Free Pallet's

[MrGreenJeans]

A friend told me about a large load of pallet's beside the highway. Went to check it out, sure enough loaded the truck with all it would hold. He took a full size truck and a 5x8, hauled a crap load back. I need a larger truck. Still scored 20 of them.

[Mom5farmboys]

Nice Score!! What are you planning to do with them?

[MrGreenJeans]

Some will end up with wood stacked on them. 4 side by side make a purdy good wood rack, you can stack it 3 deep, tin on top ya get plenty of air and off the ground. Give me some ideas.

[Mom5farmboys]

I was thinking about making my next chicken coop out of them. I also had some ideas of using the boards (oak if I can find them) as flooring in my house.

My cousin has a small lake and uses them as a boardwalk down to it, as its pretty mucky all the way around it.

[gregabob]

Good score! I've got an almost unlimited supply of pallets from work--I made a planter for veggies with some already. The wood is marginal on the ones I got...hafta be careful not to split it.

[NCLee]

I love pallets!!!:)

For your wood bin, be sure to set the pallets on blocks to keep the bottoms of the pallets off the ground.

For a big wood rack, set two pallets, on blocks, side by side. Connect them at the joint (nail on a piece of 2x4). Attach a pallet at each end, vertically. Then add 2 more vertically along the backside of the two on the ground. These can be wired together with scrap electrical wire. clothes hanger wire, etc.

Now for strength, nail a 2x4 across the open front at the top edge and another on the outside at the back. Finally add another 2x4 on top of the front edge of the pallets. This one will give you some slope for the rain to drain off the top. Put whatever roofing material you have on top.

This is the general idea, as you can modify it according to the number of pallets you have and their sizes. I've had one of these behind my shop for years for wood for my shop stove.

Stand 4 on edge, on the ground to form a U shape. 2 along the bottom of the U and 1 for each leg of the U. Again, wire them together. Use for a compost bin. Depending on how much compost you have, you can use 3 for a bin, or put them together as a series of U's sitting side by side. Yet another way is to wire 4 together to make a box. For this one, you'll need to take off one side to work or remove the compost.

For hardwood pallets, use a circular saw or a chain saw to cut the planks off the runners. Then cut up the runners. They make great fire wood. Just be sure to watch for nails. Splitting the planks with a small axe gives some good kindling. (Note the nails in pallets are almost impossive to pull out with a hammer or crowbar. It can be done, but it ain't easy!)

These cut off planks can be used for a variety things. They'll make small wooden boxes (don't store food in them as you don't know what's been sitting on or spilled on pallets.). These boxes are great for storing shop hardware, for example.

Use the planks for scrollsaw and other crafts projects.

If you have access to a lot of pallets, use them for animal shelters. Stack in another U shape to the height you need. Wire them together for stability. Add 2x4's or 2x6's across the top for rafters to support a metal roof. Good for shade shelters out in the pasture. Sides can be covered with chicken wire if you want to add a chicken wire fence that extends out from the open side of the U. That'll help keep the chickens in and predators out. Not needed if you just want shade for the goats.

Two stacks of pallets sitting side by side and topped with a sheet of plywood makes a temporary table or workbench. For a building site or when field dressing venison or chickens, for example.

If you have a concrete or dirt floor in the basement or root cellar, put pallets in place to keep goods stored off the floor. Same for a garage. Provides for air circulation and slows down wicking moisture, especially from concrete.

These are just a few thoughts that come to mind this morning. As I mentined at the start of this post, I love pallets. :)

Lee

[Anon001]

More places are giving away pallets today than in the past. A lot of pallets are no longer made with old hardwoods. Many of them are now being made with cottonwood and other soft woods that will NOT stand the weather and the test of time. If you find a place willing to give away pallets, see if you can pick and choose from among them and only take the hardwood pallets. Otherwise, you will want to treat the newer pallets.

(*** cottonwood is actually a dense wood that is a hardwood when not in the weather and is great for indoor projects.... But leave it in the weather and it rots quickly.)

[firegirl969]

I use four of them to make my temporary stable each year for the nativity scene I put up in the yard. I stand three to make an open box and then one on the top that is nailed to all of them and hold them together. I have the large plastic nativity pieces that light up. Each year I splurge by lighting this up from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I have had people stop and tell me over the years that it means alot to them to see this at night as they are reminded that this is the true meaning of Christmas. Very touching!

[snuffy]

A good friend of mine made a decent living by hauling off pallets from a mfg. plant in an industrial park close to us, he also used to get large crates that jet engines parts came in.
He had so many, he had to burn them in a huge bonfire every so often. Soooo, check in your local industrial areas; if you drive by a plant that has a lot of weathered pallets setting out side, it's likely they will give you as many as you want as they often have to pay to have them hauled off.
Just a thought.

Snuffy

[Anon001]

When I worked for the co-op, at just our one location we would get about 1 1/2 semi loads of bagged feed per week.... that's about 36 pallets. I think a semi holds 24?... Anyway, we never paid to have them hauled off. People paid us for them. There are a number of people that buy them, scavenge them, etc and then sell them. But, if we had a regular customer that needed a couple once in a blue moon, we would give them to him/her. The rest we sold.