easiest way to dismantle pallets

The easiest way I have found to dismantle pallets is to stack a dozen or so
up, pour on a cup of gasoline, and toss in a match. The pallets will self
dismantle in 20 minutes or so. It is fun to watch too.

Joe

"Dica" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> hi all
>
> i posted a question on here a few days ago about the cheapest wood i could
> use for patio furniture and some of you recommended pallet wood. well, i
> found a bunch of places around town that had free pallets and brought some
> home on the weekend. i failed to realize just how difficult it would be to
> take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i
> want
> to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible. anybody
> find
> a easy way to take these apart?
>
> tks
>
>

Google is your friend!

http://tinyurl.com/a2gs8 (link to Google archive on disassembling pallets)

Quick summary: don't bother trying. Too much work for too little wood.

--Cheers!
Duke


"Dica" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> hi all
>
> i posted a question on here a few days ago about the cheapest wood i could
> use for patio furniture and some of you recommended pallet wood. well, i
> found a bunch of places around town that had free pallets and brought some
> home on the weekend. i failed to realize just how difficult it would be to
> take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i
want
> to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible. anybody
find
> a easy way to take these apart?
>
> tks
>
>

Lobby Dosser <[email protected]> writes:

>Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> IMHO, pallet wood is worthless. Maybe your pallets are better made.
>> Packing crates, now you're talking, but I've never seen a pallet useful
>> for anything more than a rabbit hutch.

>This side of the pond they seem to be pretty decent. Sometimes better than
>the quality of the goods shipped on them.

It varies, depending on what they were made for in the first
place. Standard-sized pallets tend to be cr*p (or beat to hell
from use), but custom-made ones are sometimes pretty good.
It pays to be selective.

I've heard that the recyclers only want the standard-sized
pallets and scrap the ones that are odd sizes-- exactly the ones
that might (or might not) have some good wood in them.

I work for a printing company, and some of the pallets that are
used to deliver paper look pretty good. We usually use them to
ship out the finished jobs, though. The bad ones sometimes fall
apart before we can use them.

"Dave Hall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:19:02 -0400, "J. Clarke"
> \
> Everyone is acting like this is an impossible task. Assuming you have
> some time and enjoy things like this to save a buck and be able to say
> that wood was free, just take your time and work them apart. I have

It's not impossible of course, but time has value, and the time it takes to
get the pallets, bring them home, tear them apart, clean up the pieces, sort
through the stock, try to match the same type of wood (!), dispose of the
unusable parts, etc. I'd rather be using elsewhere. On top of that most of
the pallets I'm seeing nowadays at local retailers and beer distibutors are
spray painted a uniform color (at least on the sides) and recollected for
reuse/recycle? I'm sure there are more places that just toss them but I
think it will become less the norm. If WalMart is recycling them you can
bet there is a good rea$on behind it.

--Cheers!
Duke

"Dave Hall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I know of at least two places with piles and piles of pallets. They
...
> 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

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

http://www.polarinertia.com/jan05/pallets05.htm

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

--Cheers!
Dukester

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 01:15:58 GMT, [email protected]
(Stephen Bigelow) wrote:

>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.

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

http://www.DouglassClan.com

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 04:40:36 -0500, Prometheus
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:13:57 -0400, "Dica" <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>>hi all
>>
>>i posted a question on here a few days ago about the cheapest wood i could
>>use for patio furniture and some of you recommended pallet wood. well, i
>>found a bunch of places around town that had free pallets and brought some
>>home on the weekend. i failed to realize just how difficult it would be to
>>take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i want
>>to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible. anybody find
>>a easy way to take these apart?
>
>Run them over with your car?
>
>Seriously- you're going to be spending either a lot of time pulling
>out nails and little bits of accumulated debris or a lot of money
>replacing blades and bits. To top it off, 99% of pallet wood is
>bottom-of the barrel crap to begin with. If you're really tight on
>money, you could always just get yourself some 2x4s and rip 'em to 3"
>widths to take the rounded corners off. Sure, working with pine
>framing timbers is not as pleasant as crafting something from walnut
>or maple, but you can do an awful lot of good work with them if you're
>patient.

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

http://www.DouglassClan.com

>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.

