5 gallon bucket handles

[Menglish]

Ok so I'm looking around the homestead the other day for water hauling buckets. It was finally time to roll up the hoses for the winter and I needed 3-4 buckets with good handles on them. I found them but I noticed I have several more that the handles are shot on. I'm not talking about the wire part but the plastic handle that keeps the things from cutting your hand in half.

I got to thinking about it and was wondering if anybody here had come up with an ingenous way to replace that plastic with something???

[joseph97297]

I've taken small diameter PVC pipe and cut one side with a hacksaw then slip it over and run a bit of tape so it won't accidentally come out again.

[nehimama]

Take a short piece of old garden hose, split longways, and slide over the bail. If the plastic jobbie is still there, several wrappings of duct tape saves the day.

[Gottabenutz]

Old piece of garden hose can slip over the metal part.

[po boy]

Piece of a water hose. Small section of that black foam insulation for pipes.

[Windy in Kansas]

Also a length of dowel split with a chisel, grooved to accommodate the bail, and then glued together over the wire bail will work. Be sure to use water resistant glue.

[arcticow]

Originally Posted by Windy in Kansas

Also a length of dowel split with a chisel, grooved to accommodate the bail, and then glued together over the wire bail will work. Be sure to use water resistant glue.

Wood beats hose, IMHO, cause I hate to keep replacing handles.

[Harry Chickpea]

If you want really cushy, cover the garden hose section with foam pipe insulation. You could also try a swimming pool noodle, but I'm not sure how well it would hold up.

[Maggie]

Yep, garden hose that has been reused!

[fishhead]

Take some heavy pliers and bend one end of the handle enough to get it loose from the bucket. Slip a piece of garden hose over the end of the wire and then bend the end back into shape so you can reattach it to the bucket. It will last for years as long as you keep the bucket out of the sun.

[mustangsally17]

Good suggestions, its hauling water time here as well and some of my 5gal buckets need help. Thanks

[travis91]

black hi pressure rubber hose.. the thickwall stuff.. its alot nicer on your hands then a garden hose.. and its cheap

[PNP Katahdins]

We use a lot of buckets and I had the same question about making replacement grips. Right now I try to catch them before the broken plastic parts come off. I duct tape the smooth parts of the grips when they start to split, then wrap the whole grip with cheaper black electrical tape.

Hose pieces sound more durable. Travis, where would we get black hi pressure rubber hose from? What size would work?

Peg

[Farmerwilly2]

I like 1/2 electric conduit. It's a nice comfortable size, it's sturdy and since I have umpteen brazillion short pieces of it laying about from different jobs it's cheap.

edit: Meant to add that it makes good handles for other things as well. You can run a piece of #9 brace wire through it and with a pair of pliers make what used to be sold as shopping bag handles (the old type handles made of cord). I tie kindling into bundles with old bailing twine. I can slip one of those handles into the twine and carry two heavy bundles at a time with no effort. They work great when I strand hi tensile 'devil wire'. I can slip one of those on and walk the wire from post to post without having to slide it through my hand.

[texican]

I have an endless supply of buckets... when one breaks, I get another one. Most of them are made of some sort of biodegradable? material. Leave them out in the sun for a year and they crumble... usually the handle first.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

heater hose , or garden hose

i have one right now with no plastic handle i wear gloves and it's fine on the hand i had been using it to carry rubble from concrete stepps i am breaking up so no light duty.

duct tape and a rag is a quck fix also

[Menglish]

I see several good ideas. I'm gonna try a couple of them and see which one works for me. THANKS!!! I knew someone had thought about and solved this problem before me!

Mike

[tiogacounty]

Don't forget about PEX plumbing tubing. I use a lot of blue and red in 1/2" and 3/4". At the end of a new house rough-in I have a lot of short pieces left over that hit the dumpster. This stuff is insanely tough and cheap, free actually, if you time your dumpster divin' LOL

[o&itw]

I found some wooden handles at a flea market. You can usually find them with one of those vendors that has a bunch of things turned out of wood like knobs, clothes pegs etc. It is easier to split them and re-glue or tape than to try and straighten out the wire bail enough to get it on and then re-bend.

[springvalley]

Well being a dairy we have a supply of handles, the smaller rubber end on the teat cups(inflation) can be cut off and slipped over a handle. It is soft and comfortable on your hand. > Thanks Marc