I don’t like to spend money on new things when a thing made of reused things is available
I have been using a set of panniers that I made out of Tidy Cat litter buckets for years. They’re great. A few things that I like about them include:
Light weight
Durable
Can be used as a seat and/or table
Double as a beer cooler
Great conversation starter
If you’re looking to carry some extra gear and on a budget, check these out. My old ones have treated me well and have plenty of miles left on them, but I wanted a slightly larger set for this tour so I made some new ones. Here is a quick tutorial on how to do it.
Use the ruler to measure the distance between rear most cross bar on your rack and one more that is at least six inches away. This will be the distance between the outside edges of your J-hooks. I like to have these snug against the cross bars to prevent shifting.
Cut the trim of the bucket with the razor to make a space to mount the J-hooks
Drill holes in the cutout area to secure the J-hooks and then fasten them with the bolts. Be sure to put a washer on the inside.
Use the channel locks or vice to flatten the curved end of the EMT strap
With the pannier mounted on the rack, find a position to mount the EMT strap so it can hold the lower portion of the pannier against the rack. Mark the hole to be drilled.
Drill the hole and secure the strap with a nut, bolt, and washer
Drill two small holes in the bucket trim below the J-hooks. These can be used to attach the small bungee cord in order to reduce vertical movement
A few notes and ideas
You may find it necessary to cut a bit more of the trim around the bucket out allow it to fit nicely over the rack. In the picture below you can see how I have done this.
Have some fun and paint them or cover them in stickers. I can tell you from experience that putting masking tape over the Tidy Cat logo in order to preserve it when painting just peels the label off. Maybe try painters tape or cling wrap
If you don’t have a tight fit with the J clips or EMT strap wrap a bit of electrical tape around the rack
Stick some reflective tape on the back and sides to make yourself more visible
The EMT strap could be improved upon. Something like a double roller cabinet latch or this tube mounting clip could be adapted to clamp onto the rack. This would eliminate vertical and horizontal motion and eliminate the need for the bungee cords, which would also make installation and removal a bit easier. A more expensive option might be to purchase a set of Ortlieb hardware. If somebody comes up with a nice improvement for this part of them, please let me know. I won’t have time to play with it before our trip.
Getting ready to paint
More paint
I tried to keep the Tidy Cat logo intact, but the tape peeled it off
The inside view of the finished product
Outside view. This is what you will see from the road
They make a great platform to strap other things to
Other people’s builds
Since posting this, some folks have sent some shots of their Tidy Cat Panniers as well. I thought I would share them. Feel free to send in your builds.
I built a similar pair of kitty litter panniers 6 or 7 years ago, and they have been part of my trusted every-day commuting kit ever since. I have found that the plastic of the hinge lid eventually fatigues & snaps with repeated use, but have prolonged its life with a strip of electrical tape. One thing that isn’t in your instructions but looks like you did (and I would highly recommend) is making sure you install the hooks such that the tops of the buckets are flush with the rack, which gives you a nice wide platform for carrying large objects (I’ve hauled a sewing machine, microwave, other bike in a shipping box, etc. strapped across the top of the rack & panniers). My buckets had wire handles, and I rotated them 90 degrees so that they would be clear of the rack, which I prefer. I also recommend adding a loop of p-cord to the outside edges for tying things down (I always carry small bungees & a cargo net for strapping down extra groceries or stuff I find on the side of the road). I used tarp/rope hooks from the hardware store to attach them to the rack, and bent them in a vice to get the curve right to fit the rack rail. My lower mounting system consists of (on each) half of a screen door spring with a hook on the end. The springs are protected by a sleeve of old inner tube, and they run through a pipe strap near the bottom. The hook attached to the rack near the mounting point at the rear axle, and they serve both to hold the panniers down (especially when not heavily-loaded) and prevent the bottoms from swinging out. I’ve been very happy with this setup, and prefer them to a set of fancy (used) Ortlieb panniers that I picked up on Craigslist: they’re lighter, similar volume, stand up on their own when set down, stackable, reasonably waterproof, create a nice, wide platform for larger loads, and, best of all, they were dirt cheap & made from (mostly) upcycled parts (pun intended). Sorry if my description is unclear – this would definitely be a picture-worth-a-thousand-words situation – be happy to send some pictures if you send me an email (sent a message through the Contact Us form). Oh, and one additional note is that I used a Dremel, a plastic bottle cap, and some zipties to make a custom mount for my rear light so that it rides just under the back end of my rack, as a seatpost mount would interfere with my under-seat bag (and would be blocked by large loads, anyway), and a seatstay mount would interfere with the panniers.
I have my eye on the hinged lid as a weak point that will need to be dealt with. I’m planning on needing some duct tape at some point. Another thing that bugs e a bit is that those lids are relatively tough to remove compared to the other style on the smaller ones. It is good that you don’t need to worry about it popping off, but a pain if you need to toss a big bag of groceries in there. I tried shaving a bit of it back to make it easier to grip, but it didn’t help much. I agree with your thoughts on flush mounting with the rack. I didn’t mention it in the posting because if you use those J-hooks I link to they will pretty much fit perfectly and mount flush if you cut the trim where the pictures show. I’ve seen the lower mounting rig that you mentioned. I like it, but ultimately I would like to find an affordable way to rig up something similar to the Ortlieb system. I think finding something similar to those clips I linked to would be great.
