Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

I built a small shelf for my batteries. Not exactly what I was thinking, but maybe good enough for now. I slapped together a small shelf to sit on top of my workbench that matches the one I made years ago. Basically, doubled the shelf space for the 18v tool batteries. I have to clean up the workbench, load up the batteries on the shelves, and then snap a picture or two to upload later.

Here is the follow up small tool battery shelf with pictures....

Not too exciting, but a good use of some pallet wood just the same. Got the batteries out of some carry bags and out in the open. I still have another 6 or more batteries in chargers, but I think you got the idea.

As far as rotating the batteries, I will just start taking them off the top shelf, left to right, and go in order all the way down. Probably put a thin wood marker card or something to designate where the next battery to be used will be. Since there is no efficient way to auto rotate the batteries on this shelf, I'll just have to use a marker of some kind and move that down the shelving. Recharged batteries will be back filled in the same manner, top shelf, left to right, then drop down a shelf etc... It will work. The important thing is that all batteries get used, drained, and recharged so that none of them go stale.

Last count I had 43 tool batteries. You may ask yourself if I really need that many batteries, and the obvious answer is that you can never have too many batteries.

More seriously, I don't think I have ever used more than 6-8 batteries a day even on my biggest projects. But I bought into the Ryobi tool line over 15 years ago. Almost everytime I buy a new Ryobi tool on sale, I get another two batteries in the kit, or the sale is buy a battery kit and get the tool free, or buy a tool and get the batteries free. Over 15+ years, that has meant a lot of batteries I have gotten for "free" on sale. I have never actually paid full retail for a battery by itself. Always get them in kits or special sales for free.

It's the way Ryboi sucks you into their line of tools and keeps you there. Why would I ever consider another brand when I am so invested in all those batteries? Talk about run time, with that many batteries, I can power my tools a lot longer than I could ever work in a day.

A few closeups of the utility shelves in case anyone wants to slap together a similar pallet wood shelf...

 

[chickengr]

Here is the follow up small tool battery shelf with pictures....

View attachment 3620423


Not too exciting, but a good use of some pallet wood just the same. Got the batteries out of some carry bags and out in the open. I still have another 6 or more batteries in chargers, but I think you got the idea.

As far as rotating the batteries, I will just start taking them off the top shelf, left to right, and go in order all the way down. Probably put a thin wood marker card or something to designate where the next battery to be used will be. Since there is no efficient way to auto rotate the batteries on this shelf, I'll just have to use a marker of some kind and move that down the shelving. Recharged batteries will be back filled in the same manner, top shelf, left to right, then drop down a shelf etc... It will work. The important thing is that all batteries get used, drained, and recharged so that none of them go stale.

Last count I had 43 tool batteries. You may ask yourself if I really need that many batteries, and the obvious answer is that you can never have too many batteries.

More seriously, I don't think I have ever used more than 6-8 batteries a day even on my biggest projects. But I bought into the Ryobi tool line over 15 years ago. Almost everytime I buy a new Ryobi tool on sale, I get another two batteries in the kit, or the sale is buy a battery kit and get the tool free, or buy a tool and get the batteries free. Over 15+ years, that has meant a lot of batteries I have gotten for "free" on sale. I have never actually paid full retail for a battery by itself. Always get them in kits or special sales for free.

It's the way Ryboi sucks you into their line of tools and keeps you there. Why would I ever consider another brand when I am so invested in all those batteries? Talk about run time, with that many batteries, I can power my tools a lot longer than I could ever work in a day.

A few closeups of the utility shelves in case anyone wants to slap together a similar pallet wood shelf...

View attachment 3620437

View attachment 3620438

do you sell batteries? you have more batteries than some shops here that sell them.

 

[Thebarter]

Pallet coop,run and food storage all free other than welded mesh,concrete for posts/metal spikes also have some pictures of the stages

 

[gtaus]

do you sell batteries? you have more batteries than some shops here that sell them.

Well, like I said, I have been buying Ryobi 18v One+ tools for over 15 years and just about every time I buy a tool or kit it comes with additional batteries. The batteries are practically free when purchased in a kit. Or many times you buy a battery kit and get the tool you want for free.

I don't sell my batteries, but I would gladly trade some in for either larger capacity batteries or some additional 40v batteries. No such program exists that I am aware of.

The batteries are warrantied for 3 years, but I have some Li-ion batteries that are almost 10 years old and still work fine. The Li-ion batteries are just so much better than the older Ni-Cad batteries which lasted about 2-3 years and then pretty much faded away on you. I had about 8 older Ni-Cad batteries but most of them won't accept a charge and the couple that do still work after 15 years only hold about 20% of their rated charge. I don't even bother using them anymore. All those batteries on the shelf were Li-ion batteries.

You are correct in that I have way more batteries than I really need. But that is why I now have to ensure that my batteries get rotated and used so none of them goes stale on me. The worst thing you can do is not use a battery and let it self-discharge over a number of months and drop below it's recharge rate. That can damage a battery pack. At least now that my batteries are organized on the shelf, it will be easier to rotate them in order as opposed to pulling them out of tool bags.

 

[JennyLynnLuv]

I am proposing this separate thread dedicated to showing off your DIY Pallet Projects and perhaps a little discussion on the topic of pallet projects. I know there are pics and posts about pallet projects here and there on the BYC forums, but some people suggested I start a dedicated thread to the subject so we can all share our pallet projects and maybe pass along some good idea for others.

