portable pallet-sized toolsheds

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

D Nikolls wrote:Douglas, my place is pretty spread out too, but unless I'm going out in the bush for some fairly specific task, I'm probably somewhat near one building or another. I've tried the multitool thing a couple times and just don't like em much; I find it more effective and actually cheaper to own extras of a few key things and keep them in several places, including on the tractor. The main few that come to mind are vice grips, those big square-nosed pliers with wirecutter, crescent wrench, hammer, pipe wrench... all from thrift stores for a few bucks a pop.

Good point. My old place was like that, and like you I had essential tools in each building. As I develop the far corners of my new place, I'm pretty sure that small buildings will pop up like mushrooms.

I've been thinking about building a couple pallet-sized toolsheds that I could carry with the tractor, tools included; leave them in an area while work is frequent, return to base in a month or three when done.

I have trespasser issues on much of the property, though, so need to excercise caution... a few basic hand tools and a spare jerrycan of saw gas isnt a huge risk, but I sure don't want to encourage anyone to bolder ventures...

Hi D,

At the risk of pirating this thread, and my apologies to all, years ago I bought an old army footlocker at a junk shop. A pallet had been added to the bottom.  Franky, I have never used it for anything but stationary storage.   Thanks for the idea,

D Nikolls wrote:I've been thinking about building a couple pallet-sized toolsheds that I could carry with the tractor, tools included; leave them in an area while work is frequent, return to base in a month or three when done.

Good idea. Anything that keeps tools out of the weather. An industrial area near me has crates to give away, used to ship fabricated machinery. Hmm ...

Edit: this is worthy of its own thread.

D Nikolls wrote:

I've been thinking about building a couple pallet-sized toolsheds that I could carry with the tractor, tools included; leave them in an area while work is frequent, return to base in a month or three when done.

I have trespasser issues on much of the property, though, so need to excercise caution... a few basic hand tools and a spare jerrycan of saw gas isnt a huge risk, but I sure don't want to encourage anyone to bolder ventures...

This exists. It's called a jobsite toolbox, and it has locks and provision to be chained to something to prevent theft. They are weatherproof and come in different shapes/sizes, most popular a 3-1/2 to 4 foot x 2 ft. x 2 ft. size that is easy to move in a pickup, and roll through doorways.
Usually used on construction sites to secure "company owned" tools and small materials (things required to get the job done) while workers may also have their personal tool kits.

One thing I've seen (and will maybe build a couple of next year) is a "Tool Wall". It is basicallly an open shed, a wall with a narrow roof on top (like a tourist map kiosk) with pegs and hooks to hang tools out of the weather, but visible and in a handy location near the work. Time and steps are saved.

Another thing we've used for small things is mailboxes. Easy to mount one out in the garden on a post or even on the side of the shed (so you don't need to enter). It holds things like gloves, label stakes, landscape flags, clippers/pruners, a razor knife, hose washers. It keeps these handy things nearby, without filling/poking/tearing pockets.

FOR MY POCKETS:
Swiss army knife (the nice jobs knife)
Locking/folding knife (the dirty jobs knife)
Wallet
Keys (houses, truck, tractors if I'm doing that...)(shed is a combination lock)
Cell phone (like Mike and others: taking pictures, my photographic memory, and calls (hopefully never an emergency, knock wood, but that's #1 reason to have while working alone))
Pat myself down before I walk out the door...*pat, pat, pat, pat, good to go!* (home, work, even other random doors! )

Kenneth, we lost your "pocket stuff" in the move. Can you repost in the other thread?

A search reveals these related threads:

https://permies.com/wiki/144171/pep-tool-care/PEP-BB-tool-wood-toolshed

https://permies.com/t/44728/Pallet-Shed-Greenhouse-Firewood-Adjucts

https://permies.com/t/10600/Pallet-Shed-Building-House

We have a property that's very long and narrow and then we added on a chunk from a neighbor making it an even weirder shape. I contemplated making some sort of a portable tool bench that would be lockable, but at the time, I was thinking in terms of using a heavy duty dolly we had to make it portable, and then gave up on the idea as at 115 lbs and there being moderate elevation gains to deal with, I figured by the time it was sturdy enough to be useful (and water-tight) and was loaded with tools and spare parts (not light either) it would outweigh me!

The idea of making a skid version and using the tractor forks to transport it definitely has merit. Hubby's got a bad habit of starting a project, having something else jam the queue, and then having things left in buckets where they get rained on. I'm going to think about our options here!

Has any one used old  freezers or refrigerators?

Old freezers would work, but there would be significant pushback from the Department of Aesthetics (a.k.a. my dear wife).

