Bucket hauler stress points
The new modified Haul Master lawn trailer I've been calling the Bucket Hauler is holding up nicely to some
serious muddy conditions.
One of the corners started
busting loose, but I think the above bracket will hold it in place.
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.
Mark, you should drill pilot holes before putting the screws in. First, this will help keep the screws in the middle of the plank, and second it will lessen the tendency of the wood to split.
As you can see here, end grain screws make a relatively weak joint. Even a relatively simple to make dowel joint (with wood glue) would be a lot stronger. A tightly fitting box joint would probably be even better.
@tee: A bracket on the outside is indeed stronger. An inside bracket like this could deform and eventually pull the screws out of the wood. But on the inside you can get away with using a smaller bracket.
Everyone else beat me to it. I would drop a 2x2 offcut into the corner and screw it tight with some woodscrews. Since your buckets are round, there shouldn't be interference(and you don't have to go to town to get another bracket if you don't have the larger size.)