Anybody reclaim wood from pallets?

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  • dewi1219
    Established Member
    • Dec 2005
    • 307
    • Birmingham, AL

    Anybody reclaim wood from pallets?

    I see pallets offered for free often in my local Craigslist and Freecycle. Is it worth the trouble to reclaim the wood from used pallets? Seems like it could save some money, but I'm not sure it would be worth the time it would require. Also I'm not sure how easy they are to take apart without destroying the wood. Opinions?
  • Black wallnut
    cycling to health
    • Jan 2003
    • 4715
    • Ellensburg, Wa, USA.
    • BT3k 1999

    #2
    IMHO it is generally not worth it. Too many nails that will just as likely break as pull. So you will end up with short pieces and lots of wear on your planer blades.
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    marK in WA and Ryobi Fanatic Association State President ©

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    • pelligrini
      Veteran Member
      • Apr 2007
      • 4217
      • Fort Worth, TX
      • Craftsman 21829

      #3
      Small ones really aren't worth my time and effort. I tried it a couple times. Too many nails for not that great of wood.

      I haven't seen any, but a buddy of mine would sometimes get some really exotic woods from a place that got a lot of parts from South America.

      My BIL got me some nice oak off of some gigantic pallets that some cooling tower parts came on.
      Erik

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      • cgallery
        Veteran Member
        • Sep 2004
        • 4503
        • Milwaukee, WI
        • BT3K

        #4
        I know a guy in town that used to get crates that were sitting on pallets, shipped from somewhere like Sweeden. The crates were bade of Baltic birch. It took a little work to cut the edges off, but it was nice stuff, and large pieces.

        I would have thought it would get quite beat-up, and there were scuffs here and there. But nothing that couldn't be worked around.

        The pallets were interesting, too, because they were made out of some laminated material.

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        • docrowan
          Senior Member
          • Mar 2007
          • 893
          • New Albany, MS
          • BT3100

          #5
          Ditto on the pallets. They make good campfire wood - dry, a nice mixture of fairly large chunks to thin easily split boards. But too many nails and too much work. The nails are special spiral shank - very hard to remove. Most of the ones available to me are made of oak, which makes the nails very hard to remove cleanly. The oak is red oak, and much easier to buy versus all the effort to clean up. Don't ask me how I know all this, but I've got a broken all steel hammer.

          Load dividers and special crates are a different story, but in my experience there's always an employee who will claim dibs on the good stuff. The only thing you're likely to find in the newspaper are beat up ordinary short pallets like what I described above.
          - Chris.

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          • LarryG
            The Full Monte
            • May 2004
            • 6693
            • Off The Back
            • Powermatic PM2000, BT3100-1

            #6
            Another thing is that many pallets from the Pacific Rim (and nowadays, that's a high percentage of all pallets) stink to high heaven. I think maybe they spray the things with insecticide or something. Besides the smell itself, which is bad enough, there may be health and/or finishing issues that could arise from whatever is causing the smell.
            Larry

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            • Mr__Bill
              Veteran Member
              • May 2007
              • 2096
              • Tacoma, WA
              • BT3000

              #7
              When I was a kid, over several years we watched a guy build and entire house out of pallets. As he finished a part he sided it with pressed board siding he got as seconds from the mill. Not sure where the windows came from but as I remember it they all seemed to be the same kind so perhaps he bought those new. When he was done it sort of looked like the rest of the 1 story houses around him. That is not saying much for his house or those around him but at least it blended in.

              So in answer to your question, depending on what you aredoing with the wood it can save a lot of money.

              I once had several that I believed were white oak and made several garden projects out of the wood. It wasn't white oak and I soon had interesting shaped mulch.

              Bill, who would be in the driftwood reclamation business if I could figure out how to get those logs off the beach without getting arrested.

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              • cabinetman
                Gone but not Forgotten RIP
                • Jun 2006
                • 15218
                • So. Florida
                • Delta

                #8
                Whether or not it's worth the time and effort, depends on your time and budget. I wouldn't go out of my way to get palettes free sight unseen. I get quite a few "free" palettes that are part of a delivery. Drivers don't seem to care about keeping them.

