New uses for wooden pallets

[rikkrack]

Started this out of ideas from another thread.

List creative and different uses/ideas for recycled wooden pallets. Pics are good too. I know there are websites on this as well.

Vertical grow area.

[fritz_monroe]

Jason Akers put out a book called The Scrounged Homestead.  He has a bunch of ideas for using pallets.

I made a 3 bin compost bin out of pallets.

[Frugal Upstate]

Hubs built me a pallet compost bin as well!

We have mainly used them for keeping stuff up off the unfinished basement floor.

[chickchoc]

There is a wonderful tool that makes prying the boards apart a snap.  It's also used for disassembling wooden decks.  There are a variety of models available; here are a few links:

http://www.deckwrecker.ufpi.com/7

http://www.deckmagazine.com/tools-and-equipment/tool-kit-11.aspx

This is the one I bought:  http://www.amazon.com/Mayhew-Tools-41104-CatsPaw-Wrecker/dp/B001S2QR1A

[Skunkeye]

If you have several pallets of the same size, you can attach them to 2x4 legs and make a pretty sturdy shelving system:



I've built several of these, and they will hold a tremendous amount of weight.  Very stable, especially if the heaviest items are on the bottom.  Make sure to brace diagonally to prevent racking.

[scaffdog]

If you have several pallets of the same size, you can attach them to 2x4 legs and make a pretty sturdy shelving system:



I've built several of these, and they will hold a tremendous amount of weight.  Very stable, especially if the heaviest items are on the bottom.  Make sure to brace diagonally to prevent racking.

What do you use to attach them?  Lag Screws?

[Skunkeye]

You could use lag screws, but I didn't have any on hand.  What I did was cut short (maybe 18") cross-pieces of 2x4 and screwed those onto the uprights, then slipped the pallets over those (like the way a forklift would pick up the pallet), then screwed the pallets to the cross-pieces.  I used 3" construction screws, screwing everything together from both the inside and outside.

[Nate]

Where are good sources for pallets?   Do factories and grocery stores just let you have them if you ask? I need to build a compost bin this spring.

[rikkrack]

Craigslist, industrial areas, Home Depot, Kroger. Often you will need to ask. Some places are fine with you taking some have issues with it. Most food and pharmaceutical mfg reguire pallets to be plastic or metal because of pests and other organic material is brought in by wooded pallets. They switch over wooden pallets before materials enter the building.

[scaffdog]

LTL Hauling Companies like Conway or Southeastern Freight are a great source for these.  My company gets a few hundred a year from them for free.

[2paranoid]

We're running low on firewood this year, but I've got a bunch of pallets, so I started cutting them up. Not really recycling, I know, but man does that wood burn HOT! Mostly red oak, some fir. I just took the slats and left the stringers with all the nails. Four cuts next to the stringers on each surface of the pallet with a circular saw does the trick. Using a blade you don't care too much about is recommended.

I got 200+ pounds of firewood out of 10 pallets for about an hour's work, and I have 20 more on hand to harvest. My supply is unlimited - our local Agway always has them on hand for the asking.

2p

[pokeshell]

We're running low on firewood this year, but I've got a bunch of pallets, so I started cutting them up. Not really recycling, I know, but man does that wood burn HOT! Mostly red oak, some fir. I just took the slats and left the stringers with all the nails. Four cuts next to the stringers on each surface of the pallet with a circular saw does the trick. Using a blade you don't care too much about is recommended.

I got 200  pounds of firewood out of 10 pallets for about an hour's work, and I have 20 more on hand to harvest. My supply is unlimited - our local Agway always has them on hand for the asking.

2p

We heated my grandfather-inlaw's place in Oregon this way. We got the pallets dropped off at the house from someone that was selling sun tanning beds out of their house nearby. We did not pull the nails either. Every few weeks, just ran a strong magnet in the ashes to pull the metal out.

[Sprunch]

As a early teen l would go to my GreatAunt's and cut and split, when l would run out of logs l would get handed a electric chainsaw and was told to get after the pallet stack, would just run it down each end and the center and the longer lengths full of nails were for the firepit, the slats kept the house toasty all winter long!

l get pallets from work, need to come up with a few projects for them...more for the Honey Do list, ah home ownership iz tha sux!
 

[kani73]

I get mine from the local hardware store for $1 a piece.

[Roundabouts]

Things I have used pallets for

Fencing  ( very fast easy and strong.  Works well with uneven ground. )
compost bin (was ok but not my fave)
shed for fire wood  4x 20ish  (still got 2-3 more to build)
animal shelters small med and large all different sizes
storage shed 8x10 ish
tables
shelving
keeping things off the ground.
plant stands
lumber storage shed  4x10 ish
flooring / decking supports.
animal tractors

I love building with pallets.  It's fast & easier than studding things out. Hubby would strongly disagree with that he hates using pallets.  But since I can have a 8x10ish shed built in a day by myself I will keep using them.  They are way way cheap FREE in many cases. 

We get ours from many many places.  Some people will save them for us.  Others are first come first serve.  Thats when we will pick up a star bucks card or pizza or cookies give it to the ware house guys and they will call us when there is a stack before they set them out for the taking.  some I have paid $1.00 for up to $4.00 when I ran short for a project.  The $4.00 included delivery.  That was very nice. 

It is getting harder and harder to get pallets.  Since their popularity is growing.  So when I am out and about and see one I will pop in and ask if I can have it.   Sometimes when we are out and about we take a detour around back of businesses  or industrial areas just to see sometimes we get lucky sometimes we don't. 

[Cedar]

I am considering doing something like this for my new 'other' chicken house. Like I said somewhere else on TSP, I had a 2 story barn built from pallets and it was the strongest built building ever. When I find a pic of it, I will post it.





Cedar