I am not as bendy as I used to be, and this pan allows me to pick up gravel from my lawn while I remain standing upright. I wanted a large bin that could catch gravel as I flick it from the grass using a garden hoe, not because I need to collect a large volume of material, so I made one. Every time I shovel snow from my driveway, some gravel goes with it, so this is a recurring winter chore. Circle of life.

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Step 1: Components and Tools

Components

1 Tall plastic kitchen trash bin, typically 24 inches tall, rescued from roadside

pvc plastic or plywood, 1/2 inch thick, for making four disks, four inches in diameter (four square pieces will work as well as disks, but will not look as elegant)

1 handle formed from metal electrical tubing, one half inch diameter, length determined by user's preference; mine reaches 24 inches high when the bin is in its horizontal position.

12 #6 drywall screws, one inch long

2 screws 1/4-20, 2 1/4 inches long, for attaching handle

4 flat washers, 1/4 inch hole

2 1/4-20 nuts having nylon locking insert

2 5/16-18 hex head bolts, 1 1/2 inches long, for handle stops

Tools

electric drill, bits and countersink

tin snips for cutting plastic bin

jig saw; or band saw; or hole saw; or rotary hobby tool having router base and spiral cutting bit, for cutting plastic or wood disks

adjustable wrench, small

screwdrivers: phillips and straight blade

5/16-18 starting tap and tap handle

tubing bender for shaping handle

Step 2: Cut That Out

I marked one wide side of the bin for cutting at 20 inches from its bottom, the other at 10 inches. I connected these with diagonals along the narrow sides, rounded all the corners, cut with tin snips.

Step 3: Going in Circles

I cut out pvc plastic reinforcing disks using Dremel tool. Its router base has a 2 inch radius, and the spiral cutter is small. I drove a nail into the center mark of each disk and just rotated the tool around the nail. Next I used a roundover bit in the Dremel to trim one edge of each disk. I marked one disk for six drywall screw locations, then drilled a quarter inch diameter hole through the center of each disk. I stacked the disks facing the ways they would be attached to the bin and clamped them with their center holes aligned, made a match mark across the stack to define "up." I drilled the six holes with bit suitable as pilot for the drywall screw threads and unclamped the stack. I enlarged the six holes in the two disks that would be on the outsides of the bin with a bit to clear the screw threads and countersank those holes.

Step 4: Assembly

Each of the outer disks is clamped to the the bin, with their match marks "up," as a guide for drilling holes through the bin, then six screws attach each disk pair. The handle is drilled with a 1/4 inch hole 1 and 3/4 inches from each end and attached using long screws, washers and nylock nuts. A hole is drilled (undersize for 5/16-18 tap) into, but one quarter inch short of going through, each pair of disks in location suitable for a handle stop. The holes are tapped and a bolt screwed into each until it jams into the tapered bottom threads. Alternatively a hole could be drilled and tapped through each disk pair, a longer bolt screwed through and a nut tightened onto its end.

Step 5: In Use

The gravel ends up too far from the edge of my driveway for it to be pulled back using a lawn rake, so I must go retrieve it once the snow melts. I do not need to always pick up and carry my pan across the lawn, I can just push it around with the hoe then lift it only when I have collected enough gravel to dump back on the driveway. The big pan is also handy for cleanup tasks on the patio and in garage and shop.
U. S.