When using pallets

[happyhens]

Do you use the whole pallet or do you seperate the pallets and use the seperate boards? If you do seperate them, what is the easiest way to seperate? Any advice or pictures would be great! Thanks

 

[Chieftain]

Depends on the pallet I guess. There are a few different kinds out there so disassembly depends on the type.

I always found that a short flat wrecking bar and a good claw hammer worked best no matter what. Staples are hardest to pull in my view, and harder still in some of the harder woods that good pallets are made from. Any tool that you can use to lever the boards loose should work just fine. Just be patient and work at it and you can avoid splitting any of the boards.

 

[catdaddy66]

I have several pallets that I plan on disassembling to use the 1x4"'s in my tractor. I have seen several posts of use of the whole pallet for building a coop. Tearing pallets down is more work but I think it's worth it in the long run.

 

[CountryPantry]

We used whole pallets

Finished

 

[Chieftain]

You guys go for it! This Country has a long history of reusing packing materials in creative ways just like this.

Ever wonder why there is so much mahogany furniture around?? Mahogany used to be a trash wood that was widely used for packing crates to load any number of things into sailing ships and send cargo all over the world. It didn't take long for some enterprising cabinetmaker on the receiving end to realize that mahogany packing crates could be made outstanding furniture.

But I'll bet you a burger there used to be thousands of Mahogany chicken coops first...

Press on!

 

[patandchickens]

I would suggest doing some experimenting with the *particular* pallets you've got on hand. Some disassemble ok; others it's real hard, sometimes darn near impossible, to take apart without splitting the pieces.

When it's possible, disassembly gives you more flexibility (at the expense of a lot more work and slightly weakened wood, and a bit of loss due to damage). But for some pallets, or for things that happen to be easily assembled from whole or nearly-whole pallets, that can sometimes be a better idea.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[AtholCoop]

I generally find that the best way to take pallets apart is to snap a chalk line just inside the nails that hold the planks to the outside 4x4's and run the line with a skill saw. That'll give you the leverage you need to get the planks off of the center 4x4. You lose some of your overall length, but time is money. Once the planks are free it's easy peasy to take a wrecking bar to what remains of the plank and nails. Since what's left of the plank isn't something you care about you can get all caveman on it.