UV stable 5gal buckets?

[strantor]

I make my chicken feeders out of home depot 5gal buckets. Problem is they don't last more than a year before they start falling apart from being in the sun. I'd like to get a few more years out of them. Where can I find buckets that won't degrade from sunlight? Food grade would be ideal too. I'm sure it will come up about horse feed buckets or planter's pots but I'd like to stick with that standard bucket shape because of the way I make them and because I have sort of a "system" that is based around these buckets and I'd rather not get other kinds of vessels thrown into the mix

 

[ArlyA]

Get black ones. They are made that color by adding carbon which is much better at resisting UV.

 

[sea2summit]

Food grade buckets from Lowes/Homedepot hold up longer. It's not great material for long term UV resistance no matter the type of bucket. I've changed mostly to rain gutters for my feeders. The other option is the small 10-15 gallon "barrels" if you wan to stick with bucket style.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I would look into a UV protective coating, i.e. a spray paint especially formulated to block UV on items exposed long term to the sun. I also suspect that many plastic products are purposely designed to bio degrade, so that they will decompose in landfills or when exposed to the environment. That way your great grandchildren won't have to look at them in a ditch somewhere.

 

[ponytug]

Have you tried rubber (or metal?) feeding pans? We have rubber ones that have been in use for a decade.

All the best,

Peter

 

[strantor]

Get black ones. They are made that color by adding carbon which is much better at resisting UV.

Food grade buckets from Lowes/Homedepot hold up longer.

I would look into a UV protective coating, i.e. a spray paint especially formulated to block UV on items exposed long term to the sun.

Thanks, I'll give these suggestions a shot.

I've changed mostly to rain gutters for my feeders. The other option is the small 10-15 gallon "barrels" if you wan to stick with bucket style.

Have you tried rubber (or metal?) feeding pans? We have rubber ones that have been in use for a decade.

The reason I want to stick with the buckets is shown in my video below. My chicken feeders are no-waste and varmint proof (when they're new) and super easy to open/close so my kids tend the chickens and I don't have to worry about it.

(it's kind of a long video but only the first 4-5 minutes are relevant here, unless you want to make one)

 

[tomplum]

Years back when we had a solar greenhouse we used "a wall" of buckets filled with water to mediate the temperature. These buckets I sprayed with a tie coat and then sprayed with latex house paint. We still have many of them today. ~ 15 years old. If you just have a couple, I'd try plastic compatible spray paint like 2 lane suggested.

 

[ArlyA]

I use lots of HDPE and even stock my own. This is the plastic that buckets are normally made from. When its black, it will last outside for a long, long time. Paint doesn't like to stick to plastic and a wast of time in my book. Black buckets are available and we even have some.

 

[tomplum]

I'm here to tell you that the right paint works just fine. Or in our GH buckets, the wrong paint over bulldog. Scratched and scuffed, sure. After their greenhouse use, they've been used in the garden, around the the yard, carried rocks you name it. Lots of earthy brown left. . . Used to be anyways, plastic handles, bumpers and interior car trim got painted when there wasn't a spec color part available.

 

[oosik]

I've had white buckets - powdered laundry detergent from Costco and black buckets - hydraulic fluid from Kubota dealer. The white ones will last a couple years in the sun. I've had the black ones out in the sun for six + years - still good as new.