How to Make a Sledge Out of Wooden Palette

by stiffey in Outside > Snow

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How to Make a Sledge Out of Wooden Palette

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The whole of England was blanketed with snow and living right by Hampstead Heath I jumped onto the opportunity to go sledging, after I'd finished all of my work for the day.

I didn't want to fork out on a new one, but I wanted something a little more substantial than a dinner tray. So I decided to build one.

Fortunately I stumbled across a wooden palette resting against a skip next door.

Tools required:
> Saw
> Claw hammer
> Chisel
> Sledgehammer
> Nails (I reused the nails from the palette)

Separating the Palette

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Saw the three struts that hold all of the top boards.

Separating the wood is quite difficult, as the nails are usually quite long and wood is quite soft.

I used the chisel and sledgehammer to separate the wood and then used the hammer to leverage them away.

You'll now have a platform for the sledge.

Separate three boards, to be used as the rails.

Curving the Rails

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On each of the rails, simply saw at an angle at one end to form a curve.

I'll add a better photo later

Putting It All Together

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Line up the rails on the underside and nail them to the platform.

I attached an ethernet cable, to help pull it around

I'll add a better photo later

There You Go

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And there you go. Simple, cheap, effective and fast!

Improvements

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If I'd had a bit more time to spend on it, I would have:
> made the platform narrower. It would have reduced the resistance when sledging
> smoothed out the rails more
> coated the rails in a finish