Best Way to Salvage Pallet Wood

[Stacykins]

So, I am gathering pallets for an eventual pallet coop construction this summer. But I am having a bit of an issue. It isn't like they are screwed together and I can take them apart in a minute or two. They are nailed, and the ones I have are very well. Do you just use something like a sawzall and go at it, ignoring the areas that are nailed to get shorter, but nail free planks? Or do you pry them apart somehow? I have had a hard time getting a pry bar between the slats. How do you do it so you get the most usable wood?

 

[krcote]

This is just the question I have! I hope someone has answers!

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

Me 3!

 

[okieroy]

I just finished mine. I used a 3 pound sledge hammer, a claw hammer and 2 different pry bars. It took about 6 hours to break apart 12 pallets and keep all the wood. It is quite a workout, however it is cheaper than Gold's Gym.
My advice is EASY does it. If you get easily frustrated, then don't even try to pull them apart. The nails that they use are spiraled and just have to be worked out. Use a saw if you are in a hurry, but you will lose quite a bit of wood in doing so.

 

[Causin Chaos]

I used the sawall and just sawed right thru the nails. That way you get the most length out of the wood. It was alot quicker than prying them apart.

 

[KathysDotcom]

This is something I'm doing, too! I love the idea of reusing the wood.

Some pieces I can pry apart by hammering the prybar into the little space between the wood, but often times it cracks the wood.

What I've been trying lately is to hammer the pieces apart. For example, if I can see that one board is held on by nails driven from the top, I can gently hammer underneath that board and get it to pop out of the piece it's nailed to. I put a piece of scrap wood in the spot I hammer, so I don't dent the board I want to keep. Then, to remove the nails that come up with the board, I gently hammer them from the wrong side, causing the heads to pop up so I can pull them out.

So far this has worked great. I don't break as many boards, but it takes some time. Have to be patient to get that free wood for my first-ever chicken coop. Cheap Cheap!

 

[kuntrygirl]

We would just pry them apart before we got the sawzall.

 

[audioguy]

The reciprocating saw blows through the nails very quickly, and does not split the wood.

I have a Dewalt with a 14.4 v battery and did 10 pallets on one charge and one blade.