Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

Alternative Pallet Site Saved My Trip!

Since I had to sell my old Ford Explorer to the junkyard for scrap value, I have not been picking up pallets as much as before. That car was perfect to toss in 5 or 6 pallets each time I went to town. I can't do that with the family SUV's because I don't want to scratch or rip the back cargo area or the back seats which I would have to fold down.

Yesterday, I was at Harbor Freight picking up a free 5-gallon bucket. I noticed they had a few nice ~6-foot-long pallets outside for free pickup. They were in great shape, so I decided to hook up my utility trailer today and go back there and pick up those pallets.

Unfortunately, someone beat me to those pallets at Harbor Freight, and everything was gone, including the normal sized pallets that I would have taken in the load. That was a little disappointing, but not totally unexpected. Free pallets don't last long around here.

So, I got another free 5-gallon bucket at Harbor Freight today and then took a swing by one of my other sources of pallets to see if they had anything.

I got lucky. I was able to pick up three 6-foot-long pallets, one of which was all 2X4's including the top planks. I like those all 2X4 pallets because they are usually the easiest to take apart and save all the wood. I also picked up one 8-foot-long pallet that I tossed on top of everything. Nice full length 2X4's on that long pallet. Here is a picture of that...

When I check out pallets, I always look to see if any of them have any special hardware that I can take off and reuse. One of the 6-foot-long pallets had three 10-foot-long black cords with a metal snap at the end. Here is what they looked like...

I already have a couple ideas of how to put to good use. So that was a nice find.

Then I found another 6-foot-pallet with square head (Kreg-type) screws and large fender washers. I don't know what the pallet was used for, but here is a picture of those square head screws and fender washers...

Quick estimate is that I probably have 28 sets of those. I'm sure they will come in handy on a future project. The 2X4's on that pallet were good, but the planks were not the greatest. Anyways, I took that pallet mainly for those screws and fender washers with the 6-foot-long 2X4's as a bonus.

Finally, I was going to butcher some chickens today but got rained out. While I was loading up these long pallets into my utility trailer, I found this small 24X30 inch solid top pallet that should be perfect for a temporary butchering table...

In the end, I think I got lucky and probably got a better load of pallets than I had planned. It's good that I have a few places I can check for free pallets because you never know what might be available.

 

[gtaus]

Pallet Wood Chicken Butchering Table Was a Bust!

A few days ago, I was all excited that I found a small 24X30 inch solid top pallet. I said I was going to make a nice chicken butchering stand using that partial pallet...

I had all the 2X4's ready to build the frame, and another half pallet to put under it to hold a bucket for the chicken guts, etc... Today, I started dry fitting everything together and I had a change of heart.

Did I really want to build another stand for a 1-hour job that I only do maybe once or twice a year? Where would I put the stand when I did not need it - the other 364 days of the year?

The answer came to me that what I wanted was only a very temporary solution. I did not want to have to store a butchering stand for the next 364 days in the backyard. My solution was to simply put that partial solid top pallet on top of some sawhorses to make the table, then I put the bucket on the ground to toss in the chicken's innards. Worked perfectly. Setup in less than 5 minutes, clean up and breakdown less than 5 minutes, chickens butchered, and everything put away. No need to create a space for storing a butchering table.

I thought I'd be clucking about how I made this great pallet wood butchering table and how well it worked for me. I like building stuff. However, it just made more sense for me to plop the pallet on top of some sawhorses to use as my tabletop and call it done. Not much of a pallet project project, but there it is.

I did make good use out of that special hardware I took off those pallets from my last trip...

That rope was about 10 feet long. I wrapped it around a beam to a height where I could clip in the chickens suspended upside down by some twine around their feet. I don't have a killing cone - yet - but I saw a nice YouTube video where they used twine around the chicken's feet to hang the chickens upside down over a bucket to cut their throats and bleed them out. Then you use the same twine around their feet to dunk them in the hot water bath. Keeps your hands out of the hot water. Worked great for me.

Not much else to say except that everything went well. Hated to butcher some ~5 year old hens, but needed to reduce the flock before winter sets in. These hens were no longer laying eggs. I don't have a backyard flock as pets to feed all winter long without getting any eggs. I have a few more birds that we might cull before winter.

I also found out that these laying hens just don't have nearly as much meat on them as the Cornish Cross meat chickens we raised years ago. We plan of making some stew or soup out of these old hens before we decide what to do with the next 2 or 3 hens we need to cull. I hope they taste good. But I fear they may be a bit tough.

“You take an old stewing hen, toss her in a pot with a rock, boil it for hours. When it’s done, you throw out the chicken and eat the rock—it’s more tender!”

 

[chickengr]

Pallet Wood Chicken Butchering Table Was a Bust!

A few days ago, I was all excited that I found a small 24X30 inch solid top pallet. I said I was going to make a nice chicken butchering stand using that partial pallet...

View attachment 4231099

I had all the 2X4's ready to build the frame, and another half pallet to put under it to hold a bucket for the chicken guts, etc... Today, I started dry fitting everything together and I had a change of heart.

Did I really want to build another stand for a 1-hour job that I only do maybe once or twice a year? Where would I put the stand when I did not need it - the other 364 days of the year?

The answer came to me that what I wanted was only a very temporary solution. I did not want to have to store a butchering stand for the next 364 days in the backyard. My solution was to simply put that partial solid top pallet on top of some sawhorses to make the table, then I put the bucket on the ground to toss in the chicken's innards. Worked perfectly. Setup in less than 5 minutes, clean up and breakdown less than 5 minutes, chickens butchered, and everything put away. No need to create a space for storing a butchering table.

I thought I'd be clucking about how I made this great pallet wood butchering table and how well it worked for me. I like building stuff. However, it just made more sense for me to plop the pallet on top of some sawhorses to use as my tabletop and call it done. Not much of a pallet project project, but there it is.

I did make good use out of that special hardware I took off those pallets from my last trip...

View attachment 4231101

That rope was about 10 feet long. I wrapped it around a beam to a height where I could clip in the chickens suspended upside down by some twine around their feet. I don't have a killing cone - yet - but I saw a nice YouTube video where they used twine around the chicken's feet to hang the chickens upside down over a bucket to cut their throats and bleed them out. Then you use the same twine around their feet to dunk them in the hot water bath. Keeps your hands out of the hot water. Worked great for me.

Not much else to say except that everything went well. Hated to butcher some ~5 year old hens, but needed to reduce the flock before winter sets in. These hens were no longer laying eggs. I don't have a backyard flock as pets to feed all winter long without getting any eggs. I have a few more birds that we might cull before winter.

I also found out that these laying hens just don't have nearly as much meat on them as the Cornish Cross meat chickens we raised years ago. We plan of making some stew or soup out of these old hens before we decide what to do with the next 2 or 3 hens we need to cull. I hope they taste good. But I fear they may be a bit tough.

“You take an old stewing hen, toss her in a pot with a rock, boil it for hours. When it’s done, you throw out the chicken and eat the rock—it’s more tender!”

if I had that old hen I would mince her meat. I remember old hen hamburgers I ate ages ago. they were sooooo tasty.

 

[gtaus]

if I had that old hen I would mince her meat. I remember old hen hamburgers I ate ages ago. they were sooooo tasty.

Thanks. I'll mention that to Dear Wife. She does most of the cooking in our house. I know she has made chicken salad spread for sandwiches before which we really liked.