5 Innovative Uses For Harbor Freight's 5-Gallon Bucket

For affordable and strong-quality tools, many people go to Harbor Freight. From power and hand tools to materials for all kinds of jobs, the chain is a great alternative to bigger names like Home Depot and Lowe's. It even delivers when it comes to the less glamorous, more mundane items you tend to need on a jobsite or during an at-home DIY endeavor. For instance, Harbor Freight sells its own branded all-purpose, 5-gallon bucket that can help you out in more ways than one.

As the Harbor Freight bucket is advertised, it can hold tools, liquids, or really anything you need. Not to mention, it boasts a carry handle with a grip designed for comfort and is designed for maximum durability. However, keep in mind that there isn't a given maximum weight limit, but since the bucket is plastic, we don't recommend overfilling it with heavy items. 

The bucket goes for the low cost of $4.98, which makes it one of the many Harbor Freight finds that are no-brainers at their price. Even still, a little creativity and experimentation can come in handy as there are loads of innovative ways to use the Harbor Freight 5-gallon bucket. 

For many animal owners, feeding time is highly specific. However, there are animals that can graze on a full bowl throughout the day. For these critters with exceptional self-control, a Harbor Freight 5-gallon bucket could be just what they and their owners need for their food supply. As demonstrated by Yanasa TV on YouTube with generic 5-gallon buckets, with just a little bit of effort, two Harbor Freight buckets could be combined into an animal slow feeder. Here's how you can pull it off.

1. Measure out the width of your desired food bowl and mark it along the bottom of the first bucket on the side. This will be where the foot comes out, so make sure to make it big enough. 

2. Carefully cut out the marked area.

3. Cut off the bottom of the second bucket, then cut out an equal-sized portion of the first bucket out of the side of that piece.

4. Cut small slits close to the opening in the side's bottom of the first bucket and close to the edge of the cut-out portion on the second bucket bottom.

5. Using excess material from the removed second bucket's bottom section, cut out two pieces length wise that can fit through the slits.

6. Run these two pieces through the slits of both buckets, attaching them in an L-shape.

7. Use a Harbor Freight bucket lid or a piece of flexible material to create a slide-like shape inside. This allows the food to slide directly in the bowl.

With that, you can pour food into the top and let your animals eat from the bowl at the bottom. 

As mentioned, one of the big selling points of the Harbor Freight 5-gallon bucket is its durability. It's made of thick plastic designed to avoid damage. This level of durability also means stability, to the extent that such buckets could be turned into a seat. While this can be accomplished by simply flipping the bucket over and sitting on the bottom, you could get crafty if you so choose. YouTuber FinditMakeitLoveit went through the process of turning a 5-gallon bucket into a cushioned stool. You only need a few things, including the bucket with a lid, a circular piece of wood that's the same size as the lid, glue, drill, screws, comfortable foam or stuffing, and cloth. 

1. Using a glue of your choosing, stick your foam or stuffing to the circular wood piece.

2. Once the glue has dried, flip the wood piece over so that the soft side is laying on the cloth. Ensure your cloth is square and that the wood is centered on it.

3. Fold over each corner of the cloth snugly over the wood. Use more glue or staples to attach it to the wood, or tie it tightly together.

4. Place the cushion on top of the bucket lid.

5. Flip the cushion and lid over, using a drill to screw the cushion into the lid. Carefully press down on the cushion to make sure the screws don't poke through.

6. Reattach the lid to the bucket.

That's all it takes to make a bucket stool. Considering how cheap Harbor Freight's buckets, lids, and the other materials are, you can make stools without breaking the bank.

Clean water is essential for modern life, including fish. Thus, if you have a sizable pond or aquarium, investing in a solid water filtration system is a great idea. Unfortunately, store-bought models can get quite expensive, so if you want to save money and get crafty, a Harbor Freight 5-gallon bucket can become a DIY filter system. Aquarium Co-Op on YouTube demonstrates just how it's done.

1. Using a hole saw, cut an off-center hole out of the bottom of the bucket.

2. Add an aquarium bulkhead by running it through the hole. Ensure the fastening nut is on the outside of the bucket.

3. Use the hole saw to cut a hole in the center of the bucket lid. Using a regular drill bit, drill a smaller hole off to the side.

4. Run a bulkhead of the same size through the lid hole with the fasting nut on the underside of the lid.

5. Attach a PVC pipe the height of the bucket to the bottom of the lid bulkhead. Attach another to the top of the top of the bucket bulkhead.

6. Add a 90-degree elbow PVC to the top of the lid bulkhead, with a coupler attached to its outer end.

7. Attach tubing to the coupler, with the other end of the tube attached to the pump.

8. Add media (sand, rock, gravel, etc.) to the bucket and run a smaller tube connected to a bubbler through the smaller lid hole to aid in filtration.

On the farm, 5-gallon buckets tend to see a lot of use. As established, though, there's far more to these inexpensive yet handy items than just carrying supplies, food, and water. Per Farm Girl In Progress on YouTube, they can even be converted into nesting areas for chickens. Doing so requires little more than time, patience, and a handful of tools — some of which could be Harbor Freight tools that can get you through DIY projects for cheap.

1. Attach a bucket lid to your Harbor Freight bucket and carefully cut out roughly three-quarters of it.

2. Repeat this process for however many nesting boxes you want for your hens.

3. Secure them wherever and however you see fit. These buckets will lie on their sides, so they will be prone to rolling around. Also ensure the cut-out lid portion is open for the chickens to enter and exit freely.

4. Fill them each with enough hay for your chickens to rest comfortably.

On top of all of this, many recommend adding a perch of some kind to each nest box. This makes it easier for the hens to get in and out, as the jagged edge from the cut lid could hurt them. Its thinness could prove difficult for them to stand on as well. At any rate, though, this is an excellent use of Harbor Freight buckets.

Even though many prefer to simply plant their fruits and vegetables in soil — potentially using some of the smart garden products on the market to help them along – it's not the only method. Hydroponic gardening involves a slightly more intentional setup, where plants are exposed more heavily to sunlight and roots have easier access to open air. This planting method takes up less space, uses less water, and can lead to higher crop yields than traditional gardening. Better yet, with a few 5-gallon buckets, you can set up your own hydroponic garden with ease. YouTuber BalanceBora explains how to get it going.

1. Set up your air pump. Depending on how many buckets you plan to convert, this will determine how many hoses you will have to run from it. This may require a manifold to split from the pump hose.

2. Drill a small hole through the upper side of each bucket large enough to accommodate the air hose.

3. Run one hose through each bucket hole, attaching them to an air stone placed at the bottom of the bucket.

3. Fill each bucket around one-third with water and test to make sure the air pump works.

4. Place a mesh-bottom bucket basket planter or something similar on top of each bucket and fill it with clay pebbles or a similar material.

5. Plant your crops in the pebbles or whatever material you chose.

Simple as that, your hydroponic planter system is all set, with Harbor Freight 5-gallon buckets at the heart of it all. These cheap, inconspicuous buckets may not look like much, but, evidently, the possibilities of what they can do are truly endless.