Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[AGeese]

Avoid MB stamped pallets
https://greenwaypsllc.com/pallet-treatment-codes/

Thanks!

 

[gtaus]

Sorry for interupting, or if this was answered, but what is it that you want to avoid when locating some pallets? Like what factories in particular because of whatever treatments or chemicals they might have been used with?

Almost all the pallets I find are safe to use. I personally avoid picking up any pallets that have any signs of leaking oil or lubrication strains. I primarily build pallet wood raised beds and don't want any petrol chemical contamination concerns.

Sometimes I find pallets that are painted, or dyed, certain colors. Mostly, those pallets are meant to be returned to the shipper and that is why they color those pallets. Again, I pass on those colored pallets given my use for wood in raised food garden beds.

The places I pick up pallets do not ship chemicals, so I have little concern of getting a contaminated pallet. But really, I just eyeball the pallets and if I see any signs of chemical stains, I will pass on that pallet.

Sometimes I deliberately look for weathered, dark wood, pallets because I use those boards in my raised beds to give them a dark/light pattern.

For example...

Avoid MB stamped pallets
https://greenwaypsllc.com/pallet-treatment-codes/

MB stands for Methyl Bromide. MB treated pallets were banned in the USA back in 2005 due to health and environmental concerns. I have been picking up and using pallets for projects for the past 3 years and have never seen an MB stamped pallet. All the pallets I have brought home are stamped HT, for Heat Treated, which is safe to use.

I think your chances of finding an MB pallet would be very low. However, if you ever do see a pallet marked MB, don't take it home. It's not safe to handle those pallets without gloves, to saw into the wood, and you can't burn it because the fumes of the fire with MB in it would be bad for your health. Again, they were banned in 2005 and I have personally never seen an MB pallet in the ~200 pallets I have used.

If you are willing to put a little work into finding and picking up pallets, you can save a lot of money on many woodworking projects. I have personally saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars on my pallet projects. But the other benefits are that I enjoy the hobby of making stuff with pallet wood, and I am glad I can reuse and/or repurpose the wood instead of it being sent to our landfill.

 

[gtaus]

Well, I expected to bring home my new budget table saw yesterday, but when I went to Menards to check on the order, the delivery date has been pushed out to the end of the month. Maybe it was better deal than I thought? At any rate, they sold out, everywhere it seems, and now it's going to take some time before I get one. Current estimate is 01/29/2025.

In the meantime, I have been checking out ideas to make modifications to my pallet wood modular benches to build in both my table saw and my miter saw. Maybe some kind of adjustable height setup to raise/lower the platform to make it level with the saws. That would be nice.

Something like this...

Or this...

Not that I'm too excited about using the new saw right now. It's -18F outside tonight and my attached garage is sitting at +39F. I still have a lot of winter ahead of me before I will want to work again in the garage. I like it to be a bit warmer outside, so I don't have to force heat my garage a lot.

And since I'm complaining, just let me say that we got 4 inches of snow the other day and I had to fire up the 20+ year old gas snowblower to clear the driveway. I waited until early afternoon when the temps topped out at +3F with a strong wind. Boy, did I get cold fast. Really feeling my old age the other day despite all the clothes I piled on to keep warm. Yeah, pretty much content to spend most of my time in the warm house these past few days. But looking forward to more pallet projects and gardening this spring....

 

[chickengr]

my goat house flooded. too much rain and soil could not absorb it. I put 2 pallets to keep them dry. I'll have to make a raised floor as soon as possible as I have 3 pregnant girls.

 

[gtaus]

my goat house flooded. too much rain and soil could not absorb it. I put 2 pallets to keep them dry. I'll have to make a raised floor as soon as possible as I have 3 pregnant girls.

Sorry to hear you are still fighting against flooding. Is this normal weather for you?

 

[Molpet]

my goat house flooded. too much rain and soil could not absorb it. I put 2 pallets to keep them dry. I'll have to make a raised floor as soon as possible as I have 3 pregnant girls.

When are they due?

 

[NanaK]

my goat house flooded. too much rain and soil could not absorb it. I put 2 pallets to keep them dry. I'll have to make a raised floor as soon as possible as I have 3 pregnant girls.

Sorry you are getting too much rain. Hope it lets up real soon! Wishing you luck with the babies.

 

[chickengr]

Sorry to hear you are still fighting against flooding. Is this normal weather for you?

it is not normal that it rains that much for days. yesterday during daytime it didn't rain so I worked on a new geese/duck coop. but when I went to close the coops it started drizzling. at night it rained again. forecasts say some rain today as well.

 

[chickengr]

When are they due?

not sure, probably in about 2 months. that means as soon as I finish my new coops I must make another goat house for my boy.

long story short I might get 2-3 murcia granada orphan kids. if I do I'll keep boys away from the girls. now I have spanish florida (flower) goats.

 

[Dreamers Nook]

I used pallet boxes to make a quail coop and pen. Each is about 5' x 6'. It's nice as I can separate them and move with the tractor. Only thing I regret is not making the coop so I could divide it.