Transformed Truck Suspension Spring to DIY Bird Feeder Stand

Living on a wooden lot in the South means I get daily visitors from nature, many of whom are a wide variety of feathered friends. 

Wanting to encourage more birds to visit the yard more often to help eliminate the bug and spider problem that also comes with living amongst so many trees, I have established bird feeders in both the front and back yards.  Several homemade bird feeders are ones I have repurposed from stuff around the house.

However, as far as DIY bird feeder ideas go, the idea of transforming a discarded truck suspension spring into the base for a platform bird feeder was not something I ever considered making before now.

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It’s time for the Sustainable Craft Challenge, when I join some of my creative friends and we each bring you a craft idea with a sustainable twist. This month our theme is Transformation. The links will be at the end of this post to check out all the creative transformation projects.

A whimsical idea.

The day my husband was upgrading the suspension on his diesel truck, leaving two very large springs sitting in the yard, was also the day I first thought those springs needed a new purpose.  Something whimsical for the yard would be perfect.  I enjoy enchanting gardens with unexpected whimsical finds cleverly tucked amongst the plantings.

The suspension springs are around 30 inches tall when upright and very heavy. 

Heavy enough to withstand the weight of different birds and a pesky squirrel or twenty who frequent the daily buffet available in our bird feeders.

The future for these discarded suspension springs was most likely a dumpster or recycle bin.  When I saw the two sitting in the yard, it was almost like one of those suspension springs was begging to be repurposed as a DIY bird feeder stand.

At least that is the message I gathered from them that day. 

This suspension spring bird feeder platform just needed something creative for the top.

Repurposing this old truck suspension spring into a bird feeder base serves two purposes. It is heavy enough to withstand the weight of a climbing squirrel to get to the bird seed, but it would also be a decorative garden structure.

I guess it serves three purposes since the main purpose for upcycling the suspension spring is to keep something out of the landfill.

Once the idea came to me to make it into a birdfeeder stand, my next challenge was to find something else to repurpose for a bowl top to hold the bird seed.

Surprisingly, I didn’t have to look any further than my own garage.

An Unexpected Upcycle But Also The Perfect Solution.

Since I had already determined that the large spring was perfect for a platform bird feeder, it just needed a bowl-shaped top to serve as the feed tray.

Weeks went by and I had yet to find a viable solution for a durable, lightweight, bird seed holding top for the spring. I was also still on the fence whether this idea had merit or was just too crazy to pull off.  After the first few days, I had already put it out of my mind and let it slide off my to-do list. 

At the same time my husband was changing the suspension on his big truck, we were also renovating a vintage-style bathroom in our home. After replacing the dated combination exhaust fan and light fixture in this bathroom, the cover for this fixture was moved to the garage to be discarded.

Walking through the garage weeks after dreaming of a way to transform the spring into a platform feeder, I spied the light fixture cover sitting in the discard pile and it stopped me in my tracks.

Could the solution to what I needed to make the platform bird feeder idea have been sitting in my garage all this time?

The exhaust light cover, with its small glass bowl-shaped center surrounded by an aluminum frame with open slats for ventilation, was most definitely an option for the top of the bird feeder.  

So I decided to try it out.  The two suspension springs were still sitting outside near the shed so I carried the light fixture cover to it and sat it atop one of the dirty springs. 

Surprisingly, the glass part of the light fixture fit nearly perfectly inside the coils of the spring. The glass light cover could hold the bird seed and the open slats of the aluminum frame would provide a perch for our feeding feathered and furry friends.

So, this project is a transformation of two discarded household items combined to create a unique one-of-a-kind homemade bird feeder.

Paint and zip ties.

After cleaning off the leftover automotive grease and grime on the suspension spring, all it needed to give it a new look is a fresh coat of spray paint in a vibrant red gloss.

Now that I had finally figured out what to use for the top of the bird feeder, the next challenge was how to combine two very different repurposed items into one new purpose.

How to make two very different items work together.

It didn’t matter if the exhaust light fixture was an option if I couldn’t figure out how to attach the light fixture cover to the suspension spring.  Welding them together was not an option since steel and aluminum can’t be combined that way.

I thought about using glue but didn’t think it would adhere to the two different metals very well either.

Including my husband in this thought process, because of course metal working and truck parts are more his area of expertise than mine, we discussed how to make this project work.

Another consideration was that I wanted to ensure I could easily clean the bird feeder when needed.  This thing is going to be heavy.  Too heavy to move in one combined piece very often to clean. 

In the end, I used something very simple to secure the top of the bird feeder in place – zip ties.

The easiest approach was to wrap black zip ties around the top coil of the spring, thread it through an open slat of the fixture, and pull it tight.  In all I used eight zip ties all around the top, holding the old exhaust light cover in place able to hold the weight of many types of birds.

This method is not fancy but will allow me to easily remove the top of the feeder for easy cleaning in the future.

I get it, this bird feeder is unique and is probably not what most people would put on display in their outdoor space.

Still deciding how much I like it myself, but for now, it is staying in the yard because the birds have already started to enjoy it.   

Transforming an old truck suspension spring into a bird feeder was a simple project and was a good idea for how to repurpose two items at the same time. 

Pin For Inspiration

Are you wondering what we are going to do with the second truck suspension spring?

The current plan for the second truck suspension spring is to repurpose it into a cute decorative statue of some silly creature for the yard.  This will be a welding project for my husband to repurpose scrap metal in the garage to make either a dog statue or something similar with the spring.

I am confident it will be quite charming once it is done.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you continue through the links for the other talented bloggers who joined in the challenge this month with a project that transforms items like you have never seen before.

Embroidered Aran Sweater Bag Upcycle

Transforming a Mason Jar into a Solar Light

Busted Canvas on Bottle Transformation

Upcycle Denim Jacket: Fun and Easy Upcycling Project

Cover a logo on a bag

Cultivating Autumn Arrangements

How To Transform A Vintage Powder Container Into A Jewelry Box

Hugs,

Psalms 94:19 When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your comfort delights my soul.

More posts to enjoy:

Our New Privacy Fence

DIY Footed Planter

Upcycled Garden Decor

Upcycled Bird Feeder