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Bucket stools are useful!

 
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I tried sitting on a Bucket Stool at an Expo, and fell in love with them and bought a couple.
The Original Bucket Stool™

The idea is basic, sturdy plastic stool that hooks to the top of a 3, 5 or 7 gallon bucket, and makes it so you can sit on it and still use the bucket too.



What I liked is when it's on a 5 gallon bucket the seat height is 20 inches. Measure the height of your favorite chairs, mine are 20 inches high. I can get up easily off of the stool, I have knee problems and most things light enough to carry around are too low. I quite often carry a 5 gallon bucket around while I work anyway, the stool sits on top as a lid when carrying the bucket, so it adds no effort to having a place to sit while I work.

It's worth considering these things, and the guy that was selling them said they make great gifts, I think he's probably correct.  
:D
 
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How long have you been using them?

I love anything like this for a couple months, but most of it doesn't get much use a year later.
 
Pearl Sutton
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Just got them. Have used in the house, and twice outside.
 
Christopher Weeks
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OK, I just bought two. I can always get more later if I want them all over the property. :)
 
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I am very intrigued. I wonder if the space is open enough to toss rocks into the bucket comfortably as I pick through a sieve.

Thank you for sharing, they are going to be owing you commission soon!
 
Pearl Sutton
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Timothy Norton wrote:I am very intrigued. I wonder if the space is open enough to toss rocks into the bucket comfortably as I pick through a sieve.

Thank you for sharing, they are going to be owing you commission soon!



Whipping out my handy dandy yardstick (since I'm a tool using animal!) says the space of the height is 4 inches, the side to side size of that hole is 5 inches at the narrowest part, but that part is a few inches in on the posts, so possibly a bit bigger will go through it.
As with all of the answers on Permies... it depends.
How big are your rocks?
 
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Timothy Norton wrote:I am very intrigued. I wonder if the space is open enough to toss rocks into the bucket comfortably as I pick through a sieve.

I'd just use a second bucket... then when it's full, move my seat over to the full bucket and fill the second bucket... do you get the impression I grow rocks *really* well?
 
Timothy Norton
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Jay Angler wrote:

Timothy Norton wrote:I am very intrigued. I wonder if the space is open enough to toss rocks into the bucket comfortably as I pick through a sieve.

I'd just use a second bucket... then when it's full, move my seat over to the full bucket and fill the second bucket... do you get the impression I grow rocks *really* well?



You have so much wisdom obviously from experience. Two buckets and a bucket seat it is.
 
Jay Angler
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Timothy Norton wrote:... You have so much wisdom obviously from experience. Two buckets and a bucket seat it is.

Yes, and my biggest bit of wisdom is that for some of us with life-long wimpy backs, carrying a lighter bucket in each hand is *much* safer than carrying a single heavier bucket in one hand.

I won't say that's a rule, because there are absolutely situations where one wants a hand free for balance or holding a walking stick, or etc, but anyone with elbow or shoulder issues might also find it helps to share the load!
 
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I am trying to find if they send them to Australia
 
Christopher Weeks
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Yeah, these get my first-blush endorsement too. My hands are large (but not freakish) and have good access through the gap between the bucket top and the seat. They’re pretty sturdy and I think the whole thing tipping over is a much greater concern than the stool legs breaking, for instance.
IMG_2758.jpeg
bucket-stool
bucket-stool
IMG_2759.jpeg
plenty of hand space
plenty of hand space
IMG_2696.jpeg
pretending to pick runner beans perched on a bucket-stool
pretending to pick runner beans perched on a bucket-stool
 
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After my time as plumber, I consider a bucket to sit on as vital for almost every job.
It really helps when changing tires.
I often cut off the top 8-10" of a bucket, put a lid on it, and slide it into another bucket.
This increases the increase the interior  space and raises the seating surface.


These look great, and potentially something to diy from scrap wood, but only where weight isn't a consideration.
 
Pearl Sutton
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I just came up with an interesting use of a bucket stool. I took it out with me to pick purple pole beans growing on an arch arbor. I picked a few, realized there were tiny bugs on them, looked close, they are the itty bittiest Harlequin beetles I have ever seen. Thousands of them! Must have been multiple hatchings!  
So I picked the beans fast, holding the bucket under them, trying to catch all the bugs I could, shaking the bucket every so often to knock down any bugs trying to crawl out. Then when I was done I put the stool on as a lid, took it to a sunny spot in the yard, filled the bucket up with water, and put the nice tight fitting stool on as a lid again.
I'm REALLY hoping when I go back out there in a couple of hours, I have clean beans and dead bugs, easy to separate.
And that arch got hit with the highest pressure sprinkler I could put under it. Hoping that made the rest of the bugs have a very bad day too.

