How to Repair a Plastic Trug

By Stitching it With Cable Ties…

This winter I learned that plastic buckets break real easy when it’s cold outside. I managed to break not one, but two of my favorite plastic trugs by being less than gentle with the firewood loading this winter time.
But since they don’t need to hold water (I use them for garden waste and for hauling firewood) I repaired them by drilling lots of holes along the cracks and stitching them up with cable ties.
Here’s how…

broken or split plastic trug type bucket

Take one split plastic trug bucket…

drill holes along crack or split

Pop it onto a plank of wood overhanging the workbench and start drilling holes…

Lots of evenly spaced hole alongside the buckets split or crack

Drill evenly spaced holes all the way along the crack or split, using the built in lines/marks…

cable tie stitches to repair plastic trug bucket

Thread cable ties through the holes and pull tight..

tightly cable tie each hole alongside the plastic crack

Cable tie stitch every hole, pulling them tight up as you go…

make sure no overlap of plastic bucket repair

Make sure the plastic buts up to the other side and doesn’t overlap itself…

trim off cable ties alongside crack in plastic bucket

When all cable ties are tight, snip them off as close as you can…

A repaired bucket stitched with cable ties

The finished repair, but don’t try to put water in it!

Simple and quick repair using cheap materials. Ready for work as soon as you’ve finished. Trying to repair cracks like this using an adhesive just isn’t going to work because there is not enough area for the glue to get a good grip. Plus it’s a supper slippery and smooth surface which glues hate.

Stay well
Ian

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