Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Sammster]

Yesterday I mentioned that I picked up a small electric pressure washer for free outside of our local church charity Thift Shop.

View attachment 3574656

I hooked up everything this morning, and it works! Well.... kind of. I was spraying down the small wood swing we have in the front yard, and everything was working fine - for about 5 minutes - then it just shut down on me and lost all pressure. Seemed like the machine had run out of water and that triggered a shutdown. Anyways, could not get it to refill and repressurize. So, I took the hoses off and unplugged the machine for about 10 minutes. Then I put everything back together and it works again!

I'm thinking that maybe you have to be careful not to run it for an extended period of time, that maybe it shoots out pressurized water faster than it can refill it's tank, and that trips some kind of overload protection and shuts itself down. If anyone has experience with these small pressure washers, maybe you could tell me what is going on?

For now, I'll be looking online to download a PDF owner's manual on this machine and how to operate it correctly. It seems to work OK if I spray a little, then stop for a bit. But it does not work if I try to continuously spray without stopping and letting the water refill the tank.

Depending on the weather - we are supposed to have thundershowers today, I'll move the pressure washer to the backyard and spray down the old cedar swing I have been working on. It's got some old moss and grim growing on the wood. I'll have to get rid of all of that if I repaint the swing.

Speaking of repainting.... I was thinking last night that maybe I should just paint the cedar swing with the barnyard red paint that I used on my chicken coop. I just took in my barnyard red and white paint cans to the Fleet Store yesterday to shake them up again so I can do some repair and repaint work on the coop. Here is a picture of the backside of my coop which needs some new trim....

View attachment 3574660

Anyways, I was thinking the that barnyard red paint might look good on the old swing. Any thoughts?

I was going to cut a piece of salvaged wood to replace the broken trim in this picture, but currently is too cold outside and it looks like rain any minute. I don't want to paint the trim board and have it rained on before the paint dries.

Again, imagine this swing painted with the barnyard red paint...

View attachment 3574663

I'm thinking it might look good painted the same red color as the chicken coop since both are in the backyard. But I'm no exterior decorator. And, truth be told, I'm Red/Green colorblind so I have difficulty with colors. Knowing I am using the same brand and color of paint, from the same can, at least I would know that they match.

Things are looking nice at your place. Hope the manual helps with the power washer issues

 

[Smokerbill]

@gtaus , nice score on the pressure washer. It's shutting down could very well be due to an insufficient supply of water from the hose. Those washers require a certain minimum of GPM to work right.

As far as paint colors, if you already have barn paint, I'd use that. Maybe accent some part(s) of the swing or support structure with the white trim paint. Or get really crazy and alternate the fan-backboards red and white. LOL

Your leg stands look like a good solution! Maybe put a potted plant with some kind of annual flowering vine at each corner so you have flowers growing up the legs and across the top!

@Sammster , My contusion is still painful, but healing. It's a good thing the chunk of wood hit such a well cushioned part of my body. Keeping it clean and covered with antibiotic ointment and a big adhesive bandage. Thanks!

I plan to tack up some hog wire fence today to give my chickens more run space to explore. They've been confined to the run for the last few weeks with nothing but wood chips under their feet. I'm giving them space that will give them bone dry dirt to scratch and dust in. It's the area under and around the coop I built, that's adjacent to the secure run, and under the overhanging shop roof in back .

 

[gtaus]

Things are looking nice at your place. Hope the manual helps with the power washer issues

The manual had a troubleshooting section at the back. It appears that the pump is clogged and needs to be cleaned. They have a 1-800 to call for instructions, so maybe I'll get in touch with them in a day or so.

Right now, it runs for a few minutes and then shuts down. If I wait about 10 minutes, it runs for a few minutes more. Not good for any serious work in its current state, but if I can clean out the pump, maybe it will be OK.

I'll check out some YouTube searches tonight to see if I can find an instructional on how to clean out the pump on this pressure washer. I like to see how to repair stuff on YouTube. If I can't find anything, I guess I'll call the company tomorrow to see if they have any good instructions.

