They would make lovely raised flower or veg planters... cut them in half lengthways, paint them if desired, put them on trestle legs, fill with compost and voila!
If those are yours in the picture, they are perfect as is. I had a couple I just used as garden accents out by my sheds and barn. Set a top on if you have them near a party space, place potted plants on them in season but keep the original paint and patina. They look great outside under a shed or barn light in the snow. DO NOT cut them up!
Unless you have a cutting torch, you will not be able to cut them. How about using them as ends for a BBQ area bar by using barn wood or pallets for a top. If it is too high just need to dig down and set them into the ground to get the height you want. Would go well with the industrial looking benches someone suggested. Good luck
Yes, you'll be able to cut them, but you need a blade made for metal! We've cut the tops off and used them as burning barrels for yard waste in the fall and winter. In our area, you have to have a covered fire, but a metal shelf from an old fridge works to keep embers inside. These will last a while but not forever. We gouged extra holes along the sides for a faster burn and the bottom did eventually melt off, but we did continue to use it for awhile even after that. Make sure you either cover it from moisture when not in use or flip it upside down if it still has a bottom. Water and leftover ash is MESSY!! :) After you've used it just once that paint will burn off and it has a very rustic look....but if you deal with a Home Owner's Association.....**gulp!! GOOD LUCK! ;)
Cut out a large piece on the side. Debating it with heat proof hinges. Paint inside and out with BBQ paint add an old oven grate and you have a great grill. Add some metal legs or place on an old metal table frame. They make and sell them around here for $150.00.
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I think they're beautiful as is. I would put them in the garden and use them as fountains. If my eyes haven't deceived me, it looks like they have tops and if you can unscrew the caps on them maybe you could run a hose up through the bottom and out both of the holes! If you take the tops off completely and put a hole coming up through the bottom you could just add some PVC...( not much smaller than the width of the barrel filled with pretty rocks and Voila! a beautiful fountain. Other ideas would be to bury one halfway in the ground and make a fountain or bury it a bit deeper and make a fire pit! Drill holes in the bottom for drainage. Dig a hole where you want it to fit with a bit of gravel on the bottom, add gravel, add your barrel, add wood...good to go! don't forget to drill decent holes and add the gravel because you want to make sure the fire is completely out before you ever walk away from a fire that you only think is out. Embers can fly from even the smallest amount of wind. Spray it down with a hose you keep safe by....you will have a beautiful yard! Hope that helped! Eileen
If those barrels had any kind of poison or toxic chemicals or oils you could be exposing yourself and the envvironment to some forbidden substances by burning in them. Be careful and vigilant.
We put sand/salt mix available and given from the county and shovel mix into the barrel for our gravel driveway that becomes icy in winter. We put the barrel full with a lid at the end of our driveway exit. The driveway leads onto a busy road and the sloping driveway may have our vehicle slide down if it weren't for our barrel of quick applicatoin snow melt solution!
Living in the country, we do not have garbage pickup but twice a month so we use them to burn household garbage in and put the unburnables in the garbage pickup Whenever we can get one we always have one or two in reserve
burn wood, etc to make biochar, need a smaller barrel upside down filled with wood and a larger one to hold the first, with kindling all around the edge of the inner barrel. Air holes, fire and a few hours later you can enrich your garden with biochar.
If there are no dangerous chemicals in them, make and sell barbecue pits. Just cut the barrel in half, add legs and a grill and spray paint with a high gloss heat paint. Good luck.
Before you do anything; Be absolutely sure of what was in them before. Most metal barrels are made for chemicals and oil related products. None of them are good stuff to fool around with and hard to clean.
Here in Australia we cut them open laid down and use them for barbecues or just a natural fire for all your friends to sit around and tell stories and toast your marshmallows, have your sparklers and celebrate whatever!!! Once cut in half, sell them as such, legs can be welded on too. Hope this helps. Kaz
Having several acres and huge amounts of field mice, causing a lot of damage, my clever 90 year old Mom, simply put a board leaning against
the open top of a barrel, threw in a few handfulls of dried grains (corn) and
the next day, several dozen field mice were at the bottom of that barrel,
she then used the mice climbing board leaning onto the barrel to kill them.
I would leave the rust and seal the barrel then cut the barrel in half lengthwise and with the flat/open side up and create a cushion top and short dark wooden legs to create a bench. That would be so cool!
What about spraying them with a resin or poly seal and using them as outdoor tables for drinks or a buffet line , displaying container gardens, holding firewood, fill the bottom with sand and plastic bottles to make planters, storage for pool toys... Even storing garden tools like rakes, shovels, and the like would make them decorative and functional in a patio area. Or, how about adding hooks to one for a "chef's assistant" for the grill? It should be noted that I have zero DIY skills but lots of dreams. :) Good Luck!
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I would leave the rust and seal the barrel then cut the barrel in half lengthwise and with the flat/open side up and create a cushion top and short dark wooden legs to create a bench. That would be so cool!
What about spraying them with a resin or poly seal and using them as outdoor tables for drinks or a buffet line , displaying container gardens, holding firewood, fill the bottom with sand and plastic bottles to make planters, storage for pool toys... Even storing garden tools like rakes, shovels, and the like would make them decorative and functional in a patio area. Or, how about adding hooks to one for a "chef's assistant" for the grill? It should be noted that I have zero DIY skills but lots of dreams. :) Good Luck!