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

I used a hole saw just larger than the diameter of the nail head, or a
center punch on the nail head, drill the head off leaving the top boards
intact and the body of the nails to pry out. This is the "price" you pay for
"free" pallets. Can you spell t-e-d-i-o-u-s? Pat- who just disassembled
pallets made out of Balsa!!!

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 09:23:29 -0700, Tim Douglass <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 01:15:58 GMT, [email protected]
> (Stephen Bigelow) wrote:
>
>>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.
>
> 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.

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

Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote:

> IMHO, pallet wood is worthless. Maybe your pallets are better made.
> Packing crates, now you're talking, but I've never seen a pallet useful
> for anything more than a rabbit hutch.
>
>

This side of the pond they seem to be pretty decent. Sometimes better than
the quality of the goods shipped on them.

Another interesting source, if you can find it, is the wooden floors from
old railroad cars. A friend scored a massive amount of Mahogany for next to
nothing from an old car. Beat up, but after a couple trips through the
planer a marvelous gloat.

Patriarch <[email protected]> wrote:

> But what resource are we trying to save here? It's not like I have
> unlimited funds, but my back doesn't have unlimited strength anymore,
> and fuel for the truck is approaching European price points, without
> European operating economies...
>
> Would you turn any of that 'mahogany' on your lathe?
>
>

I've turned some incredible junk on my lathe. :o)

Since a lot of them are assebled with VERY large staples,
you will have little to no luck getting them apart easily.

I would use a circular saw with a decent blade and a
recip saw for the rally nasty ones.


Dica wrote:

> hi all
>
> i posted a question on here a few days ago about the cheapest wood i could
> use for patio furniture and some of you recommended pallet wood. well, i
> found a bunch of places around town that had free pallets and brought some
> home on the weekend. i failed to realize just how difficult it would be to
> take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i want
> to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible. anybody find
> a easy way to take these apart?
>
> tks
>
>

In article <yuO8e.10422$ff4.3038@trndny08>, [email protected] says...
>
> "Dica" <[email protected]> wrote in message > i failed to realize just
> how difficult it would be to
> > take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i
> > want
> > to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible. anybody
> > find
> > a easy way to take these apart?
> >
> > tks
>
> Someone used to post here about that. Her husband was in the used pallet
> business. He used a 2 x 4 to pry them so he had a lot of leverage.
>
>
>
Chain saw is the fastest and easiest method in my opinion. Everything
else takes too much time and effort.
--
All the best,

Michael Mastin
Curly Woods
McKinney, TX
http://www.curlywoods.com
(469)742-0097

Patriarch <[email protected]> wrote:

> Lobby Dosser <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:AwV8e.46409 $9i7.25427@trnddc04:
>
>> Patriarch <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> But what resource are we trying to save here? It's not like I have
>>> unlimited funds, but my back doesn't have unlimited strength
>>> anymore, and fuel for the truck is approaching European price
>>> points, without European operating economies...
>>>
>>> Would you turn any of that 'mahogany' on your lathe?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I've turned some incredible junk on my lathe. :o)
>>
>
> I was thinking of the stuff that leaked from the railway frieght over
> the years.
>
> I've turned some real junk, too, and have only been at it a few
> months. ;-)
>
>

Fast learner!

Lobby Dosser <[email protected]> wrote in
news:9SU8e.19290$H_5.1783@trnddc01:

> Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> IMHO, pallet wood is worthless. Maybe your pallets are better made.
>> Packing crates, now you're talking, but I've never seen a pallet
>> useful for anything more than a rabbit hutch.
>>
>>
>
> This side of the pond they seem to be pretty decent. Sometimes better
> than the quality of the goods shipped on them.
>
> Another interesting source, if you can find it, is the wooden floors
> from old railroad cars. A friend scored a massive amount of Mahogany
> for next to nothing from an old car. Beat up, but after a couple trips
> through the planer a marvelous gloat.
>

You can buy that grade of utility flooring from the right suppliers at
pretty cheap prices, without having it subjected to the rigors of freight
car use and abuse.

But what resource are we trying to save here? It's not like I have
unlimited funds, but my back doesn't have unlimited strength anymore, and
fuel for the truck is approaching European price points, without European
operating economies...

Would you turn any of that 'mahogany' on your lathe?