Evan
I’ve had the same problem with the lid (tough to remove when you want to carry a larger item). I often end up strapping stuff on top that could easily ride in one of the buckets if the lid were removed. I have actually scoped out replacement lids – figured out that my kitty litter buckets appear to be 4 gallon “EZ Stor pail”, which you can order replacement lids for at $2.34 each, but I haven’t yet found non-hinged lids that fit (and that pop off more easily). Some might argue that buying new lids for a largely-upcycled project is blasphemy, and I haven’t had to go that route yet, but glad to know it’s an option. I recommend putting a strip of electrical tape along the flat top of the hinge before it starts breaking, which helps it last longer.
The other thing I didn’t mention is that, especially when routinely heavily loaded, the plastic of the buckets can start to fatigue where the hooks are attached, so it’s helpful to have some sort of large washer there (I used a strip of pipe hanger, which has worked great, but important to tape the ends down so that they don’t catch on things).
Loving them. Thx for sharing! Jacinta
I built a similar pair of kitty litter panniers 6 or 7 years ago, and they have been part of my trusted every-day commuting kit ever since. I have found that the plastic of the hinge lid eventually fatigues & snaps with repeated use, but have prolonged its life with a strip of electrical tape. One thing that isn’t in your instructions but looks like you did (and I would highly recommend) is making sure you install the hooks such that the tops of the buckets are flush with the rack, which gives you a nice wide platform for carrying large objects (I’ve hauled a sewing machine, microwave, other bike in a shipping box, etc. strapped across the top of the rack & panniers). My buckets had wire handles, and I rotated them 90 degrees so that they would be clear of the rack, which I prefer. I also recommend adding a loop of p-cord to the outside edges for tying things down (I always carry small bungees & a cargo net for strapping down extra groceries or stuff I find on the side of the road). I used tarp/rope hooks from the hardware store to attach them to the rack, and bent them in a vice to get the curve right to fit the rack rail. My lower mounting system consists of (on each) half of a screen door spring with a hook on the end. The springs are protected by a sleeve of old inner tube, and they run through a pipe strap near the bottom. The hook attached to the rack near the mounting point at the rear axle, and they serve both to hold the panniers down (especially when not heavily-loaded) and prevent the bottoms from swinging out. I’ve been very happy with this setup, and prefer them to a set of fancy (used) Ortlieb panniers that I picked up on Craigslist: they’re lighter, similar volume, stand up on their own when set down, stackable, reasonably waterproof, create a nice, wide platform for larger loads, and, best of all, they were dirt cheap & made from (mostly) upcycled parts (pun intended). Sorry if my description is unclear – this would definitely be a picture-worth-a-thousand-words situation – be happy to send some pictures if you send me an email (sent a message through the Contact Us form). Oh, and one additional note is that I used a Dremel, a plastic bottle cap, and some zipties to make a custom mount for my rear light so that it rides just under the back end of my rack, as a seatpost mount would interfere with my under-seat bag (and would be blocked by large loads, anyway), and a seatstay mount would interfere with the panniers.
I have my eye on the hinged lid as a weak point that will need to be dealt with. I’m planning on needing some duct tape at some point. Another thing that bugs e a bit is that those lids are relatively tough to remove compared to the other style on the smaller ones. It is good that you don’t need to worry about it popping off, but a pain if you need to toss a big bag of groceries in there. I tried shaving a bit of it back to make it easier to grip, but it didn’t help much. I agree with your thoughts on flush mounting with the rack. I didn’t mention it in the posting because if you use those J-hooks I link to they will pretty much fit perfectly and mount flush if you cut the trim where the pictures show. I’ve seen the lower mounting rig that you mentioned. I like it, but ultimately I would like to find an affordable way to rig up something similar to the Ortlieb system. I think finding something similar to those clips I linked to would be great.
I’ve had the same problem with the lid (tough to remove when you want to carry a larger item). I often end up strapping stuff on top that could easily ride in one of the buckets if the lid were removed. I have actually scoped out replacement lids – figured out that my kitty litter buckets appear to be 4 gallon “EZ Stor pail”, which you can order replacement lids for at $2.34 each, but I haven’t yet found non-hinged lids that fit (and that pop off more easily). Some might argue that buying new lids for a largely-upcycled project is blasphemy, and I haven’t had to go that route yet, but glad to know it’s an option. I recommend putting a strip of electrical tape along the flat top of the hinge before it starts breaking, which helps it last longer.
The other thing I didn’t mention is that, especially when routinely heavily loaded, the plastic of the buckets can start to fatigue where the hooks are attached, so it’s helpful to have some sort of large washer there (I used a strip of pipe hanger, which has worked great, but important to tape the ends down so that they don’t catch on things).
Yeah, I have some big washers in there. I think buying a lid if you need it is better than building or buying a new pannier.