I needed an outboard stand. Rather than buy one, I figured I would knock something together. There are a bunch of examples on the internet, but I more or less copied the one on this guy's blog: Post 1, Post 2.
However, when I went to Lowe's the other day, 2x4's were seven #@$%ing dollars and fifty cents each. That made this cheap project into something much more expensive. So I wandered down the alley to my local pile of pallets (one nice thing about living in-town next to the highway) and grabbed a few to disassemble. I've got a clever pallet buster pry-bar tool that works really well (and an air-punch nail remover if you want to use the decking pieces).
A few cuts and some screw-driving later, I had a motor stand. I mostly did all the work with a skillsaw. But because I decided to have a bit of a leanback to mimic a transom (and put weight on the angled supports), I did make a couple cuts on the chop saw and one on the table saw. But if you wanted to freehand it, or didn't want to bother with the leanback, you could probably do the whole thing with a skill saw and a drill/driver.
The casters I got for free from a buddy who had some around in his junk drawers. I also happen to know there's a huge supply of them for cheap at my local recycled building supply store. I also saw a couple nice looking sets on Amazon for like $15. Whatever you do, make sure you use four swivel casters. My first attempt was to use two swivel/locking and two fixed. BAD IDEA and a real pain in the ass in a tight garage.
Obligatory Cautionary Note: Pallet wood can be really nasty. It can be treated with some sketchy chemicals and it can be used to transport god knows what. Learn about this and make sure you are willing to take whatever risk comes with using this wood (H/T to @kerrys for reminding me about this when I mentioned using pallet wood for a cheap deck a few weeks ago). But given that I don't have any toddlers who are going to be chewing on my outboard stand and we will rarely use it as a centerpiece at the dinner table, I figured pallet wood was fine for this use.
However, when I went to Lowe's the other day, 2x4's were seven #@$%ing dollars and fifty cents each. That made this cheap project into something much more expensive. So I wandered down the alley to my local pile of pallets (one nice thing about living in-town next to the highway) and grabbed a few to disassemble. I've got a clever pallet buster pry-bar tool that works really well (and an air-punch nail remover if you want to use the decking pieces).
A few cuts and some screw-driving later, I had a motor stand. I mostly did all the work with a skillsaw. But because I decided to have a bit of a leanback to mimic a transom (and put weight on the angled supports), I did make a couple cuts on the chop saw and one on the table saw. But if you wanted to freehand it, or didn't want to bother with the leanback, you could probably do the whole thing with a skill saw and a drill/driver.
The casters I got for free from a buddy who had some around in his junk drawers. I also happen to know there's a huge supply of them for cheap at my local recycled building supply store. I also saw a couple nice looking sets on Amazon for like $15. Whatever you do, make sure you use four swivel casters. My first attempt was to use two swivel/locking and two fixed. BAD IDEA and a real pain in the ass in a tight garage.
Obligatory Cautionary Note: Pallet wood can be really nasty. It can be treated with some sketchy chemicals and it can be used to transport god knows what. Learn about this and make sure you are willing to take whatever risk comes with using this wood (H/T to @kerrys for reminding me about this when I mentioned using pallet wood for a cheap deck a few weeks ago). But given that I don't have any toddlers who are going to be chewing on my outboard stand and we will rarely use it as a centerpiece at the dinner table, I figured pallet wood was fine for this use.