At any rate, I started washing down the swing this afternoon and pressure spraying it off a little at a time. There is more moss and grim than I had thought. So, I might have to hit it with a steel brush as well. Given the wood is so old, cracked and dry, I might check into getting a heavy, primer I can sand before I paint it with the barnyard red paint. Right now, I think that old wood is more like a giant sponge and it would take many coats to seal and paint it.

 

[gtaus]

@gtaus , nice score on the pressure washer. It's shutting down could very well be due to an insufficient supply of water from the hose. Those washers require a certain minimum of GPM to work right.

I downloaded the owner's manual and in the troubleshooting section, I narrowed the problem down to a clogged pump. So, I need to learn how to clean out the pump and I hope that fixes the problem. My water supply GPM is more than fast enough, but if the pump is partially clogged, that would explain why it runs dry in a short time. It's just not sucking in the water as fast as it should. Probably a partially clogged screen or something like that I suspect.

I'm not a mechanic, but it sure seems to me that things built years ago were designed to be easier to maintain. Nowadays, it seems that if anything fails on a machine, you are expected to junk it and buy a new one. Although I think I know the pump is clogged, the owner's manual does not give any instructions how to clean it out, as simple as that should be. I'm sure the previous owner did not even bother to troubleshoot it. But, maybe that will be to my advantage in this case.

As far as paint colors, if you already have barn paint, I'd use that.

Thanks. I'm leaning that way.

Your leg stands look like a good solution! Maybe put a potted plant with some kind of annual flowering vine at each corner so you have flowers growing up the legs and across the top!

I was thinking of exactly the same thing. I'm not too good with flowering plants, but I was thinking of planting some climbing bean vine plants. Both to climb up the legs and also provide some food!

My contusion is still painful, but healing. It's a good thing the chunk of wood hit such a well cushioned part of my body. Keeping it clean and covered with antibiotic ointment and a big adhesive bandage. Thanks!

We are all pulling for your fast recovery. Take care of yourself.

 

[gtaus]

I plan to tack up some hog wire fence today to give my chickens more run space to explore. They've been confined to the run for the last few weeks with nothing but wood chips under their feet.

Looks like a very nice and clean place just the same. Wood chips are great.

Once upon a time my chicken run looked like that, too. But I have since converted the entire chicken run into a chicken run composting system, dumping all leaves, grass clippings, old coop litter, and just about anything else organic into the run. To me, it is a thing of beauty knowing that it is full of black gold compost. To the chickens, they love scratching and pecking in the compost litter all day long. To other people, it might not look as neat or good looking as it was when I just had wood chips on the ground in the run.

 

[gtaus]

While I was digging through my salvaged wood pile, I pulled out a bunch of 2X8's on the rack. I'm thinking of making another outdoor bench for around the firepit. I built one a few years ago buying new wood from the lumber yard, but this time I think I'll use salvaged wood and maybe paint the bench afterwards to match the cedar swing I am working on.

Here is the original YouTube video of how to make the bench out of 2X8's....

I see the same guy has posted an updated video of his bench build but using 2X6's this time....

I can attest to the sturdiness of the 2X8 bench build. It's fantastic. Given the price of wood these days, I suppose that is why he modified his build to use 2X6's. However, for those of you on this thread, it might be a great use of some salvaged wood you have on the rack. Believe me, it's not too hard to make and the bench is really nice and solid.

 

[chickengr]

Yesterday I mentioned that I picked up a small electric pressure washer for free outside of our local church charity Thift Shop.

View attachment 3574656

I hooked up everything this morning, and it works! Well.... kind of. I was spraying down the small wood swing we have in the front yard, and everything was working fine - for about 5 minutes - then it just shut down on me and lost all pressure. Seemed like the machine had run out of water and that triggered a shutdown. Anyways, could not get it to refill and repressurize. So, I took the hoses off and unplugged the machine for about 10 minutes. Then I put everything back together and it works again!

