easiest way to dismantle pallets

I know of at least two places with piles and piles of pallets. They also have a very large chipper and make hardwood woodchips all day long. They won't let you have any of their pallets :) Kind of like the old days of reusing pop bottles, the economics of companies collecting and reusing pallets for anything other than local shipping type uses is not great. There is more value getting (or possibly paying) a couple of pennies from someone who collects them and turns them into woodchips. As a hobby I find some satisfaction in the reuse of pallet wood. I don't really consider the few minutes (or in some more difficult situations many minutes) of time and effort expended as a "cost" any more than I figure my time into the "cost" of some little box I build. If I did, and given how long it takes me to build anything, I would never make anything because it would "cost" too much. Far "cheaper" to go sit on my ass and watch TV :-) (of course I could charge myself for TV watching too)

Basically, if you enjoy "found wood" and the process of getting and taking pallets apart and seeing what little treasures you can find then go for it. If it seems a chore and an effort and you would rather buy some wood at the local lumber yard or mill and spend more time actually building, then leave the pallets for others or for the woodchippers.

Dave Hall

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Dave Hall
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Apparently there are at least a few companies that refurbish pallets, (and in large quantities):

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RFID tags on pallets that Wallyworld is now requiring is an interesting sidenote to this thread.

--Cheers! Dukester

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Dukester

I tend to lean this way, since my experience with pallets has been that the wood rarely works down to something useful and the labor involved is excessive for what you get. I've done a lot with used framing lumber, which can often be gotten for free when an old house is torn down or remodeled. If you hit the right place and time you can get everything from 2x10 joists to maple flooring to cedar paneling to pine sheathing - all with fewer nails and defects than any pallet. As an added advantage, the wood in some of those older houses is *much* better quality than the "whitewood" that goes into modern framing. Recently I have been accumulating small hardwood pieces from a friend who does custom cabinetry, I've ended up with almost all the red oak I need to do the facings on the built-in bookcases I am planning for my family room. Patience is the key - I've been accumulating those red oak pieces for almost 2 years now.

-- "We need to make a sacrifice to the gods, find me a young virgin... oh, and bring something to kill"

Tim Douglass

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Tim Douglass

In article ,

I found that the $20 I had to pay to replace my (disposable) jointer blades, combined with the time spent tearing apart the pallets, cost me more than the wood itself. (It was the grit embedded in the pallets that killed the jointer blades, not nails, etc.)

Heck, it isn't even worth cutting these up for firewood -- gotta grab the file to sharpen the chainsaw after each one. Maybe I just got a bad batch -- I haven't gone back for more.

Regards,

-Steve

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Reply to
Stephen Bigelow

You'd be amazed how quick you can reduce hardwood pallets to firewood with an 8lb maul. Of course it isn't *neat* firewood, but it makes smoke and heat just fine.

-- "We need to make a sacrifice to the gods, find me a young virgin... oh, and bring something to kill"

Tim Douglass

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Tim Douglass

Back when I had time for pallet-wood fuel, I used the chainsaw. Ran it the "easy way" cutting the pallets roughly into thirds, with each third having the 2x4-ish part and a bunch of slats, and then cut each 2x4 in half-ish. Bite-sized pieces that went into the stove well, and I never hit a nail (due more to luck than skill, I think).

Dave Hinz

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Dave Hinz

yep my grand dad used to build some really nice stuff from pallet wood he used to stand them on end and pry them open just enough to get the blade of his hack saw in to cut the nails then use a punch to remove the rest me I do the same but I use a recipicating saw hack saws just way to much work Jim

A MAN WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS CAN SURE SCREW THINGS UP

Reply to
JAMES Mankin

Ah yes... Every time I'm working in my shop in the basement, I look up at the 5/4 oak that they used to make the subfloor in my house (joists are spruce, I think) and drool a little. Of course, all I do is look- 'cause if I took them out, the wife would be really angry with me. But if I ever tear the place down and rebuild, I'd have enough wood to last me a lifetime. I *am* going to take the african mahogany trim out of the upstairs and reclaim it, though. It wasn't installed properly to begin with, and it doesn't match the maple in the rest of the house- it's just sad to see a fine wood so terribly misused.

Aut inveniam viam aut faciam

Reply to
Prometheus

I am confident that you will find a better and more respectful use for it!

-- "We need to make a sacrifice to the gods, find me a young virgin... oh, and bring something to kill"

Tim Douglass

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Tim Douglass

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