We’ve been knocking out several smaller projects around the homestead this summer, in between busy off-farm schedules and sports practices. It’s also been a really rainy summer around here. Normally we’re talking about droughts, but this year we’re talking about the never-ending rain. We haven’t had time to get big projects done between the raindrops!

But we’ve finished several pallet projects with our scrap pile recently. Even little projects can make life easier or better on the homestead. It is very flat in our area. Very flat. And since water moves downhill, but we don’t have any hills, we have a lot of man-made drainage around here. A couple of recent projects included putting in quick pedestrian bridges over some drainage ditches we have to cross regularly. They meet a lot of needs at once. Better access for walking and supervising our property (read about why we take regular pasture walks, here). Less muck and cleaning from dirty farm boots when the kids splash through. And easier access for outdoor adventures.

We do a lot of hiking and camping on our own property. These ditches are not like fun streams or creeks or our little pond to play in. They’re usually muddy, mucky, and full of bugs and debris. And there’s this “special” smell of mud from stagnant water…

Needless to say, I’m so much happier now that we don’t have to even chance someone sliding in or splashing through!

Here’s the quick and easy pattern we’ve followed to install 4 pallet bridges on the homestead this summer.

1. Mow the Work Area

Usually, we do this with the tractor. Mr. Fix-It is nice enough to start by mowing around the area for us to get rid of the high grass and chase off any snakes or creepy-crawlies in the general area. You could do this with a lawn mower, but most of our areas would tear up the blades and wheels on a regular mower. We use a bush-hog.

2. Take a Break

Ok, I’m just joking. But every time I turned around I swear one of the crew had quit on me!

3. Start Clearing Around Your Bridge Site

This is where the kiddos get into the muck. We haul a lot of tools around with us so that they have no excuse to give up. If a rake doesn’t work, use a shovel. If hand shears don’t work, use the big loppers. Their job is to get in there and clear the scrub brush about the width of their arms stretched all the way out and up to about 6 foot high.

4. Take a Break

I told ya! Every time I got focused on something, at least one or two of them would be lounging around behind me!

5. Clean up Trash and Debris

This was an on-going part of every effort. The drainage ways get full of random junk that either blows across the fields (because it’s flat here!) or floats through the ditches. Sometimes storms will also blow farm building supplies and scrap pile stuff into the ditches and you have to fish it out of the mud. So we pulled out some plastic trash, some old hoses, chunks of wood, and some scrap tin.

6. Lay Down Your Pallet Bridge

There’s just not much to this kind of project. That’s the nice thing about it. It’s easy. Once we’ve cleared out and cleaned up the area, Mr. Fix-It brings the pallet over from the scrap pile and lays it over the ditch. Simple.

Depending on the width of your crossing and the quality of your scavenged pallets, you might have to do a little bridge construction and screw a couple pallets together over some 2x4s. There was no construction necessary for our bridges. Our pallets were long and narrow and very solid. You want to make sure they are sitting level on the ground, so dig as needed to get a level “shelf” for them on each side.

We laid them in place and Mr. Fix-It rode the tractor over each end to push them down into the dirt more firmly. Be careful if you use this method to set them. They are not really meant for tractor weight and you could end up un-doing all your hard work. Sometimes it’s easier to drive over them with a golf cart or atv to set them more firmly.  Or just have the munchkins jump up and down on them a few times. These are not bridges over canyons or gorges or white water rapids. The worse case is someone ends up in the mud. As you can see from the picture below, my crew prefer the adventurous life and had been crossing on that log.

7. Enjoy It!

This might seem silly, but I can’t tell you how important it is to learn to enjoy your property when you have a homestead. Not just work. Not just take care of the animals, tend the garden, cook the food…but for recreation! Get out and have fun on your land. That’s part of what makes this all worth while. Take the dog, take the camera, take the kids, take a snack and go! Quite frankly, sometimes you can’t afford any other kind of recreation anyway! {smile} Learn to love your land, not just use it.

For other pallet project ideas, see our post on Making a Mobile Water/Mineral Feeder and Making an Easy Pallet Garden Fence.

Have you done any interesting projects this summer? We’ve been laying kinda low since our big road trip over Spring Break, but we’ve had a few small adventures. Now we’re deep into fall sport’s season and the start of school–with the holidays just around the corner. I can’t believe how time flies!