Fishing Bucket Seat &Tackle Box

I've seen sportsman's bucket seats in stores for a long time and thought they were a cool concept, but they were pretty expensive for what they were ($20 or more for basically a bucket & a pad).  My friends and I have used old 5 gallon buckets to hold our fishing tackle for years, but it was just that, a bucket full of stuff.  If you wanted to sit on it you had to dump out the contents and turn it upside down.  If it tipped over, your stuff fell out.  If it rained, your stuff got wet.  So, after much consideration, I decided to make my own bucket seat.  This is what I came up with, a fishing seat with tackle storage that I made from a 5 gal plastic kitty liter bucket.  This particular bucket is square (because that is what I had), although you could adapt these instructions for a round bucket fairly easily.  It can be used as a hunting blind seat, tool bucket, sports seat, or any other purpose you could come up with.

Step 1 Tools & Materials

The construction is pretty simple so you don't need much.

These are the tools you'll need:

Saber saw or band saw or even a coping saw in a pinch.
Battery drill with philips screwdriver bit or just a philips head screwdriver
Tape measure or ruler
Pencil or pen to mark with

This is the list of material:

(1) 5 gallon bucket
(1) piece of plywood at least 12"x12" square
(1) piece of 3/4"x1-1/2" (1x2) batten board at least 24" long
(6) 1-1/4" screws
Seat pad at least the size of the seat (I used an old gardening knee pad)
Wood glue
Contact cement
Paint if desired

Comments

[Chad.Kalas]

SUPER idea. I go through 2 of these buckets a month. Favorited! This has spawned other bucket ideas in my head. Thanks!

[diyoutdoorsman]

Thanks. I like the square buckets better than the round ones. My wife uses one for her gardening tools.

[alhazen]

Wow - I like this. I would like something like this for my garden / irrigation tools. This would give a strong tool box, room to store the little fittings and a clean place to sit while I ponder the mess I've made. I could even kneel on the padded seat top when I'm connecting pipe.

[kill-a-watt]

nice.

You can use a sheet of mylar (say from the wrapper of a spiral sliced pre-cooked ham or a "space blanket") on top of the cushion to mimic some of the sportsman bucket seats I've seen for sale.

[Lorddrake]

fantastic design. 5 stars.