William Bronson wrote: Has any one used old  freezers or refrigerators?

Hmmm... I tend to think of them as being really heavy, but if you removed all the stuff no longer needed that would lighten it enough. A fridge would have convenient shelves, but the drawers wouldn't be sturdy enough for tools if the fridge was at all modern. So long as the seals were in decent shape things should stay fairly dry. In my climate, things getting wet is a major problem, so I'd been picturing enough of an overhang on the "roof" to keep water out.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Old freezers would work, but there would be significant pushback from the Department of Aesthetics (a.k.a. my dear wife).

Paint pretty flowers on it? Attach a planter that is watered by the rain that falls on it?

Actually, I'd listen to the Head of that Department - but you could *ask* her how to beautify a freezer for re-use. She might come up with something cool you could both live with - for example add cedar paneling to the outside? I love to see beauty and function combined. Hubby's bought a couple of old truck trailers for storage, and I'm waaayyyy... past wanting to get some paint and at least disguise them a little with browns and greens.

Hahah, nice thought, but I've been married long enough to pick battles I have some chance of winning.

I have used old freezers inside sheds as a mouse-free storage for winter clothing etc. But given the nastiness of the refrigerant, it's probably more responsible to recycle it properly.

I would lay it on its back,  and treat it like a gangbox.
Maybe add a drip edge onto the lids(doors).
Drill some weep holes in the new bottom,  load it up with tool buckets.
Set it on pallets to keep it out of the mud.

Properly disposing of the refrigerant is a real drawback for such plans.
It might be worth getting a  set up, might even be money maker.

Kenneth Elwell wrote:

D Nikolls wrote:

I've been thinking about building a couple pallet-sized toolsheds that I could carry with the tractor, tools included; leave them in an area while work is frequent, return to base in a month or three when done.

I have trespasser issues on much of the property, though, so need to excercise caution... a few basic hand tools and a spare jerrycan of saw gas isnt a huge risk, but I sure don't want to encourage anyone to bolder ventures...

This exists. It's called a jobsite toolbox, and it has locks and provision to be chained to something to prevent theft. They are weatherproof and come in different shapes/sizes, most popular a 3-1/2 to 4 foot x 2 ft. x 2 ft. size that is easy to move in a pickup, and roll through doorways.
Usually used on construction sites to secure "company owned" tools and small materials (things required to get the job done) while workers may also have their personal tool kits.

One thing I've seen (and will maybe build a couple of next year) is a "Tool Wall". It is basicallly an open shed, a wall with a narrow roof on top (like a tourist map kiosk) with pegs and hooks to hang tools out of the weather, but visible and in a handy location near the work. Time and steps are saved.

Another thing we've used for small things is mailboxes. Easy to mount one out in the garden on a post or even on the side of the shed (so you don't need to enter). It holds things like gloves, label stakes, landscape flags, clippers/pruners, a razor knife, hose washers. It keeps these handy things nearby, without filling/poking/tearing pockets.

Ya, job boxes are nice things. But, they cost money... and they fit in other people's trucks! In most cases the box would be more valuable than the contents, especially if large enough for a shovel...

They also have condensation issues, compared to a small shed.

When I get lucky in pallet-hunting, I find pallets with closely spaced planks, like 1/8" gaps. 5 of those and some 2x4s for rafters... if I have to pay for used roofing i might be into the project for 40 bucks total, but small pieces of roofing are the easiest to scrounge.


I like the tool wall concept; I think it is well suited to long handled tools, giving you a roof tall enough to walk under automatically means lots of height. Incorporating it into a fence would be a nice way to stack functions, at a gate or corner where you already need a pair of sturdy braced posts..

I like to use a section of 2" square welded wire as a tool-hanger, lots of things conveniently hook onto it; this seems a good pairing with a tool wall.

William Bronson wrote:

Properly disposing of the refrigerant is a real drawback for such plans.
It might be worth getting a  set up, might even be money maker.

Hubby has found that the most common cause of a fridge or freezer quitting is that the coolant system has developed a leak. Does anyone know for a non-working fridge, how much refrigerant is typically left? Is it actually enough to worry about? There's a lot of embodied energy in the metal of a fridge - so is the net environmental gain better or worse if the body gets re-used. What do the places that supposedly remove the coolant do with the rest of the body?

Fridges disposed of because the colour is wrong or they're the wrong size are a different matter entirely, and I'd prefer they get re-used for what they were intended to do! My friend's fridge is boxed in on both sides and has a door that matches her cupboards for example! There are ways to deal with aesthetics than to trash something perfectly functional and I worry that many end up in the landfill and don't actually get recycled properly anyway.