What to do with 5 gallon pails?

[ckucia]

So the previous owner of our new home had some predilection for collecting 5 gallon pails, and those square pails cat litter comes in. I have at least a dozen, maybe more. Not a lot of lids, unfortunately.

So other than the obvious uses - trash pail, scrap metal, etc., anyone have any other use for them in their garage or shop?

I'm going to use some of the cat litter pails to store my tire chains in the back of the truck.

Found this online for storing cords/hoses. If I could scare up some lids, they'd be even better.

http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/...991f554a22f6ce1d980b_zpse5e8795e.jpg~original

More ideas? I have at least a dozen round ones - maybe two dozen and probably 10 of the square cat litter ones.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Stack them for use later on. It never hurts to have a few buckets around.

I have a few sitting on HF mover dolleys. They contain oil dry, blast sand or glass bead.

Clean buckets for bird seed, dog/cat food.

I have a few metal that I sort my scrap into. . . steel, copper,alum

I also have a bucket with all my concrete tools in it, trowels,floats,stuff and another bucket with forming stakes.

 

[BonzoHansen]

Baseballs for practice.

 

[NUTTSGT]

There was also talk the other day about the HD Bucket Head shop vac.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bucket-Head-5-gal-1-75-Peak-HP-Wet-Dry-Vac-BH0100/202017218

 

[ckucia]

There was also talk the other day about the HD Bucket Head shop vac.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bucket-Head-5-gal-1-75-Peak-HP-Wet-Dry-Vac-BH0100/202017218

I'll have to dig up that conversation. That would make a nice vac for cleaning out the car if I got a longer hose for it - assuming it works reasonably well.

 

[WhoWhatNow]

Fill them with concrete and use them as weights on the back of your tractor.

Anytime I need to put a mailbox or post in the ground I set the post in the bucket, add cement then let it dry while I dig the hole. Drop the bucket in, level it up and backfill.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'll have to dig up that conversation. That would make a nice vac for cleaning out the car if I got a longer hose for it - assuming it works reasonably well.

Wasn't a serious discussion but it got brought up in this thread.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382890

 

[lis2323]

Don't know what to do with the ?? Do what I do. Throw them ALL out.

You will immediately think of things you COULD have used them for.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Haul a LOT of ice from the machine to the wells in the bar?

 

[ezriderga]

Portable Snap-on Toilet Seat

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000B13MT/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Sawdustmaker]

Fill them with concrete and use them as weights on the back of your tractor.

Anytime I need to put a mailbox or post in the ground I set the post in the bucket, add cement then let it dry while I dig the hole. Drop the bucket in, level it up and backfill.

Dang! What a good idea. Thanks!

 

[The Cobbler]

When I lived in the country we used them to water yearling trees . drilled a small hole in the bottom edge and placed them at the newly planted trees. filled them with water from a tank on the garden tractor . water took about an hour to seep out of the pails, gave it a chance to soak in rather than run off

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

So the previous owner of our new home had some predilection for collecting 5 gallon pails, and those square pails cat litter comes in. I have at least a dozen, maybe more. Not a lot of lids, unfortunately.

So other than the obvious uses - trash pail, scrap metal, etc., anyone have any other use for them in their garage or shop?

I'm going to use some of the cat litter pails to store my tire chains in the back of the truck.

Found this online for storing cords/hoses. If I could scare up some lids, they'd be even better.

http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/...991f554a22f6ce1d980b_zpse5e8795e.jpg~original

More ideas? I have at least a dozen round ones - maybe two dozen and probably 10 of the square cat litter ones.

That is a great idea! Will use some of my more beat up ones for what I do with them now. Store extra rainwater, trash, sand, bird seed, scrap metal and other treasures.

 

[crewchief888]

i have a bunch (15 or 20) of them.
some get used for small pieces of scrap metal, and get tossed behind the garage when they get full. i drilled multiple holes in the ones outside so rainwater doesnt collect. i have a couple that i keep inside the garage without holes in them for misc nuts/bolts i toss out.

others have oil dry and d-icing salt in them. i hate having open bags of either sitting in the garage, i usually knock one over, and make 2x's the mess...

i keep a couple downstairs as well, just in case the power goes out and we need to "flush" a toilet.

