My wife and I walked past some wooden sheep troughs in a field down the lane from our house and my first instructable was born! She liked the shape of them and decided they would make great planters. However they are in use so I decided to make some from old pallets outside our house that are waiting for the farmer to burn. here goes...

Step 1: Source Your Wood

First source your wood as you are using reclaimed timber its best to do this first then design the planter around it.
Remove all the old nails and other rubbish from your timber. This is 2 pallets dis - assembled the individual pieces here measure 1270mm x 75mm x 15mm.

Step 2: Design Your Planter

The original troughs I saw taper to the bottom - I suppose so that the sheep can get to all the feed and it does not get stuck in the corners - so my design follows this.

The troughs measure 1270mm x 250mm x 245mm see sketchup diagram.

Step 3: Cutting List

I always find it best to cut everything in one go and then assemble your piece.

first the easy cut put 8 lengths to one side _ easy! piece A

cut 8 lengths @ 225mm - these form the internal straps piece B

cut 6 lengths @ 250mm - these form the end. piece C

cut 3 lengths 150mm - these form the feet. piece D

Step 4: Make Up Components

Make up your components.

Sides
Lay out 3 A pieces side by side
Screw one B piece across the centre at 90deg to the A pieces
screw one B piece at each end leaving 15 mm of the A pieces showing.

Base
Lay out 2 A pieces side by side
Screw one D piece across the centre at 90deg to the A pieces
screw one D piece at flush with each end.

Ends
Lay out 3 C pieces side by side
Screw one B piece across the centre at 90deg to the C pieces
decide which end is the bottom and measure out from the centre 60mm each way, draw on the diagonal up to the top corners and cut off the excess.

I drilled pilot holes in pieces B & D before screwing.
(the first screw I put in without a pilot hole split the wood)

You should end up with a base 2 sides and 2 ends.

Step 5: Tea Break

need I say more!

Step 6: Assembly

I tacked on the 2 end pieces with a couple of panel pins and lay the planter over on its side.

Drill pilot holes at each end of the sides 1 hole in each plank.

Lay the first side onto the planter the ends should butt up to the B pieces inside and be flush with the end of the planter - thats what the 15mm gap at each end was for.

Repeat for the other side.

as the sides are screwed into end grain the will definatley pull out over time so go round the ends and base with a liberal sprinkling of nails 1 / 1/4" is about right and whack a couple of long screws through the base at each end up into the end pieces.

thats it!

The timber I used is from reclaimed pallets and is already treated but I think I will end up painting them. I am going to line these with a horticultural textile to stop the soil falling through any gaps. I will add a step when I decide how to do this.