                I like the idea about "free wood", and have scored well on occasion. Generally, they are dirty, and can be difficult to get apart without creating havoc. Using a metal detector could save your tools..
                .

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                • messmaker
                  Veteran Member
                  • May 2004
                  • 1495
                  • RICHMOND, KY, USA.
                  • Ridgid 2424

                  #9
                  I made a table or two from some pallets. I love them because they show a few blemishes that make me think of what they used to look like. It sure is a lot of work to get those nails out, though.
                  spellling champion Lexington region 1982

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                  • dbhost
                    Slow and steady
                    • Apr 2008
                    • 9209
                    • League City, Texas
                    • Ryobi BT3100

                    #10
                    You never know what the pallets were used to hold, and what sort of chemicals were used to treat the wood, or got spilled on them. I have passed up free pallets for just that reason.

                    On the other hand, old Waterbed frames have LARGE typically solid wood sides. Waterbeds are impossible to sell these days, and generally speaking, old Waterbed frames can be found by driving around on heavy trash day. A metal detector will help you determine where any metal pieces are...
                    Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

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                    • GoFish104
                      Forum Newbie
                      • Aug 2003
                      • 67
                      • .

                      #11
                      I have a very unusual perspective on pallets... I get paid to cut them up. Maybe 20 or 30 in an average week. Out of that I might keep 10 pieces of wood or maybe none. But if you make nice w/ a warehouse guy or 2 you might get turned on to some. My best finds are not pallets but other dunnage. Last week I took home 4 oak 4x4s 8' long & 14 maple 2x6s 7' long. I don't bother pulling nails but rather cut the pallets. So far I have made everything from a screen door to our kitchen cabinet doors. It's more work then "store bought" wood but it is also a lot prettier to me. Knots & narly grain are what gives wood character. Jack

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                      • RayintheUK
                        Veteran Member
                        • Sep 2003
                        • 1792
                        • Crowborough, East Sussex, United Kingdom.
                        • Ryobi BT3000

                        #12
                        I've tried a variety of methods of dismantling pallets and just when I think I've got it cracked, along comes another method of assembling them. Nails, toothed plates, large staples, they're all a pain and - because the air tools make them so easy to insert - loads more are inserted than are needed!

                        We're starting to see re-cycled man-made materials used in pallets over here, mostly plastics, so that's just the excuse I needed to pack in what has, for me, been a fruitless endeavour anyway.

                        Ray.
                        Did I offend you? Click here.

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                        • LCHIEN
                          Internet Fact Checker
                          • Dec 2002
                          • 20914
                          • Katy, TX, USA.
                          • BT3000 vintage 1999

                          #13
                          i got one of the lumber liquidators wood packs, its all hardwood reclaimed wood pallets. They do mostly flooring so the wood is mostly hardwood like the flooring from the mill it came from, but tends to be cracked and checked pieces. There's lots of holes and the holes are often surrounded by leached iron oxide, ruining large sections. The nails are quite well removed however, I have only found one buried nail. The overall net result is somewhat useful pieces in chuncks rather than long pieces.

                          I can't imagine fully assembled, well-used run-of-the-mill pallets I see in our shipping and receiving dept. as being a candidate for useful wood. In that case, they are really bad wood, and used repeatedly, as we receive materials and ship finished goods. You best bet would be places without much receiving, sending finished goods on original newly built pallets out of exotic local woods to places that use the goods but don't reuse the pallets...
                          Loring in Katy, TX USA
                          If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                          BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

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                          • conwaygolfer
                            Established Member
                            • Jun 2008
                            • 371
                            • Conway, SC.
                            • BT3000

                            #14
                            Pallets

                            I just picked up a few from the local hardware. They are great for storing firewood off the ground. Use them for a few years and then replace with new ones. Can't beat the price.
                            Conwaygolfer

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                            • Daryl
                              Senior Member
                              • May 2004
                              • 831
                              • .

                              #15
                              I get a few in with plywood decks. I use a hack saw to cut the nails as pulling them is impossible. Also we get in a few that are made of pine boards for the deck. It looks like they are made of band sawn wood and end up with some book-matching going on.
                              Sometimes the old man passed out and left the am radio on so I got to hear the oldie songs and current event kind of things

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