 

[AP514]

You know you can put your electrical cords in buckets to ?

 

[jayoldschool]

1. Oil dry.
2. Vinegar, throw steel parts in, remove a day or two later, no rust.
3. Coolant.
4. Oil.
5. Oil filters.
6. Booster cables.
7. Wiring harness(es)
8. Salt (up north)
9. Sand/kitty litter (see #8)
10. Bottle caps

I love buckets.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Mix concrete in them with a big drill.
Keep my sink from getting disgusting cleaning things.
The square ones make a decent modular truck storage.
Step stool.
Hold caulk and grease guns.
You can buy just the lids pretty cheap.

 

[bad_idea]

My wife has two cats. Lots of litter buckets. I like those buckets as they are square shaped, less wasted space when you store several of them. I store supplies in them. I store car parts in them. Basically anything you would put in a rubbermaid tub, but on a smaller scale.

I built a set of soffit cabinets that housed the litter buckets. Label each one, easy to find needed bucket up in cabinet. Utilized otherwise dead space. The buckets are small enough that I can get them down w/o throwing my back out (cabinets against ceiling).

Can carry the bucket full of supplies to the work area easily (convenient carry handle). Load them up with tools/materials for a specific task and carry them to the car, then to the job site. More of a homeowner level, not professional status. Added bonus of working as a seat while working.

 

[Dr. Brown]

If you cut the bottoms out, and stack them together, you can use them for culverts on your property.

 

[fartymarty]

My wife has two cats. Lots of litter buckets. I like those buckets as they are square shaped, less wasted space when you store several of them. I store supplies in them. I store car parts in them. Basically anything you would put in a rubbermaid tub, but on a smaller scale.

I built a set of soffit cabinets that housed the litter buckets. Label each one, easy to find needed bucket up in cabinet. Utilized otherwise dead space. The buckets are small enough that I can get them down w/o throwing my back out (cabinets against ceiling).

Can carry the bucket full of supplies to the work area easily (convenient carry handle). Load them up with tools/materials for a specific task and carry them to the car, then to the job site. More of a homeowner level, not professional status. Added bonus of working as a seat while working.

for the squarish cat litter buckets.

When storing things in the attic, these work well to protect from rodents and most other "up there" perils.

I always have one in the garage for collecting broken glass which seems to happen above average in my home. (my wife likes those annoying glass lamps with glass chimneys.)

If you cut the bottoms out, and stack them together, you can use them for culverts on your property.

⬆ tru dat...for the round buckets with the bottoms cut out and stacked these become stronger than you'd think because of the reinforcement ring around the top becomes the cross section for the whole pipe/culvert. Just be sure to orient them correctly for down hill flow, top rings uphill cutout bottoms down hill. ( I know DUH! Sorry, of course the audience here would know that.)

 

[NUTTSGT]

If you cut the bottoms out, and stack them together, you can use them for culverts on your property.

I'm not sure how well they would hold up but the idea is ingenious.





I have used them as a concrete form a few times.

 

[James-W]

Don't know what to do with the ?? Do what I do. Throw them ALL out.

You will immediately think of things you COULD have used them for.

That sounds funny, but there is a LOT of truth in it.

 

[gnpenning]

The 5 gal, use a cut lid like show or cut a piece of wood and screw them in place. Leave a small hole. Hang on wall or use another with cement and riser, use to hold hoses and spray nozzles, etc. Same with air hoses.

Kitty litter pails, put camping supplies in and label. For the horse people they fit great in panniers.

Plus everything mentioned and more to come.

 

[slip knot]

I cut the bottoms out and use them in the garden to protect my new tomato transplants.

 

[DC73]

If I could scare up some lids, they'd be even better.

My local Home Depot carries several different kinds of 5 gallon bucket lids. Most of the snap on lids are less than $2 each. The screw top lids with o-rings are around $7.

DC

 

[jimreed2160]

My cats work hard and squirt out a spare bucket about once a month. Here are some of the things I do with them.

My buddy uses them to store gator bait. That is a stinky one-use task and he appreciates the low cost ($0).

I store new shoprags in them. It keeps the garage vermin out of the rags so they stay clean.

