Last week I had an opportunity to salvage some 2×4 and 2×12 lumber from some shipping pallets. I broke down the pallets, pulled the nails an rough cut everything to 48″+/- in length. This length would work well for a couple of raised beds using the 2×12’s and would be long enough for a new 2-bin composting set-up.
As luck would have it the weekend was almost a total washout. We got almost 4″ of rain through Sunday morning. After brunch we were able to get started.
I had done some web research last year and found some good photos of other peoples bins and figured I would mimic them. The basic concept was to build three 3′ square frames and span between them with a couple 2×4’s. Now my 2×4’s where 48″ long because they were from a pallet so that would govern the maximum width for my bins.
In the photo above, the three 3′ frames are vertical and I spanned the bottom of the bins with my 2×4’s.
Next, I rotated the bins so they were upright and added two more 2×4’s along the back of the bins to stiffen them up even more. These two additional 2×4’s also provide a good spot for attaching the mesh.
Until now all you would need for tools was a saw and a screw gun with deck screws. Now that my helpers awoke from their naps, I needed a lot more tools. Amazing how you need three of everything with two boys.
Above, I attached the first section of cheap plastic mesh from Lowes. I specifically bought a 36″ wide roll so it would be the height of the bins with no cutting to width. I simply stapled on the mesh to the wood with a staple gun and some 1/2″ staples.
With the mesh on and the skies starting to mist I cleaned up and slid the bins into the new location. I have plans to put the moveable wood fronts on the bins but that project would need to wait until a future weekend.
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