I'm thinking that maybe you have to be careful not to run it for an extended period of time, that maybe it shoots out pressurized water faster than it can refill it's tank, and that trips some kind of overload protection and shuts itself down. If anyone has experience with these small pressure washers, maybe you could tell me what is going on?

For now, I'll be looking online to download a PDF owner's manual on this machine and how to operate it correctly. It seems to work OK if I spray a little, then stop for a bit. But it does not work if I try to continuously spray without stopping and letting the water refill the tank.

Depending on the weather - we are supposed to have thundershowers today, I'll move the pressure washer to the backyard and spray down the old cedar swing I have been working on. It's got some old moss and grim growing on the wood. I'll have to get rid of all of that if I repaint the swing.

Speaking of repainting.... I was thinking last night that maybe I should just paint the cedar swing with the barnyard red paint that I used on my chicken coop. I just took in my barnyard red and white paint cans to the Fleet Store yesterday to shake them up again so I can do some repair and repaint work on the coop. Here is a picture of the backside of my coop which needs some new trim....

View attachment 3574660

Anyways, I was thinking the that barnyard red paint might look good on the old swing. Any thoughts?

I was going to cut a piece of salvaged wood to replace the broken trim in this picture, but currently is too cold outside and it looks like rain any minute. I don't want to paint the trim board and have it rained on before the paint dries.

Again, imagine this swing painted with the barnyard red paint...

View attachment 3574663

I'm thinking it might look good painted the same red color as the chicken coop since both are in the backyard. But I'm no exterior decorator. And, truth be told, I'm Red/Green colorblind so I have difficulty with colors. Knowing I am using the same brand and color of paint, from the same can, at least I would know that they match.

I think it would be better to paint it white. it will still match as there is some white on the coop. or you can alter red/white as already suggested.

smaller things should always be painted in lighter colours.

 

[gtaus]

The manual had a troubleshooting section at the back. It appears that the pump is clogged and needs to be cleaned. They have a 1-800 to call for instructions, so maybe I'll get in touch with them in a day or so.

Responding to my own post. I went online tonight and tried to find some info on the problem I have with this Campbell Hausfeld pressure washer. Unfortunately, what I found out is that they no longer make pressure washers. So, I suspect, technical support has probably vanished as well. I filled out an email tech request on the problem I am having, but I'm thinking it will go unanswered. I also have been looking for a YouTube video on this issue, but so far, nothing.

Well, I guess I might just tear it apart sometime and see if I can clean out the pump on my own. If nothing else, I got it for free and will just tear it apart and keep whatever parts I can reuse elsewhere. If nothing else, it has a nice 25-30 foot electrical cord with a built in GFCI switch on the plug-in head. The spray hose and wand work fine, so maybe they can be used on other pressure washer brands? My brother has a small electrical pressure washer, he might want an extra hose and wand if it fits his machine. Maybe salvage some other parts like the wheels on the machine.

It still works, for a few minutes, then needs a 10-minute rest to reset. Kind of like me!
A 15-minute job might take over an hour to complete. But I could live with that, I guess.

Having said that, this afternoon I started to spray the wood a little bit, then take out a brush to manually scrub the wood, and then a little more spraying to wash it off. In that manner, I got a big section of the swing cleaned despite the washer shutting down after only a few minutes of actual use. You can spray a lot in a couple of minutes. If nothing else, I think I could finish the project at that pace, but it might take a few hours.

 

[gtaus]

I think it would be better to paint it white. it will still match as there is some white on the coop. or you can alter red/white as already suggested.

smaller things should always be painted in lighter colours.

Well, it's a cedar timber swing, and I would not call it a small thing. It can hold 3-4 adults on the swing. Those type of new timber swings, if they are painted or stained, are usually a reddish color. I'll confer with Dear Wife about the suggestion to paint it white, but I suspect she prefers red, as I do.

 

[Sally PB]

Again, imagine this swing painted with the barnyard red paint...

I like it!

I like red, too.