Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[chickengr]

I suspect you're correct and I do my best to not exploit it!!! He is really one of the good ones!!!

And I sure will post some more pics as we progress on the tower.

Turkeys are different than chickens being as they are super super cold hardy. So the plan has already changed. We will be blocking off the right side (when you're looking at it, also words like north south east west...they mean nothing to me lol)

The front half, the right side, and half the back will be protected from wind so they have a wind block. Here's the dilemma.... I want to be able to take down the stuff providing the wind block in the summer time ...I think...

I have the same dilemma. I am thinking about closing the north side and for the rest use some hardware cloth with tarp over it in winter or maybe something more fixed that I can take out in summer.

 

[gtaus]

I bought my Hercules Demolition 7-1/4 inch circular saw blade from Harbor Freight today. I'll let you guys know how well it worked after I use it. It really got a good review on YouTube compared to many "name brand" saw blades at a much higher price. I plan on using that blade to cut those 2X4 studs that might still have some hidden nails in them. Don't want to destroy my expensive table saw blade.

Speaking of hidden nails, I found this metal scanner wand on Amazon for less than $20.00.

Honestly, I suspect all these metal scanners are made at the same factory in China and just rebranded for the seller. Anyways, this wand on Amazon is half the price as the one from Harbor Freight, so I think I'm going to order from Amazon and try it out. All of them look like cheap plastic toys. However, there was one reviewer who said it worked great (4 stars) for finding nails in his pallet wood. Obviously, that caught my attention.

Oh yeah, I got a free LED flashlight at Harbor Freight this weekend just for stopping in the store. About a $1.00 value. Nice little flashlights with a magnet on the backside to stick to your metal tool carts. Also has a hook to hang on just about anything.

If you got caught outside too late in the evening, or maybe you want to squeeze a little more pallet project work before you retire for the night, these little flashlights might help. I used my flashlight for working under the kitchen sink. Anyways, free LED Flashlight just for stopping by the store.

The best deal today: I picked up a larger than normal 4x6 foot pallet in excellent condition from Harbor Freight this afternoon. The planks on that pallet are 6 feet long, of good quality, and I think I can pry them up with my Pallet Buster and keep all 6 feet of usable board. Most of the pallets I get are not in great condition, so this was like finding gold to me. All the 4 foot 2X4 studs were also in great condition, almost new, and none broken/spliced/repaired.

 

[raingarden]

Speaking of hidden nails, I found this metal scanner wand on Amazon for less than $20.00.

Thank you for that one. It could save the price of a new blade and pay for itself quickly.

 

[gtaus]

Thank you for that one. It could save the price of a new blade and pay for itself quickly.

That's the way I look at it. I just ordered that metal scanner wand and should get it delivered next week. The scanner, along with my new demolition blade, are small investments to prevent $$$ damage to my good blades and tools. As far as I can tell, it appears that there are many sellers of that scanner and the only difference is in the brand name stickers.

I love working with pallet wood, but for some of my projects that require more processing of the wood, I really want to remove all metal from the lumber.

After I get the scanner, I'll let everyone know if it was a good item to buy, or not. Fortunately, as an Amazon Prime member, I have free returns if the item does not work out for me. I'm not afraid to return a broken or substandard product. But I hope the scanner will be a good buy.

 

[gtaus]

Are Pallet Busters/Pallet Pals a good investment?

There is a lot of hype about how great the Pallet Busters/Pallet Pals are in quickly breaking down pallets. Those of you new to the subject, here is a picture of what a Pallet Buster looks like.

If you buy a Pallet Buster, you can find them from anywhere about $40.00 to over $120.00. Basically, they all work the same.

I have a welder at home that never gets used, so I made my own DIY Pallet Buster using 3/4 inch pipes. All parts cost me about $20.00. Here is what it looks like.

The idea is that you slip the tongs underneath the planks and pry them up with all the leverage you gain by the 4-5 foot long handle. In theory, it's a great design. In practice, however, I have found that unless you have the right type of pallet with good wood, you more than likely will just crack and split the planks leaving you with firewood.

