Stacking 5 gallon buckets

[Ric]

What's the secret to stacking empty (no lids) 5 gallon buckets inside one another and not having them stick together to a point that you cannot separate them by hand?

 

[Jim Caudill]

You need to insert something alongside the interior pail so as to prevent a seal. Maybe a piece of electrical wire with some insulation on it. Really just about anything, strip of cardboard, metal, wood, etc.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

What Jim said.

 

[MEP001]

You can get paint stir sticks for free at Home Depot/Lowe's. They probably wouldn't like you taking 50 at once, but you could grab a few each time you go in.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Someone once told me that if buckets were stuck together you could drive a screwdriver or something between them and pour water in the gap to get them to separate. Don't know if it works, but that's what I was told.

 

[MEP001]

Someone once told me that if buckets were stuck together you could drive a screwdriver or something between them and pour water in the gap to get them to separate. Don't know if it works, but that's what I was told.

I unstuck a couple just the other day by spraying high pressure water into the gap between two nested buckets.

 

[mjc3333]

You could also try prying them open with your tumb and fingers. I have done this many times over the past 20 years. If you leverage the two buckets the right way if works everytime. I have begun to drill holes in ths bottom of each bucket to prevenf the "vacuum" effect that happens to two buckets stacked together.

 

[Kevin James]

My guys have orders to toss any empty 5 gallons buckets or pails into the dumpster after they punch holes in the bottom. I can see having one around but any more than one is unnecessary. Why save them? Do you guy's also save used or broken parts?

 

[Ric]

My guys have orders to toss any empty 5 gallons buckets or pails into the dumpster after they punch holes in the bottom. I can see having one around but any more than one is unnecessary. Why save them? Do you guy's also save used or broken parts?

My wife likes to keep a few around to use while working in her garden...someone seems a bit cranky today

 

[Jeff_L]

I give some of them to our local ice hockey rink to keep their pucks in for practices. Just another way to advertise by slapping your car wash name on them and having them sit out on the ice for an hour at a time.

 

[Waxman]

When we get too many we stack them outside the bays with a sign that reads:' $3 each at Lowe's. Free here.'

They last a day or 2.

Why throw something useful and fairly new away? Do you also toss returnable cans?

 

[MEP001]

When we get too many we stack them outside the bays with a sign that reads:' $3 each at Lowe's. Free here.'

I rinse and set them on the islands by the vacs. They're usually gone within five minutes.