Taking Tops of 5-gallon Plastic Buckets

[Ken Scharabok]

(Now bear in mind I have a great deal of trouble even taking the cap off spray paint cans!)

I honestly don't know how people farmed or homesteaded before they came out with the 5-gallon plastic buckets. However, getting the tops off of some can be a challenge. The ones with the pull-off strip aren't too bad as you can grip the tabs with a pair of barb wire fencing pliers and pull them back, working around the top. However, some just about require blasting.

This isn't OSHA approved!

Take the blade guard off of your table saw and set the fence about 3/16" from the blade. Cut off the side ridge areas from the top, rotating the bucket around. If done right, you will see the plastic strip/washer in its groove. The top should now easily come off. If done right, you do not damage the can itself.

For sources of buckets check large farms, who go through a number during the season for hydraulic fluid, and places which refill fire extinguishers. Several years ago I bought clean, top-less buckets from the local one for $1.00 each.

Ken Scharabok

[fin29]

Just buy a bucket top remover. They're a hooked piece of plastic with a handle available at any restaurant supply house worth its salt. They're about $1.50. Talk about the joy of having the right tool for the job! Home Depot would make millions if they upsold one of those puppies every time you bought a 5 gallon bucket of whatever. What a pain it is to get those tops off without the tool.

Oh-if you need buckets, check out your local beer brewer. He'll have some for you. Supermarkets that offer frosted cakes always have them too--food grade ones!

[Ross]

Chip wagons have them by the dozen.

[insanity]

Great idea Kenneth! I usually just lay the lid back on my feed buckets and lay a brick on them.Just to keep from having to pry them off.I got a trick for opening spray paint cans.Just hit the lid on an angle on the edge of a table/work bench. Pieces of the top will sometimes go flying but hey its open!

You can also find those bucket top removal tools in the paint section at most stores.
Being a painter i can tell you we have tons of buckets! If you have a painter near buy you should check with them for buckets also.Usually its mostly latex products that they buy in these buckets.They wash out easily when still wet! If there bringing them to you still dirty tell them to pore in a drop of water and put the top back on.Some paint will set up on the sides but it can be scrubbed off with firm pressure as it will still be somewhat soft.My old boss couldn't figure out why no one wanted his buckets that had dried paint in them and sometimes stacked together while wet,making them dry together (Stuck).Nope Ron my mom doesn't need anymore buckets.

My mom has horses so i give most of my buckets to her.As i kid i still remember the value of a 5 gallon bucket on the farm.Man i hate throwing them away!

[Ken Scharabok]

"I got a trick for opening spray paint cans.Just hit the lid on an angle on the edge of a table/work bench. Pieces of the top will sometimes go flying but hey its open!"

LOL - That's how I get mine off also.

Those openers won't work on all buckets.

Ken

[joan from zone six]

side issue - remember back in the clinton admin - either osha or some other nanny govt agency decided these buckets were dangerous because, once in a blue moon, toddlers would fall in and drown - one of their suggested remedies was to require all buckets to have spherical bottoms so they could not stand upright and accumulate liquid dangerous to a child - duh

kind of like making hammers out of soft rubber so folks wouldn't mash their fingers -

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

We get them for free from our local recycling place. I use them for watering trees and large plants. Drill a 3/16 hole about 1/4 inch up from the bottom and fill with water and it slowly waters the tree. You also know how much water the tree has gotten and it doesn't run off.

[DayBird]

Originally Posted by YuccaFlatsRanch

We get them for free from our local recycling place. I use them for watering trees and large plants. Drill a 3/16 hole about 1/4 inch up from the bottom and fill with water and it slowly waters the tree. You also know how much water the tree has gotten and it doesn't run off.

That's a great idea. I love it. :worship:

[Farmer Brown]

Buckets that teat dip and liquid soap come in are a real pain. They have the threaded hole for a shut off valve. But--here is how you do them. Cut thru all the slots made for cutting. Then, male end of garden hose screws right in. Turn on water and off it comes. No big bang. Just sort of slowly comes off one side and water comes out. You just pull on off with one hand. FB