Problem is that most pallets I get have old wood that is already cracked at the ends, so when you use the Pallet Buster to pry up the wood, it only cracks and splits the wood even more and the boards get totally messed up. For that reason, I will use the Sawzall method to remove planks if I need long boards, or I will use the circular saw method and cut off the wood between the 2X4 stretchers and salvage lots of good nail-free wood about 18 inches long.

I estimated that I get maybe 1 good Pallet Buster type pallet out of every 20 pallets I bring home. Today, I want to post some pictures of what I consider a good type of pallet to breakdown with a Pallet Buster.

Here is a picture of one such pallet I just brought home this weekend. It is made up of new wood, this pallet is 6 feet long, so I really wanted to save all 6 feet of those planks.

You can see that wood is new and in good condition. Rare for me, but maybe your pallets are of this quality.

One of the first considerations I have is how many nails are driven into each board. In this picture, you can see that this pallet uses only 2 nails per board on the 2X4 studs.

This is one of the first signs that you might want to use the Pallet Buster on this pallet to break it down. Most of the rebuilt pallets I salvage have maybe 4-5 nails into each 2X4 stud - because the wood is old and cracking/splitting and they need all those nails to keep the boards on the pallet. When there are lots of nails to pry up, then the Pallet Buster usually just destroys the wood in the process.

Anyway, all the 2X4 studs had only 2 nails in the planks. Here is a picture of the middle of the pallet....

Again, only 2 nails per board on the 2X4 studs.

Another important factor is the thickness of the planks on the pallets. I usually get pallets with wood planks that are 3/8 inch, 1/2 inch, or maybe 5/8 inch deck boards. Usually, the thicker the better. On this pallet I am posting, they actually used standard 1X4 boards so they were 3/4 inch thick....

You can see that these 1X4 planks are in great shape with very few of them cracked or split at the ends. With boards like these on this pallet, the Pallet Buster is a great option to break down the pallet. In a matter of a few minutes (maybe 5 minutes) I had the complete pallet broken down and was able to save almost all of those 6 foot long 1X4 boards. It took me maybe another 30 minutes to pound out and remove all the nails. In less than an hour, I had a wagon full of nail-free pallet wood broken down and ready to be used in a future project.

So, the Pallet Buster was the perfect tool for this type of pallet. If I got lots of those type of pallets, I would be a great advocate for the Pallet Buster tool. However, I rarely use my DIY Pallet Buster because the pallets I get are usually not in such great shape as the one in this post. If you have a poor quality pallet, the Pallet Buster will make lots of firewood to burn, but you will not get much salvaged wood for use. At least, that is what I have learned.

Bottom line, I do not recommend the Pallet Buster as a must have tool for breaking down pallets. Save your money for other tools that will be used. I seldom use my Pallet Buster, and I'm glad I only invested $20.00 for my DIY build. However, it is the perfect tool IF you have the PERFECT pallets.

Don't believe all the positive reviews on Amazon for the Pallet Buster they sell. It is listed at 4.5 stars after about 3,000 reviews. I call fake! Read the 1 and 2 star reviews from people who have actually purchased the Pallet Buster and you get a review more in line with my experience.

Would love to hear if anyone else has had better luck, or use, with their Pallet Buster. Or, like me, you find that it is a tool that is rarely used. I could live without it, but maybe some people have a more positive attitude towards the Pallet Buster.

 

[chickengr]

Are Pallet Busters/Pallet Pals a good investment?

There is a lot of hype about how great the Pallet Busters/Pallet Pals are in quickly breaking down pallets. Those of you new to the subject, here is a picture of what a Pallet Buster looks like.

View attachment 3280179

View attachment 3280178

If you buy a Pallet Buster, you can find them from anywhere about $40.00 to over $120.00. Basically, they all work the same.

I have a welder at home that never gets used, so I made my own DIY Pallet Buster using 3/4 inch pipes. All parts cost me about $20.00. Here is what it looks like.

