One of the big projects Stephen took on this weekend was finding a way to address the seemingly never-endings supply of brush and debris in our yard.
What never-ending supply, you ask? Aside from the fact that our landscaping keeps growing and constantly needs to be trimmed and maintained, we are still taking down trees and pulling out bushes to get our yard under control.
Here’s an example. Back in the spring, my mom and brother helped us remove the wire fencing that was strangling our plants and generally being an eyesore.
While it was a relief to get rid of the metal fencing, it left the bushes along our driveway looking a little ragged and top-heavy.
So over the past week or so, we pruned back the bushes to about half their original height. We were left with these sad little stubbies, but hopefully they’ll grow shorter, thicker and stronger instead of tall and willowy like they were before.
We were left with a huge pile of bush brush (say that 5 times fast!) and no way to haul it off. We’d already paid somebody to come take away the huge trees we cut down when Stephen’s dad was here, so we really didn’t want to fork over more cash just to get rid of some bushes.
Enter: The little trailer that could.
My grandpa gave us this tiny little trailer about a year ago. It’s been in our garage for the longest time, since the platform was only about 4′ x 5′ and there were no sides to contain anything we put on it.
Stephen decided to buy some wood screws and 2x4s and build a frame on the platform. I think he was most excited about getting to use his new Hitachi chop saw (a birthday gift).
I didn’t get many step-by-step photos because I was working on a project of my own, but there was lots of clamping and power-tool action involved.
It didn’t take him long to have the frame looking like this. The long 2x4s on the sides, the 6 vertical boards, and the brace across the front of the trailer were all added by Stephen. You can probably imagine how useless the trailer was before we started building this frame!
The beginnings of the frame were good, but it definitely needed some cross-bracing to stabilize it.
After Stephen put on the finishing touches and made sure the trailer was easy to maneuver with our SUV, it was done!
Now that’s a good looking little trailer, don’t you think?
Here’s how it looked once we loaded up all the brush from those bushes and a few other small trees we cut down.
The trailer was finished on Saturday – then on Sunday, Stephen wired up the tail lights from a kit he found at Lowe’s. All told, the trailer probably cost $50 or so in raw materials, but we had a gift card so it was practically free. Now all that’s left is to buy a license and this baby will be street-legal!
What do you think of our DIY solution to our yard waste problem? Could you use a little trailer like this at your place?
Thanks for reading!
