Make do or do without

tinknal · #1 09/27/04, 03:08 AM

Hey everyone, what kind of cobbled up stuff did you make or find to make your life easier?
I have a smokehouse made out of an old van and a woodstove, A chicken coop made out of an old van and a corn crib, and a maple syrup cooker/turky scalder/stock tank made from an old water heater and a steel stand.

**Shrek** · #2 09/27/04, 04:48 AM

I was thinking of making a van out of an old smokehouse

mtman · #3 09/27/04, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shrek

I was thinking of making a van out of an old smokehouse

just thought id come on and see what was going on i have to say you gave me my first laugh of the day

John_in_Houston · #4 09/27/04, 06:30 AM

My wife says I make mountains out of molehills :haha:

designer · #5 09/27/04, 09:47 AM

Nothing that creative, just an old dog lot into a chicken coop, a storage building into the chicken house, and old plastic barrels into a dog house and a pygmy goat house. Too bad I don't have an old van around, I'd like to have a smokehouse.

RedneckWoman · #6 09/27/04, 10:04 AM

I made a cold smoker out of an old upright freezer and a hot smoker out of an old water heater. For a while I was using an old chest type freezer and a broken washing machine (tub removed) to store feed in. I am not a very creative person.

Cyngbaeld · #7 09/27/04, 11:24 AM

I've used an old buick for a food dehydrator.

I used an old chest freezer to store grain in for the chickens, until one day, a strong wind blew the lid up and tore it off. Ruined all my grain because the rain got to it.

When I lived in a travel trailer I kept the laundry outside in a plastic trash can. When it was full I thru it in the pu and went to the washateria in town. It would hold about a months worth of laundry and I didn't always get to town that often, so sometimes I had two or three of em. After the freezer fiasco I also kept dog/cat food and chicken food in the trash cans.

simpleman · #8 09/27/04, 01:43 PM

I have learned to fix EVERYTHING except broken hearts and the crack of dawn. Those I am still trying to work on!

Ernest

rio002 · #9 09/27/04, 02:18 PM

The soil here takes some building up before a garden will produce much, so we took an old "unseaworthy" boat (fiberglass) and turned it into a raised garden, it's about 70% horse manure and 30% dirt, works well for strawberries and tomatoes. We were given a 2x4 open sided structure that we resupported and turned into a 7x14 chicken coop, in there the chick nursery is out of an old plexi sided reptile cage, and the grain bin is an old ice box from a camper--metal works very well against rats/mice. An old travel trailer on the property (broken axle) has been gutted and used for anything from dog housing to duck/geese housing. Of course anything that looks like it "could" be a bird house is--pvc piping, tea kettle, flipped a square wood planter box upside down and mounted a pan under it for bird seed. Our old cow painted mailbox will be mounted in the flower garden to hold my standard gardening tools. LOL there's bound to be more I am always using and reusing things around here, but I do attempt to make these things not only useful but appealing to look at.

Shygal · #10 09/27/04, 02:29 PM

I just finished a chicken coop, and a duck house/pen out of materials from an old barn, only cost me the price of the nails.

DrippingSprings · #11 09/27/04, 03:14 PM

I made three incubators out of three old refrigerators and I have hatched about three thousand eggs total out of them so far. I also took one of the refrigerators that has the freezer on top(not side by side) and made a wonderful meat smoker out it. All you need is damp wood chips in a lil liquid smoke and a hot plate with a small cast iron pan. Cut hole about the size of a plate between the freezer and bottom add meat and plug in. Works great for smoking all meats and fish. I took an old vw bus and buried it and made a storm shelter. I buy old woodeen skid pallets I buy for a couple dollars each and ,ake small pens by making three sides and top out of them and putting some wire across the front. Offers shade and also lets the wind go through in the summer to cool. I have put chickens and other small animals in them. I took the blade out of an old box fan and an old one wire chevy alternator and made a small generator to keep a deep cycle battery charged that I keep in my storm cellar. I took an old chest type deep freeze and use it to store feed in as it wil keep critters and bugs out of the feed.

Ravenlost · #12 09/27/04, 03:34 PM

My dad and I took four big wooden shipping crates that my brother salvaged from the garbage and made a playhouse out of it for my kids. We used leftover underpinning that my brother was saving to make the roof. The kids painted it with some leftover paint and it turned out really cute...even had windowboxes with flowers under the two windows.

If it's still at my dad's (I'm pretty sure it is...he never throws anything away) I'm going to turn it into my chicken house!

Meg Z · #13 09/27/04, 03:41 PM

We made our chicken coop/rabbit barn mostly out of lumber from a 75 year old barn we removed as a favor to someone. We did have to buy a bit of lumber, and metal roofing, but that was okay.

Meg

DayBird · #14 09/27/04, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by designer

Too bad I don't have an old van around, I'd like to have a smokehouse.

Too bad I don't have an old van around, I'd like to have a van to haul birds in.

fordy · #15 09/27/04, 07:15 PM

...................This got my enteurpreneurial(sp) spirit fired up and I thought I'd apply for a Small Business Loan from the Hurricane Capitol Corp . based in Poland . Now , after much market research while watching the evening news I have determined that there is going to be a Severe shortage of Places to use the Bathoom while folks are trying to find all the Pieces of their Manufactured Home(s). So , ......The Acme Crapper Corporation will soon be in full operation in most parts of Florida . Our "preferences" research has told our marketing dept . that we should make our Units to resemble an old Fashioned Outhouse just like grandma used to "use" back during the Depression(1930's) . And , it seems the Most pleasing music is that of the Icecream Man who use to drive slowly down the street until he had enough customers to stop . Also , some models are going to be equipped with Pontoon's to be placed in those area's with "high water" , they will have Anchors if necessary . And, we are will also have our NEW "Handicapped Crapper" for all those folks that Ride the electric carts around in Wal-Mart . They will be equipped with a 500 pound Hoist to lift the fat Folks off their little electric scooters and let them take care of Business .
......................And, folks, We ARE the Most Innovative Crapper Company , currently serving Florida because we will be incorporating our Newest Convenience in ALL Our units..........(Drum Roll)......... the "Automatic Butt Wiper" . For just a nominal fee of $5 in US currency (NO Pesos please) you can get "Wiped" by just depositing a "Fiver" in the Bill changer and holding onto the Handrails . One word of Caution Here Folks , .......No Farting is "Allowed" while the Autowipe feature is running as Any static electricity in the Presence of An Explosive Gas can completely destroy our Crapper as well as the Occupant . .....fordy....

desdawg · #16 09/27/04, 11:41 PM

A while back I bought some scrap metals at a school auction. One of the items included in the scrap metal lot was a 5' diameter round metal roof that had been part of some playground equipment. I used two 5' wire spool ends, one for the floor and one for the ceiling, some 2" X 3" studs in between and sheeted it with masonite. It houses the composting toilet. The thing looks kind of like a spaceship, so you have to be careful when using the toilet. A little excess morning thunder could achieve liftoff.