Yay! I had a pretty tight fitting lid right there when I needed it!
 
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Christopher Weeks wrote:Yeah, these get my first-blush endorsement too. My hands are large (but not freakish) and have good access through the gap between the bucket top and the seat. They’re pretty sturdy and I think the whole thing tipping over is a much greater concern than the stool legs breaking, for instance.



That’s good to know (the strength of the stool as well as the tipping possibility). I’m not as worried about my hand versus the size of the gap as I have small hands.
 
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John C Daley wrote:I am trying to find if they send them to Australia



If they don't, you could always just buy a stainless steel bucket and turn it upside down -- lasts forever, multipurpose especially when camping, probably not as comfortable
 
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They also make padded swivel seat bucket lids that are relatively inexpensive to buy, but those don't allow you to access the bucket while seated, and they don't raise the seat height more than an inch or two.   I like these that you can still reach into the bucket while sitting down, great find!
 
Pearl Sutton
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The seat height is the part I like most, easy for me to get up off of it, even when I'm tired.
 
Ra Kenworth
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True Pearl! I have French pails (known in Québec as poop buckets) which are 22" high.

They are pretty handy because they can be carried by one handle, (a can of ashes in each hand), can be used for recovering from surgery when the toilet is way too far away, and make a decent sitting perch upside down, or for posing a pot of hummingbird flowers at an adequate height.

They aren't as comfy as your bucket seat -- and I do like the idea of putting rocks in the bucket to make it more sturdy. I have a more than plentiful supply of rocks as does Jay.

Stainless buckets (mentioned to Jay/John earlier but not shown here) are good for any food grade activities and have a wider perch for the derrière, but do require squatting, so yes, the bucket seat is preferable if available!

Below: the French bucket, which I was informed is called "pel de merde"

Edit: I have been trying to cut down on buying plastic for about ten years. The #5 plastic buckets I bought used twelve years ago from an overburden mining sample outfit are fracturing apart, but the #2 are faring a bit better!
61Zl811Q0jL._UF1000-1000_QL80_FMwebp_.jpg
https://www.amazon.com/Hosley-Galvanized-Handles-22-Wedding-Country/dp/B08NXFH51Y
https://www.amazon.com/Hosley-Galvanized-Handles-22-Wedding-Country/dp/B08NXFH51Y
 
Timothy Norton
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I now wonder, could you put a swivel pad onto the bucket stool without it being too high? Then you just gain all the fun benefits combined!

An ergonomic swiveling seat that still functions as a bucket.
 
Pearl Sutton
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I do have a swivel seat. Knowing how it behaves on the kitchen stool I keep it on, I think it would destabilize the little legs on the bucket stool as you turn, dumping you off. I could be wrong, but I don't think I feel like experimenting, I got dumped off a chair in an office on Wednesday, and I still ache from it.
The bucket seat itself swivels pretty easily on the bucket, plastic on plastic slides easily, but not so easily it dumps you off, I find it really stable even when I swivel it.
 
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I have several wooden homemade versions of this plastic one. We mostly use them for ice fishing and sturgeon spearing. I will take a picture when I get back home in a couple days. For comfort they have batting and a cotton cover simular to a stool.
 
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Cut a hole in the seat  and put some sawdust in the bucket,  when you have to #2  all set.
 
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I wonder if a stool cushion would fit the seat top.
 
Pearl Sutton
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Redd Hudson wrote:I wonder if a stool cushion would fit the seat top.


It could. I don't feel the need to pad it, though, and I pad most things. Not sure why I don't feel it needs it.
 
Jay Angler
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Redd Hudson wrote:I wonder if a stool cushion would fit the seat top.


Downside would be taking time to dry. We get a lot of dew, so if someone left it out, it would be wet until noon. The plain plastic would be easier to just wipe dry.
 
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Ra Kenworth wrote:

John C Daley wrote:I am trying to find if they send them to Australia



If they don't, you could always just buy a stainless steel bucket and turn it upside down -- lasts forever, multipurpose especially when camping, probably not as comfortable



They probably don't ship to Australia because they don't ship to Canada. Amazon.ca sells them for $52 CAD but Amazon Australia doesn't seem to have them
 
Jay Angler
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Cheryl Loomans' idea of making a wooden version seems like a possibility. Likely a bit heavier, but it might be a functional teaching project.
 
Ra Kenworth
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It would last longer than plastic probably more comfortable and if you have any light wood like cedar or basswood, it would be fun to sand to perfection
I think I will stick with squatting on milk crates and perching on French pails myself (or squatting on a stainless bucket if camping)
 
I agree. Here's the link: http://stoves2.com
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