Fixing the 5-Gallon Bucket Handle Design Flaw
I love 5-gallon buckets, but they have several critical design flaws. While the buckets themselves are sturdy, easy to clean, and stackable, the bucket handles are poorly designed and prone to cracking and breaking. They also cut into your hand when you lift a full bucket because they are too thin. The handles are typically made out of cheap plastic that hasn’t been UV treated and will become brittle in the sun.
I’ve come up with an easy solution that not only fixes these issues but also provides some extra benefits. I think you’ll really like it.
I use a ton of 5-gallon buckets—for gathering vegetables, picking weeds, hauling dirt, for home food storage, as water reservoirs, and for storing my chicken feed to keep it safe from rodents.
By the way, I'm Tim, an electrical engineer who applies engineering principles to gardening. If you enjoy learning about how science and engineering can be applied to gardening, please subscribe.
My Solution
I’ve designed an ergonomic 5-gallon bucket handle that can be 3D printed. The handle is large and easy to grip. I’m using PETG to print it, so it won’t get brittle from UV rays, and it won’t become soft in the sun.
The installation is simple. The handle wire doesn’t need to be removed. The new handle can be directly bolted around the wire.
Okay, let’s try it out on this bucket filled with green tomatoes. It feels great—so much better than the old handle that cut into my hand.
Extra Benefits
As an added benefit, you can print these in different colors and easily color code your buckets. Rather than having to find and read the labels on each bucket, with color coding I can quickly identify the right bucket in my food storage. For example: yellow handles are wheat, and orange handles are red lentils.
How to Get Your own 5-Gallon Bucket Handle For Free
Don't have a 3D-Printer, not a problem, we'll print one for you. You just need to pay the shipping costs, and we'll print one, and send it to you so you can try it out.
Get A Free Bucket Handle, Now!
- Set up an account on Vegetronix, so we know where to ship it.
- Send us an email through our Contacts page, letting us know that you want one.
- We'll create a payment link so you can pay for shipping ($7.95 for USA, contact us for international rates.)
If you’d like to try out these bucket handles, I’ve put a link to the 3D-printable file down below. If you don’t have a 3D printer, not a problem. Contact me using the link below, and if you pay for shipping, we’ll send you one—while supplies last.
Thanks for reading!
