Introduction: Weed Trimmer Storage From Three Gallon Buckets

By
About: Retired ATC, husband, hobby farmer, grandpa, tinkerer, outdoorsman, bird watcher, honey-doer (sometimes), procrastinator (most of the time), and general purpose dude (you know... the kind that can do a lot of…

This is my first i'ble to post after enjoying reading so many others posted on this wonderful site. Hope it proves helpful to some, either as inspiration for a new use or a solution to your similar problem. I've read other i'bles on using buckets as wall-mounted storage, so they were my inspiration here.

Step 1: First a Problem, Then a Solution...

While fighting my seemingly never-ending battle with entropy in my barn-converted-to-shop, I literally stumbled into, over, then onto the problem and solution with storing my collection of gas-powered string trimmers, tillers, edgers, etc. Previously they had been hung mostly willy-nilly from an odd assortment of hooks and pegs and proved most inconvenient to access and replace. I started by clearing a corner of various bits and bobs until I had the space i needed to hang the equipment vertically. I then laid out a couple of three gallon buckets that I saved from a previous project and placed them on either side of the power equipment's shaft below the power head to judge what kind of spacing I'd need to support the unit by the head. My buckets measured roughly 12" in diameter and a spacing of 2" to allow room for the trimmer shaft. Since I had 4 pieces of equipment to hang, 5 buckets were needed. Adding it all up, I came up with about 68" of wall width needed. I then measured how high I needed to mount the buckets to have the trimmers clear the floor, coming up with about 5' from floor to bottom of the buckets.

Step 2: My Alignment and Support Strip...

I wanted to have the buckets leveled out nicely, so I cut a scrap 1x2 that I had to the previous determined 68" then mounted and leveled it at 5' from the floor and more or less centered on my wall space. I don't know if it adds any real support, but it certainly didn't hurt.

Step 3: Start Hanging the Buckets...

I attached each bucket to the wall with 2 torx-drive deck screws. Since my barn/shop walls are plywood, I didn't worry about locating the wall studs at any point. I had a minor concern about the screws pulling through the plastic bottom should I overload the bucket and almost added a washer below the screw head. I passed on the idea, but can add them later if needed. I tried out one of the trimmers to gauge spacing correctness and ease of access. Finding it worked, I finished adding the buckets.

Step 4: Time to Load the Rack...

I was pleased with how convenient it now is to remove and replace each tool. The bonus is that I can store items associated with the equipment inside the buckets or hang things on the buckets or the handles that I left on the buckets and oriented to hang below each bucket. I look forward to sharing more ideas as my campaign progresses...