Bushel Basket Handle Replacement

Sometimes we end up with a perfectly good bushel basket but one or both of the wire handles is missing. This Instructable will show you how to repair it quickly and improve on the original wire handle.

MATERIALS: the basket, a wire clothes hanger, a short section of plastic pipe, tubing, or old garden hose.

TOOLS: electric drill, 1/8" drill bit, wire cutters, slip joint pliers, hacksaw, ruler, marker

Determine, directly opposite the existing handle, where you will locate the new handle. Mark where the holes for the handle will be drilled, if needed. Drill the holes 4" apart. First photo.

Cut a 12-14" piece from the wire hanger. Straighten, if needed. Cut a 4" piece from your plastic pipe, tubing, or old garden hose. Mark the middle of the wire hanger section and mark 2" on both sides of the center mark. Secure the hanger at one of the outer marks with the pliers and bend the hanger 90 degrees, Slide the 4" tubing piece over the hanger so it is between the bend and the other outer mark. Secure the hanger with the pliers and make another 90 degree bend so both bends are in the same direction. Second photo.

Insert the handle assembly through the holes in the basket, leaving about 2-2 1/2" outside the rim. Bend the handle upwards 90 degrees. Use the pliers to bend the inside sections of the handle upwards and over the top of the basket rim. Open the pliers to wide the setting. Bend the wire ends over the rim and down the side of the basket. Done.