I'll start off with a simple pallet project I built for the garden. It's a tool holder for hoes, rakes, shovels, etc.. I made one full length pallet to hold my longest handled tools, but I added another pallet cut down 3/4 size and 1/2 size for my shorter handled tools. I connected the pallets with some 2X4's long enough to fit my 5 gallon buckets between the pallets. What I like about this project is that it was super simple to make for a beginner. Secondly, I now have my tools all stored in one place instead of laying all over the garden. Third, the stand is light enough to move wherever I want, but heavy enough not to blow over in a good wind. Here's the pic...

View attachment 3208481

Here is what it looks like on the backside.

View attachment 3208485

Following! Love new ideas and repurposing!

 

[NanaK]

Here is the follow up small tool battery shelf with pictures....

View attachment 3620423


Not too exciting, but a good use of some pallet wood just the same. Got the batteries out of some carry bags and out in the open. I still have another 6 or more batteries in chargers, but I think you got the idea.

As far as rotating the batteries, I will just start taking them off the top shelf, left to right, and go in order all the way down. Probably put a thin wood marker card or something to designate where the next battery to be used will be. Since there is no efficient way to auto rotate the batteries on this shelf, I'll just have to use a marker of some kind and move that down the shelving. Recharged batteries will be back filled in the same manner, top shelf, left to right, then drop down a shelf etc... It will work. The important thing is that all batteries get used, drained, and recharged so that none of them go stale.

Last count I had 43 tool batteries. You may ask yourself if I really need that many batteries, and the obvious answer is that you can never have too many batteries.

More seriously, I don't think I have ever used more than 6-8 batteries a day even on my biggest projects. But I bought into the Ryobi tool line over 15 years ago. Almost everytime I buy a new Ryobi tool on sale, I get another two batteries in the kit, or the sale is buy a battery kit and get the tool free, or buy a tool and get the batteries free. Over 15+ years, that has meant a lot of batteries I have gotten for "free" on sale. I have never actually paid full retail for a battery by itself. Always get them in kits or special sales for free.

It's the way Ryboi sucks you into their line of tools and keeps you there. Why would I ever consider another brand when I am so invested in all those batteries? Talk about run time, with that many batteries, I can power my tools a lot longer than I could ever work in a day.

A few closeups of the utility shelves in case anyone wants to slap together a similar pallet wood shelf...

View attachment 3620437

View attachment 3620438

This looks great!

This same style could be used to make nice shoe racks or shelving for home canning storage. They could be stained or painted to look nice for inside the house.

When I have a collection of batteries I want to be sure to rotate I number them with a sharpy marker. The silver sharpies work great on the black batteries. This way if you have some charging and several in use they can be put back easily in rotation.

 

[gtaus]

Following! Love new ideas and repurposing!

Welcome to the thread. There are lots of great ideas posted here, and I hope you have some time to check them out. Or maybe even submit some of your own projects. Feel free to ask and all pallet/salvaged/reclaimed wood questions here. It's always good to hear from new people.

 

[gtaus]

This looks great!

This same style could be used to make nice shoe racks or shelving for home canning storage. They could be stained or painted to look nice for inside the house.

Yep, it's a very simple build with fixed shelving, but I know that my batteries are not going to grow in size. I made some better-looking shelving inside the house for pantry goods. There I used the pin holes with pegs design so we can move the shelves up or down as needed. Canned goods need a shorter spacing than cereal boxes, for example. Having adjustable shelves allows us to pack in more food storage because there is less wasted head space.

When I have a collection of batteries I want to be sure to rotate I number them with a sharpy marker. The silver sharpies work great on the black batteries. This way if you have some charging and several in use they can be put back easily in rotation.

I thought of doing that, but I have over 40 tool batteries and when they got stored in a carrying bag, it was not so easy to find the next battery that should be used. Hence, I opted for the shelving where I can see everything.

Also, sometimes I need a larger 4 Ah battery whereas other times I only want the smaller, light weight 1.5 Ah battery. No more digging through the bag looking for the type and size battery I need.

Ryobi has "normal" batteries that are used in most of the tools, but they have also added a newer HP (High Performance) line of batteries for some of their brushless tools. They work better on tough jobs in certain brushless HP tools. They are supposed to deliver extra power to the tool when needed using additional contacts on the battery. Anyways, having all the batteries on the shelf, I can quickly pick out the next HP battery if that is needed. It might not be the next battery on the shelf, but that's OK because I will take whatever battery fills the need, in order, and it will be used, recharged, and put back on the shelf at the end of the fresh batteries. I don't know if I explained that very well, but it makes great sense in real life and not complicated at all.

I don't write numbers on my batteries (I did in the past when I have fewer batteries), but what I do is I put the warranty date on a label maker label and stick it to the bottom of the battery pack. If a battery fails, I immediately know if it is still under warranty, or not. The price to replace a battery can be high, so I track all the warranty dates on my batteries. Having said that, I have only had one Ryobi battery fail within the warranty period in over 15 years and Ryobi replaced it no problem. But you need to keep your receipts and write down those serial numbers to get warranty replacements.

No matter what system you use, the important thing is to rotate the use of the batteries, so they all get used, drained, and recharged to keep them alive.

 

[gtaus]

Pallet coop,run and food storage all free other than welded mesh,concrete for posts/metal spikes also have some pictures of the stages

Great job on reusing all kinds of stuff. You even managed to throw in a bathroom sink! Wonderful!

The chicken coop looks way too clean to me. I was wondering if you had any chickens yet, but I see in the last photo there are some chickens walking up the ramp.

How are you set up for windows and ventilation? I did not see any in the photos you posted. I always check out what other people do for ventilation because I think that is one of the most important things to build into a chicken coop. I also like windows for natural sunlight.

Thanks for posting your pallet wood build and sharing your pictures. Very nice.

 

[gtaus]

Giant Pallet Wood DIY Dominoes

Thought this was an interesting idea for someone who has kids, or for people who are kids at heart...