Patriarch

Lobby Dosser <[email protected]> wrote in news:AwV8e.46409
$9i7.25427@trnddc04:

> Patriarch <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> But what resource are we trying to save here? It's not like I have
>> unlimited funds, but my back doesn't have unlimited strength anymore,
>> and fuel for the truck is approaching European price points, without
>> European operating economies...
>>
>> Would you turn any of that 'mahogany' on your lathe?
>>
>>
>
> I've turned some incredible junk on my lathe. :o)
>

I was thinking of the stuff that leaked from the railway frieght over the
years.

I've turned some real junk, too, and have only been at it a few months. ;-)

Dica wrote:

> hi all
>
> i posted a question on here a few days ago about the cheapest wood i could
> use for patio furniture and some of you recommended pallet wood. well, i
> found a bunch of places around town that had free pallets and brought some
> home on the weekend. i failed to realize just how difficult it would be to
> take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i
> want to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible.
> anybody find a easy way to take these apart?

Garrett-Wade is stocking a nail puller model 20B03.01 for 35 bucks. My Dad
had one of those, or a very similar tool--they used to be available at
hardware stores before these newfangled "catspaw" things became the fad.
Never saw a nail it couldn't move as long as there was enough clearance to
pull the handle out all the way and put your back into it. Does damage the
wood some though. They've also got a set of that one and a smaller model
for 4 bucks more--20B03.10 is the set.

> tks

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"J. Clarke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dica wrote:
>
>> hi all
>>
>> i posted a question on here a few days ago about the cheapest wood i
>> could
>> use for patio furniture and some of you recommended pallet wood. well, i
>> found a bunch of places around town that had free pallets and brought
>> some
>> home on the weekend. i failed to realize just how difficult it would be
>> to
>> take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i
>> want to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible.
>> anybody find a easy way to take these apart?
>
> Garrett-Wade is stocking a nail puller model 20B03.01 for 35 bucks. My
> Dad
> had one of those, or a very similar tool--they used to be available at
> hardware stores before these newfangled "catspaw" things became the fad.
> Never saw a nail it couldn't move as long as there was enough clearance to
> pull the handle out all the way and put your back into it. Does damage
> the
> wood some though. They've also got a set of that one and a smaller model
> for 4 bucks more--20B03.10 is the set.
>
>> tks
>
> --
> --John
> to email, dial "usenet" and validate
> (was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Lately, I've been dismantling pallets to build a trellis. I've found some
success by cutting the nails with a reciprocating saw and then punching out
the pieces with a thin drift punch. This works OK on the 6, 8 and 10d
nails. The smaller ones ya just gotta pull.

Bill Leonhardt

In article <[email protected]>,
>That's the kicker. The pallets I've taken apart used spiral shank nails
>and once I *got* them out the surrounding wood was so beat up that I
>ended up cutting the pieces down. If I had used a saw in the first place
>to just harvest the sections between the fasteners I'd have been way
>ahead of the game in time and effort.

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
http://woodworking.bigelowsite.com

On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 05:52:02 -0500, Prometheus
<[email protected]> wrote:

> 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.

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

http://www.DouglassClan.com

In article <[email protected]>,
"J. Clarke" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Does damage the
> wood some though.

That's the kicker. The pallets I've taken apart used spiral shank nails
and once I *got* them out the surrounding wood was so beat up that I
ended up cutting the pieces down. If I had used a saw in the first place
to just harvest the sections between the fasteners I'd have been way
ahead of the game in time and effort.
--
Owen Lowe
The Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
Corporate States of America and to the
Republicans for which it stands, one nation,
under debt, easily divisible, with liberty
and justice for oil."
- Wiley Miller, Non Sequitur, 1/24/05

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:13:57 -0400, "Dica" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>hi all
>
>i posted a question on here a few days ago about the cheapest wood i could
>use for patio furniture and some of you recommended pallet wood. well, i
>found a bunch of places around town that had free pallets and brought some
>home on the weekend. i failed to realize just how difficult it would be to
>take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i want
>to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible. anybody find
>a easy way to take these apart?

Run them over with your car?

Seriously- you're going to be spending either a lot of time pulling
out nails and little bits of accumulated debris or a lot of money
replacing blades and bits. To top it off, 99% of pallet wood is
bottom-of the barrel crap to begin with. If you're really tight on
money, you could always just get yourself some 2x4s and rip 'em to 3"
widths to take the rounded corners off. Sure, working with pine
framing timbers is not as pleasant as crafting something from walnut
or maple, but you can do an awful lot of good work with them if you're
patient.