View attachment 3280182

The idea is that you slip the tongs underneath the planks and pry them up with all the leverage you gain by the 4-5 foot long handle. In theory, it's a great design. In practice, however, I have found that unless you have the right type of pallet with good wood, you more than likely will just crack and split the planks leaving you with firewood.

Problem is that most pallets I get have old wood that is already cracked at the ends, so when you use the Pallet Buster to pry up the wood, it only cracks and splits the wood even more and the boards get totally messed up. For that reason, I will use the Sawzall method to remove planks if I need long boards, or I will use the circular saw method and cut off the wood between the 2X4 stretchers and salvage lots of good nail-free wood about 18 inches long.

I estimated that I get maybe 1 good Pallet Buster type pallet out of every 20 pallets I bring home. Today, I want to post some pictures of what I consider a good type of pallet to breakdown with a Pallet Buster.

Here is a picture of one such pallet I just brought home this weekend. It is made up of new wood, this pallet is 6 feet long, so I really wanted to save all 6 feet of those planks.

View attachment 3280184

You can see that wood is new and in good condition. Rare for me, but maybe your pallets are of this quality.

One of the first considerations I have is how many nails are driven into each board. In this picture, you can see that this pallet uses only 2 nails per board on the 2X4 studs.

View attachment 3280185

This is one of the first signs that you might want to use the Pallet Buster on this pallet to break it down. Most of the rebuilt pallets I salvage have maybe 4-5 nails into each 2X4 stud - because the wood is old and cracking/splitting and they need all those nails to keep the boards on the pallet. When there are lots of nails to pry up, then the Pallet Buster usually just destroys the wood in the process.

Anyway, all the 2X4 studs had only 2 nails in the planks. Here is a picture of the middle of the pallet....

View attachment 3280188

Again, only 2 nails per board on the 2X4 studs.

Another important factor is the thickness of the planks on the pallets. I usually get pallets with wood planks that are 3/8 inch, 1/2 inch, or maybe 5/8 inch deck boards. Usually, the thicker the better. On this pallet I am posting, they actually used standard 1X4 boards so they were 3/4 inch thick....

View attachment 3280190

You can see that these 1X4 planks are in great shape with very few of them cracked or split at the ends. With boards like these on this pallet, the Pallet Buster is a great option to break down the pallet. In a matter of a few minutes (maybe 5 minutes) I had the complete pallet broken down and was able to save almost all of those 6 foot long 1X4 boards. It took me maybe another 30 minutes to pound out and remove all the nails. In less than an hour, I had a wagon full of nail-free pallet wood broken down and ready to be used in a future project.

So, the Pallet Buster was the perfect tool for this type of pallet. If I got lots of those type of pallets, I would be a great advocate for the Pallet Buster tool. However, I rarely use my DIY Pallet Buster because the pallets I get are usually not in such great shape as the one in this post. If you have a poor quality pallet, the Pallet Buster will make lots of firewood to burn, but you will not get much salvaged wood for use. At least, that is what I have learned.

Bottom line, I do not recommend the Pallet Buster as a must have tool for breaking down pallets. Save your money for other tools that will be used. I seldom use my Pallet Buster, and I'm glad I only invested $20.00 for my DIY build. However, it is the perfect tool IF you have the PERFECT pallets.

Don't believe all the positive reviews on Amazon for the Pallet Buster they sell. It is listed at 4.5 stars after about 3,000 reviews. I call fake! Read the 1 and 2 star reviews from people who have actually purchased the Pallet Buster and you get a review more in line with my experience.

Would love to hear if anyone else has had better luck, or use, with their Pallet Buster. Or, like me, you find that it is a tool that is rarely used. I could live without it, but maybe some people have a more positive attitude towards the Pallet Buster.

I wish I had such good pallets!

I have a crowbar (pry bar?) only. not good for old pallets with 4-5+ nails.

 

[gtaus]

I wish I had such good pallets!

I have a crowbar (pry bar?) only. not good for old pallets with 4-5+ nails.

Well, only about 1 out of 20 pallets are like the one I just posted with the pics. Most of my pallets are old and in tough shape, with 4-5 nails in each stud, and usually extra bracing on the 2X4 studs because the original 2X4 has broken.