I also discovered that the HD Husky "bucket jockey" made for their pails just fits the kitty litter box.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Bucket-Jockey-82079N14/205171909

They are great for storing woodworking cut offs, machinists vises undergoing restoration, pipe, and other miscellaneous stuff about the shop. The stacking feature is nice.

I tried using several of them to make a redneck grill stand but that did not work very well.

 

[ducksface]

It doesn't take much to cut the bottoms and lip off, and slit it up the side, flatten them with a torch and have great material for when you need it.
14x18 comes to mind, but it's been a while.

It also doesn't take much to sculpt them with a torch and they mold to just about anything.

A poor guys kydex.

They strip in to pretty good plastic welding rod.

Three inches off of the top make great stepping stone forms. Slightly tapered makes for an easy release.

You're on your own for bottoms and lids.

Strips from it make good strapping for pvc and abs pipe.

 

[Tennessee Cattleman]

They make great buckets to carry cattle feed to the field.

 

[bad_idea]

I forgot the rag bin! I used a 4" hole saw (had one laying around) to cut a hole in the face of the bucket near the bottom. Pack the bucket full of rags, snap a lid on. Pull the rags out of the 4" hole.

 

[jimreed2160]

They cut up easily. I made a 4" high tray out of the bottom and stored small cans of 3 in 1 oil, WD-40 and liquid wrench. It saved my benchtop when one of the plastic oil cans gave up and barfed its contents. The kitty litter tray saved the day and made clean up a snap.

 

[PECVD2]

Plenty of walls and some homes built with recycled buckets around here. Goolgle Taos earth ships if you want to see others.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Another thought. I use one to catch the saw dust from the radial arm saw.

 

[Bad Eye Bill]

There are many uses for buckets of various sizes. I never throw any away until they have outlived their usefulness.

Posted this in another thread.

Needed to use my old rarely used shop vac and found it had no suction, turns out the the bottom of the tin pail had rusted out and there was a hole about 3" in diameter in it. So.....

 

[the gypsy]

You can sell some off. OR They come in very handy when you have a handy man mixing cement or tile mortar or transferring smaller quantities of drywall mud especially if he is the type that does not clean up after himself. Let the contents dry out and discard. Not my way of doing things but you can't teach an old handyman (dog) new tricks.

 

[ducksface]

Maybe the question should be:

What can I make with a 14x18 sheet of 90mill hdpe?
When I melt it at 400f on a backyard grill or in a toaster oven I can make blocks of any size that are easily Milled, drilled, sanded and polished.
If I had a brick of it the size of a brick, what would I make?

If I had a 90 mill sheet that when heated and hand pressed over say... A drill or screwdriver and it makes a holster or custom holder, what would I make a holder for?

If I wanted to make a drawer organizer that the tools have a solid 'click' when inserted, could I heat a sheet and press a wrench into it?

So many things to do other than carry and hold.

 

[rustyjames]

My wife has two cats. Lots of litter buckets. I like those buckets as they are square shaped, less wasted space when you store several of them. I store supplies in them. I store car parts in them. Basically anything you would put in a rubbermaid tub, but on a smaller scale.

I built a set of soffit cabinets that housed the litter buckets. Label each one, easy to find needed bucket up in cabinet. Utilized otherwise dead space. The buckets are small enough that I can get them down w/o throwing my back out (cabinets against ceiling).

Can carry the bucket full of supplies to the work area easily (convenient carry handle). Load them up with tools/materials for a specific task and carry them to the car, then to the job site. More of a homeowner level, not professional status. Added bonus of working as a seat while working.

I have a neighbor who throws two of these buckets a week for garbage pickup and I grab them . I use them for all kind of stuff, and as you note they're stackable and optimize space.

 

[Tduby]

Are dead baby jokes allowed?

 

[JamesW84]

It's just one of those things you save (to an extent). If you have more than you need, put them aside and list them on craigslist for sale (or free) when you get 10+. Someone would give you $1 a piece or gladly take them for free.

 

[Fuelboat]

Got a bunch of them from the schools (get the ones that the wax came in not the ones that had stripper, the ones with stripper the lid are not made to be reused). I give them to friends, neighbors and family.

 

[mikegt4]

I use them to store various types of media for my blast cabinet.