Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Sally PB]

Well, I am cheap/frugal,

"Frugal" is a compliment in my book! Cheap is the same!

Pejoratively used, "Cheap" is someone else's way of saying, "I'm jealous of your ability to be frugal, therefore, I will try to insult you instead."

 

[gtaus]

I'm gonna have to see if our HF gives away pallets too.

Yeah, I know I call them free pallets from Harbor Freight, and they don't charge us to take them away. But, I usually go inside the store to check out the sale and clearance items and often enough I find something I "need" to buy.

My oldest has a truck now though so can borrow it for a pallet run or two.

My good old 1993 Ford Explorer has a gas leak, so it's in the shop for an estimate on repairs. It might be the end of the truck because of its age and how much it might cost to replace everything to get it back up street safe. Evidently, if they have to drop the gas tank, that could break the gas line and the brake lines due to the age of the vehicle and the years of rust under the car due to our salt on our Minnesota winter roads. I am not too optimistic on the prognosis of getting that car back.

But, maybe.

 

[gtaus]

I thought you were using the wheels for your box, not the whole thing lol

That's right. I plan to take the wheels off the dolly and put them on the pallet storage bin. The dolly is only 18 inches long, and my estimated pallet storage bin will be 48 inches long. So, I will need to take the wheels from the dolly and put them on the storage bin.

 

[gtaus]

Pejoratively used, "Cheap" is someone else's way of saying, "I'm jealous of your ability to be frugal, therefore, I will try to insult you instead."

Nicely said. Thanks, @Sally PB. I will have to remember that.

 

[gtaus]

Just a few quick pics of my pallet run today at Harbor Freight...

I am using my grandfather's old boat trailer conversion to utility trailer that is maybe ~80 years old. I still remember loading that trailer up with wood to bring out to the lake cabin we built - back in the day before we had electricity. All hand tools on that job. We had to replace the wood about 30 years ago, and it's surely showing its age again, but still works good enough to load up some pallets.

The trailer is 4X8, so you can see the topmost pallet is 10 foot long. Underneath that is the 8 foot pallet, and a couple of normal sized 4 foot pallets on the very bottom. These pallets were in almost new condition. I did a quick check on prices and this pallet run has about ~$100 (if store bought) in useable wood. Not a bad haul.

Here's another view...

You can see that the 10 foot pallet has good full sized 2X4's (1-1/2 inch thick) on the outsides, and the inside stretcher is still 1-1/4 inch thick. Same with the 8 foot pallet. I should have enough solid 2X4's to build another pallet raised bed like before...

 

[gtaus]

A second opinion on Pallet Busters from my previous posts....

I mentioned that I made a DIY Pallet Buster based on this YouTube video.

Here is a pic of the pallet buster I built...

And I had problems with my bad welding job, and the tines would break the weld...

I had to reweld that pallet buster 3 times before I got it to work without breaking (so far, anyway). That's just my poor welding skills, no reflection on the design of the DIY Pallet Buster.

I have mentioned that I was not too impressed with my pallet buster, because I find it just cracks and breaks more boards than it saves. Although mostly true, today I used the pallet buster on my recent haul of 10 and 8 foot long pallets.

These pallets were made with real sized 2X4's and the planks were solid 1X6 boards. The pallet buster, I am happy to report, took apart those pallets perfectly. I guess the trick is that your pallet has to be in good shape and the wood needs to be solid so when you pry it up with the pallet buster the wood does not break into firewood pieces.

It's all a learning process for me. But I will now take back some of the negative statements I made about my DIY Pallet Buster. It really is the right tool for some pallets - if the pallet has good solid wood and not too many nails shot into the 2X4's. Most of the pallets I have been getting have been used a lot and rebuilt, with cracked planks and multiple nails into the 2X4's to hold it together. The Pallet Buster does not work so good on those rebuilt/repaired pallets.

Just thought I needed to mention that the Pallet Buster is a very useful tool for some pallets and I am glad I decided to keep it in my pallet busting toolkit. I was able to take off the planks and save the entire 32 inch lengths with the pallet buster. Great addition to my usual having to cut off the boards and keeping shorter ~18 inch pieces. On the right pallet, the pallet buster makes quick work of breaking down a pallet and saving the full length of the planks.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

A second opinion on Pallet Busters from my previous posts....

I mentioned that I made a DIY Pallet Buster based on this YouTube video.

Here is a pic of the pallet buster I built...

View attachment 3230550

And I had problems with my bad welding job, and the tines would break the weld...

View attachment 3230551

I had to reweld that pallet buster 3 times before I got it to work without breaking (so far, anyway). That's just my poor welding skills, no reflection on the design of the DIY Pallet Buster.

I have mentioned that I was not too impressed with my pallet buster, because I find it just cracks and breaks more boards than it saves. Although mostly true, today I used the pallet buster on my recent haul of 10 and 8 foot long pallets.

View attachment 3230558

These pallets were made with real sized 2X4's and the planks were solid 1X6 boards. The pallet buster, I am happy to report, took apart those pallets perfectly. I guess the trick is that your pallet has to be in good shape and the wood needs to be solid so when you pry it up with the pallet buster the wood does not break into firewood pieces.

It's all a learning process for me. But I will now take back some of the negative statements I made about my DIY Pallet Buster. It really is the right tool for some pallets - if the pallet has good solid wood and not too many nails shot into the 2X4's. Most of the pallets I have been getting have been used a lot and rebuilt, with cracked planks and multiple nails into the 2X4's to hold it together. The Pallet Buster does not work so good on those rebuilt/repaired pallets.

Just thought I needed to mention that the Pallet Buster is a very useful tool for some pallets and I am glad I decided to keep it in my pallet busting toolkit. I was able to take off the planks and save the entire 32 inch lengths with the pallet buster. Great addition to my usual having to cut off the boards and keeping shorter ~18 inch pieces. On the right pallet, the pallet buster makes quick work of breaking down a pallet and saving the full length of the planks.

Your pallet buster sounds like it's doing amazing lol
Your pallets made me green!! Bahahah

We had some new machines dropped off at work and they came in on long pallets...idk how long but they are LONG and I can't take them bc they need them to put the machines back on lol

Also started a mock up for my goat garage...
The roof we are hoping to arch..the metal and pallets are just sitting there currently ...but you get the idea

Bought fencing for the pig and the goats yesterday as well

 

[ChicksnMore]

@gtaus I'm also green when I see those big pallets! I wonder if mattress stores would have big pallets on a regular basis?

@Hedgeland Farms your goats are going to love that!

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

@Hedgeland Farms your goats are going to love that!

Thanks!!
We are fencing it off. It'll be 625sq ft once we are done and most of it will be in with the trees and brush! I am hopeful they will enjoy the area.

We are looking for dwarf goats and a feeder pig in South Central IL (just barely lol abt 20 minutes from what they call southern IL lol) if anyone knows of anything in this area

 

[gtaus]

Your pallet buster sounds like it's doing amazing lol
Your pallets made me green!! Bahahah

Well, the Pallet Buster worked great on those long pallets, which were much better built with better wood than I normally get on my pallets.

I was excited to see those long pallets outside for pickup when I drove past Harbor Freight. Made my day.

Also started a mock up for my goat garage...
...Bought fencing for the pig and the goats yesterday as well

Dear Wife will not consider letting me get goats or pigs. I keep asking... I guess I should be happy I can have chickens in the backyard.

Looking forward to your next builds. Post those pics if you get a chance. Also, would love to see pics of your goats and pigs in their pallet palaces.