or if I have enough salvaged landscaping timber for the project. But I'll share some photos of that project if/when I work on it.

Hope to hear about pallet projects others are doing this year. Share what you can. Later.

That's so cool. I wish my husband could/would build me custom planters but all I get from him is I am not a carpenter.

 

[Molpet]

That new Ryobi fast charger charges both 18v and 40v batteries

Which model is it? My 40v Ryobi got cooked and I need to get a new one

 

[gtaus]

Which model is it? My 40v Ryobi got cooked and I need to get a new one

That is the new Ryobi fast charger model PCG007. I bought it as part of a kit with a 6Ah 18v battery. At that time, the charger retailed for $110 and the battery sold separately for $179. It was one of those 2025 Holiday bundle specials advertised as a $289 value on sale for ~$150.00. When I bought it, in February 2026, the whole kit was on Clearance locally for $75.00.

I bought the kit mainly for the 18v 6Ah battery, but the charger is much better than I expected. Compared to the regular chargers I have, it is up to 4X faster. Plus, that one charger can charge either an 18v or 40v battery. Two-in-one solution. Which is why I ended up mounting it on the wall in a convenient place where I can get to it year-round.

Here is a better picture of it and what it does..

Just let me add that I have been in the Ryobi line of 18v tools for about 25 years and the 40v line of tools for about 15 years. I have enough 18v and 40v batteries and chargers that I did not need a fast charger for the work I do. But this fast charger was much better than I expected, and I really like how it can charge both 18v and 40v batteries in one unit.

 

[gtaus]

That's so cool. I wish my husband could/would build me custom planters but all I get from him is I am not a carpenter.

Most of my careers in life were pushing paper on the desk. I am not a carpenter by any means, but I find it rewarding to actually build something with my hands. In many ways, it feels much more rewarding than pushing paper at the office.

Believe me, what I am building does not take a lot of skill. You might want to consider trying it yourself. The nice thing about using free pallet wood is that if you mess up, what has it really cost you?

When I was in the Navy, we never missed a shot on the big guns. If the round fell short or long of the target, we'd just mark it down as "bracketing." I have the same attitude in my pallet projects. If it works out, I call it a success. If not, it gets marked down as a "Proof of Concept" build that helps me work out the flaws on the real working project. I have had lots of "Proof of Concept" builds over the years.

 

[akroberts1085]

Most of my careers in life were pushing paper on the desk. I am not a carpenter by any means, but I find it rewarding to actually build something with my hands. In many ways, it feels much more rewarding than pushing paper at the office.

Believe me, what I am building does not take a lot of skill. You might want to consider trying it yourself. The nice thing about using free pallet wood is that if you mess up, what has it really cost you?

When I was in the Navy, we never missed a shot on the big guns. If the round fell short or long of the target, we'd just mark it down as "bracketing." I have the same attitude in my pallet projects. If it works out, I call it a success. If not, it gets marked down as a "Proof of Concept" build that helps me work out the flaws on the real working project. I have had lots of "Proof of Concept" builds over the years.

That's good. You have a good attitude about it too. I'm not really into using power tools but I need to learn and build my confidence.

 

[gtaus]

Torx Head Screws at $12.99 per Pound!

This past weekend I stopped by our local Bobcat dealership to check out the accessibility to their pallets that they give away for free. They have nice long pallets that I would love to pick up and bring home. Some of the pallets were made with those Torx Head screws that I love to salvage. Those pallets would top of my list to salvage.

I went to our Fleet store to see how much those Torx Head screws are selling for these days. Turns out, at $12.99 per pound, the average Torx Head screws that I would be salvaging from the long pallets is worth about 10 cents each. So, not only would I be getting about $50.00 in free 2X4's from the long pallet, but I could salvage maybe another $5.00 in reusable Torx Head screws.

The best thing about those long pallets with Torx Head screws instead of nails is that my impact driver does all the work in removing the screws. So easy. I can usually salvage almost 100% of the wood and screws. Even though the pallet is about twice the size of a normal pallet, it only takes me maybe 5 minutes to remove the screws and have clean 2X4's ready to use in another project.

If I can get my utility trailer out of the snow from winter storage, I might be able to make a good haul. The race is on to get to those pallets before someone else...