Do you break down your pallets? If so, what method do you use given your tools on hand?

My main method of breaking down pallets is using a circular saw and cutting off the planks along the 2X4 stretchers. That gives me nail-free plank pieces about 18-20 inches long, which I then cut down to about 16 inches for my planter and raised garden bed projects. Then, I typically knock off the remaining plank ends from the 2X4's and pull the nails out of the 2X4's so I can use the nail-free 2X4's in other projects.

Sometimes I use the Sawzall method, but I don't like leaving cut off nails in the 2X4 studs unless I have a project where I can use the entire 4 foot long 2X4 stud without cutting it. But, I just got a demolition blade for my circular saw to cut through wood and nails, so maybe I'll start using the Sawzall method more.

 

[gtaus]

Workbench Casters and Pallet Workbench

Just got a notification from Honey, an online price watchdog, that some workbench casters I had looked at previously had a big price drop on Amazon. At this moment, you can get DOZAWA Workbench Caster kit 700 LBS Capacity Heavy Duty Retractable Workbench Casters All Steel Construction Urethane Wheels[Upgraded] for $26.34 for a set of four casters.

I have a woodworking bench from Harbor Freight which I use all the time when I'm doing my pallet breakdowns and building stuff. It's a good work bench, but it does not have any wheels.

When I bought my Harbor Freight woodworking bench this spring (before I started my pallet projects), it was $139.99, but now I see they have gone up in price to $199.99! Like most of my Harbor Freight purchases, I used coupons and special offers which brought my take home price to just over $100 for the work bench. As much as I use and like my HF workbench, I don't think I would recommend it at $200.00.

Anyway, I ordered the casters so I can move the HF bench around the garage where I want it and drop it down into place to work. Previously, I had to empty everything out of the drawers and the shelf and push/shove/drag the bench into place. That's not the best thing to do, especially as a one-man job. Wheels are good.

One of my first pallet project builds this summer was a pallet wood workbench for the garage. I got all the pallet wood for free, and just took off the wheels from a HF dolly and put them on the bench. Total cost ~10.00 for the casters, pallet wood was free. This pallet workbench is actually bigger and stores more stuff than the HF workbench. But, the HF workbench does have a nice wood clamp, which my DIY pallet workbench does not (yet).

The pallet workbench works great for lots of rough projects, and I don't care if I break a board or two on the top of the workbench. I'll just replace a broken board with another plank from a pallet. The top of this pallet workbench is not perfectly flat, but good enough for most of my projects. I would certainly suggest a person consider building a pallet workbench for ~$10.00 (for the wheels) over $200 for the HF workbench without wheels.

FYI, the gold standard for workbench casters is often stated as the Rockler Workbench Casters but they cost $75.00 per set and only have a rating for 400 pounds. Like most things made in China, I don't go by brand name so much as just the specs of the product. Sometimes you can save a lot of money buying the exact same off-brand product but does not have the sticker of the name brand. Sometimes, the rep of the name brand is well earned. I'll let you guys know if my new $26.00 Dozawa workbench caster kit was a good purchase or not.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I don't have time to selectively comment on everything but...SO MUCH GOOD INFO BEING SHARED!!!

keep it coming!!!

 

[gtaus]

Continuing with my negative reviews of the Pallet Busters.... Here is a <30 second YouTube video showing why he does not use a Pallet Buster for dismantling pallets.

Having said that, here is another ~30 second short video on how I primarily break down my pallets. Notice he uses a Ryobi circular saw (like I do) and that he pry's up the plank on the middle 2X4 stud with his Pallet Buster. That's pretty much all I use my Pallet Buster for, too. Just that middle section where I can get the tongs of the Pallet Buster on both sides of the plank wood. Here's the video link...

Also, would recommend using an old blade for the circular saw or getting a demolition blade for pallet breakdowns. I broke a few teeth off my saw blade cutting into a pallet with hidden nails on the underside of the plank. No big deal for me, as the blade was many years old, but it would have been better if I had a demolition blade designed to cut both wood and metal nails on the saw to start.