Aut inveniam viam aut faciam

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:19:02 -0400, "J. Clarke"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Dica wrote:
>
>> hi all
>>
>> i posted a question on here a few days ago about the cheapest wood i could
>> use for patio furniture and some of you recommended pallet wood. well, i
>> found a bunch of places around town that had free pallets and brought some
>> home on the weekend. i failed to realize just how difficult it would be to
>> take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i
>> want to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible.
>> anybody find a easy way to take these apart?
>
\
Everyone is acting like this is an impossible task. Assuming you have
some time and enjoy things like this to save a buck and be able to say
that wood was free, just take your time and work them apart. I have
built quite a few items (including most of my shop cabinetes) from
pallet wood. Most was some kind of South American pine (pinkish
heartwood) but I have salvaged some hardwood plywood (currently
residing in a couple of shop cabinets), various tropicals, some maple
and some oak. The oak was the least worth the effort both because it
was a bear to take apart and the wood was usually less than great. I
have mostly used claw hammers and a small (damned small) pry bar.
There were a couple of times that getting my splitting wedge between a
couple of boards and whacking it a few times proved worthwhile. I
should invest in a bigger prybar though. You can minimize pry bar
damage to the wood by using scraps to take the brunt of the contact.
Beyond that, expect to either enjoy the ambience of the nail holes
(which is what I usually do) or get a good set of plug cutters as
trying to cut around all the nail holes means never having wood bigger
than 12" long or so. As I sit here in my office typing this I am
looking at a couple of 30" x 24" picture frames on my wall made from
pallet oak. They show the nail holes in all their glory with the black
discoloration intact along with some worm holes and trails, framing a
couple of old western scene prints. Just the right touch of rustic
while still being fully sanded, finished and shellaced. I am not into
barnwood or rough wood rustic, but a couple of nail holes or wormholes
can give an interesting look in the right situation.

Dave Hall

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:13:57 -0400, "Dica" <[email protected]> wrote:

>i posted a question on here a few days ago about the cheapest wood i could
>use for patio furniture and some of you recommended pallet wood.

IMHO, pallet wood is worthless. Maybe your pallets are better made.
Packing crates, now you're talking, but I've never seen a pallet useful
for anything more than a rabbit hutch.

I'd suggest dismantling them with a big tree-felling crosscut saw (a
sharp one) which is what I use. Second to that would be a garden bow
saw, which is much the same but easier to buy new. The easiest is a big
reciprocating saw.

Don't use a chainsaw. One day you _will_ hit a nail.

I wouldn't bother dismantling by pulling nails. There are too many nail
holes in a small space and the timber is hardly usable past this mess.
If you must dismantle them, then I use a simple flat crowbar (a Stanley
Wonderbar is worth having in the toolbag). I've never had much luck
with a floorboard nail puller on pallets - the sort with a "parrot beak"
and a slide hammer to drive the jaws beneath the wood - but they're
about the best for direct-pull on nailheads.
--
Cats have nine lives, which is why they rarely post to Usenet.

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 08:07:25 -0500, "Dukester"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>"Dave Hall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:19:02 -0400, "J. Clarke"
>> \
>> Everyone is acting like this is an impossible task. Assuming you have
>> some time and enjoy things like this to save a buck and be able to say
>> that wood was free, just take your time and work them apart. I have
>
>It's not impossible of course, but time has value, and the time it takes to
>get the pallets, bring them home, tear them apart, clean up the pieces, sort
>through the stock, try to match the same type of wood (!), dispose of the
>unusable parts, etc. I'd rather be using elsewhere. On top of that most of
>the pallets I'm seeing nowadays at local retailers and beer distibutors are
>spray painted a uniform color (at least on the sides) and recollected for
>reuse/recycle? I'm sure there are more places that just toss them but I
>think it will become less the norm. If WalMart is recycling them you can
>bet there is a good rea$on behind it.
>
>--Cheers!
>Duke
>
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

"Dica" <[email protected]> wrote in message > i failed to realize just
how difficult it would be to
> take these apart. i realize i could just cut out the sections of wood i
> want
> to use, but i'm trying to keep the boards as long as possible. anybody
> find
> a easy way to take these apart?
>
> tks

Someone used to post here about that. Her husband was in the used pallet
business. He used a 2 x 4 to pry them so he had a lot of leverage.