Post by mwardncsu on Dec 20, 2017 23:39:04 GMT -5
Like many of you, a couple 5 gal buckets are standard equipment on my boat - they serve a number of purposes - but currently they primarily are my bait tank filler / emptier as my "Deep water" pump is messed up and I've been too lazy for year now to figure out if its the wire or the pump - and they also serve as short-term holding tanks for big shad when we run between spots when we are using stinger hooks - I don't like to unhook & rehook them, so one goes in the bait tank, and the others go in a bucket - one each - to keep lines from tangling.
I hate the wire handles on these buckets - the little plastic handle thing always breaks off in no time and the wire is a pain on your hands when dealing with a full bucket of water. So, I decided to make up a few buckets with rope handles.
First, I cut off the metal handle - I used a hack-saw and cut close to one end, and then wiggled the other side out to remove both ends.
Then I enlarged the holes that the metal hand went through previously with a 1/2" drill bit. Do NOT drill all the way through the bucket - just through the flange where the metal handle was previously.
I fed a length of 5/8" nylon or poly rope through the whole, and pulled it out the back side slot - its a little tricky and the softer the rope the easier this will be.
Then I threaded on a 1" or so galvanized washer with a 1/2" hole onto the end of the rope.
Heat up the end of the rope with a heat-gun, or I guess you could use a propane torch or something - you want to start melting the end of the rope. Once its' good and hot and the nylon/poly is melting smash the end of the rope onto a concrete block, brick, etc - and push the washer down to the end - apply pressure to the washer - this will "mushroom" and flatten out the rope. You might want to heat it up a second time with the washer in place on the end and apply more pressure just to make sure you have a good flattened out end of the rope that is larger than the 1/2" hole.
Pull the rope back, feeding the washer into the little pocket on the side of the bucket.
Cut the rope to your desired handle length and repeat the procedure above for the other end of the rope.
It took me maybe 20 minutes total to fully transform two new buckets - definitely worth the time - and by using the flange/pocket from the previous metal handle you can still stack the buckets.
I didn't take any pics during the build process, and now that the rope / washer is in the pocket I can't easily pull it back out without going and finding some pliers, but you should get the drift from these pics...
I hate the wire handles on these buckets - the little plastic handle thing always breaks off in no time and the wire is a pain on your hands when dealing with a full bucket of water. So, I decided to make up a few buckets with rope handles.
First, I cut off the metal handle - I used a hack-saw and cut close to one end, and then wiggled the other side out to remove both ends.
Then I enlarged the holes that the metal hand went through previously with a 1/2" drill bit. Do NOT drill all the way through the bucket - just through the flange where the metal handle was previously.
I fed a length of 5/8" nylon or poly rope through the whole, and pulled it out the back side slot - its a little tricky and the softer the rope the easier this will be.
Then I threaded on a 1" or so galvanized washer with a 1/2" hole onto the end of the rope.
Heat up the end of the rope with a heat-gun, or I guess you could use a propane torch or something - you want to start melting the end of the rope. Once its' good and hot and the nylon/poly is melting smash the end of the rope onto a concrete block, brick, etc - and push the washer down to the end - apply pressure to the washer - this will "mushroom" and flatten out the rope. You might want to heat it up a second time with the washer in place on the end and apply more pressure just to make sure you have a good flattened out end of the rope that is larger than the 1/2" hole.
Pull the rope back, feeding the washer into the little pocket on the side of the bucket.
Cut the rope to your desired handle length and repeat the procedure above for the other end of the rope.
It took me maybe 20 minutes total to fully transform two new buckets - definitely worth the time - and by using the flange/pocket from the previous metal handle you can still stack the buckets.
I didn't take any pics during the build process, and now that the rope / washer is in the pocket I can't easily pull it back out without going and finding some pliers, but you should get the drift from these pics...
