Is There A Trick To Breaking Down Pallets?

[Derek Arita]

I made a little table for my daughter out of a used pallet. Now my wife and my other daughter want one. Thing is, it was a real pain to break the pallet down. Sometimes they use those twist shank nails and you end up beaming the wood apart more than taking it apart cleanly. Anyhow, as with most things, I was thinking there might be a trick to it.

[Charles Wiggins]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkKFGIjPSvI

[Charles Wiggins]

Update:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpcur7RTDVU

[Charles Wiggins]

You can download the plans for $2.95 at: http://www.naturalbuildingblog.com/the-pallet-pal/

[Howard Acheson]

Not an answer to the problem but at least the reason for it.

Pallets are made from freshly cut, green boards. They use both straight and twist nails. Because the wood is green as it dries it shrinks and the nails are gripped much more tightly. In addition, the nails will rust and become more difficult to remove.

[fRED mCnEILL]

A number of years ago when I first started woodworking my business received a lot of pallets. So one day I took one apart (a lot of work) and got the most beautiful piece of 4 inch thick maple. I thought I had hit the motherlode for wood. But what I found was that the result wasn't worth the effort. They were difficult to get apart and the wood wasn't very good. At least with a pallet pal or some similar contraption there isn't too much effort. I would build one now but no longer get pallets. Maybe I will build one anyway.

[Derek Arita]

Thanks for the replies. I kinda want to be able to keep all the boards in one piece to do this...
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h151/derekarita1/PalletTable_zps0614bc5f.jpg (http://s63.photobucket.com/user/derekarita1/media/PalletTable_zps0614bc5f.jpg.html)

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I've always just burned them, but that is a cool table. I see why they want more, simple and clever. I like it!

[Mike Olson]

I swear I just posted this somewhere else... Anything you see out there that involves prying the boards off is a waste of time. it doesn't work for anything but the pine pallets that have box nails used to install. "those are RARE!"

Most often, you have boards nailed into maple, oak, mystery hard wood with spiral nails that you are NOT getting out.
Jay Bates posted a video of the method I use which is pretty much the only way to get full boards like you want.


http://youtu.be/7WxdiZ-CsY8

[Michael Mahan]

I swear I just posted this somewhere else... Anything you see out there that involves prying the boards off is a waste of time. it doesn't work for anything but the pine pallets that have box nails used to install. "those are RARE!"

Most often, you have boards nailed into maple, oak, mystery hard wood with spiral nails that you are NOT getting out.
Jay Bates posted a video of the method I use which is pretty much the only way to get full boards like you want.

+1 This works Better

[Kent A Bathurst]

+1 This works Better

Yeah - you oughta see the industrial version of pallet dismantlers. You'd have a heart attack. Basically, a large-throat horizontal bandsaw across a flat table, set at 3/4" or so. Lay the pallet on the table. One operator pushes, one pulls, slicing through the nails.

Not me, brudda..........

[pat warner]

There is, a battery powered jigsaw.
Can break the meanest down in <3'.

[Keith Hankins]

A number of years ago when I first started woodworking my business received a lot of pallets. So one day I took one apart (a lot of work) and got the most beautiful piece of 4 inch thick maple. I thought I had hit the motherlode for wood. But what I found was that the result wasn't worth the effort. They were difficult to get apart and the wood wasn't very good. At least with a pallet pal or some similar contraption there isn't too much effort. I would build one now but no longer get pallets. Maybe I will build one anyway.

Please be careful when it comes to pallets. There are two types of wood pallets. Heat treated to kill any bugs or chemical treated. The chemical treated are done with very nasty chemicals and exposure through cutting and dust can be a bad experience. Heat treated are ok and most times are indicated by HT. However you cannot trust that. In our industry we had used pallets and had a huge issue when we found that the HT on some pallets certified by the vendor were in fact chemical treated and the board with the HT had been lifted and used on a chemical treated one. IT is more expensive for a heat treated pallet. Needless to say we no longer use wood pallets at all. Anyway please be careful the chemicals are really nasty.

[Jim Andrew]

Last time I was at Menards, there was this machine I thought was a cardboard baler, but it had a sign "NO CARDBOARD". And there was a stack of 4' boards at the end. It was at the back of the store, outside.

[Jim Matthews]

You're kidding, right?

This is to furniture what
Velveeta is to cheese.

You can do better.

[Rob Luter]

You're kidding, right?

This is to furniture what
Velveeta is to cheese.

You can do better.

I concur with Jim....usually

At work we had some materials come in from Asia on pallets that were made from some really cool looking wood. It was a nice reddish brown with swirly grain. Hard as stone too. It wasn't suitable for furniture, but was great for small projects.

[Derek Arita]

You're kidding, right?

This is to furniture what
Velveeta is to cheese.

You can do better.
Open your mind a little. That table is exactly the look that the daughter was going for. She wanted the old, repurposed and weathered look. If you ever go to antique stores, you'll see this stuff all over the place and people love it.
I'm no snob and will try anything that looks like it would be fun or challenging. The challenge in this was to retain the weathered look, while still dimensioning the lumber so that good, solid joinery could be used. Matter of fact, where new lumber could be seen, I used various techniques to get the weathered old look. I'm not a master woodworker and I'm not a hack either...I'm just having fun working wood.

[Alan Bienlein]

You're kidding, right?

This is to furniture what
Velveeta is to cheese.

You can do better.

Better than what? Maybe this is what they were looking for!

Down here in Houston you can't swing a dead cat without hitting this style of furniture. You need to remember that "fine" furniture is in the eye of the owner and not the person making it.

[Rod Sheridan]

We use a Caterpillar lift truck, run over the pallet, put the pieces in the dumpster..............Rod.

[Kent A Bathurst]

We use a Caterpillar lift truck, run over the pallet, put the pieces in the dumpster..............Rod.

Ah, yes - - - -

The time-tested "get a bigger hammer" solution.

I like it.

[Jason Roehl]

Hey! I like Velveeta! I also like more expensive cheeses.

As for the Sawzall take-apart video, I'd skip the demo blade (nails + wood) for a high TPI metal blade. What he demonstrated there was trying to avoid cutting the wood, and a metal blade will go through those nails much quicker with less damage to the wood, in part because the blades are thinner and/or have less tooth offset. It also helps to move the blade back and forth so that you're not concentrating the whole 1-1/4" stroke of the saw in one area of the blade, overheating it and shortening its life.

[Michael Koga]

Browsing the Internet, I've seen many neat stuff made from pallet wood, and recently saw one where they edged a vegetable garden bed with the wood.

However I worked with industrial chemicals for 10 years, and saw many a pallet contaminated with nasty stuff.

You never know the history of that pallet. Definitely wouldn't use it for anything food related. Something to think about.

[Derek Arita]

Good point about the chemicals stuff. I never even thought about that and will keep it in mind. Using the Saws All is quick, however getting the nail shanks out of the wood would be difficult at best. I'd like to be able to remove the nails as easily as possible. I like the Pallet Buster, as it looks the easiest, quickest and cleanest way.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

[QUOTE=Derek Arita;2233339]Open your mind a little. QUOTE]

I agree. A closed mind cannot learn.

[Patrick Grady]

Removal of weathered walkboards from docks is similar to reclaiming pallets; the same principles apply and carry the same chemical cautions. My dock 'prybar' is 6' long and pivots on a centered industrial caster. Same as for pallets, nongalvanized rusted nails are difficult and often pull through the 2X6 wood like there was no head. Galvanized nails pull out easily and can be reused. The underside of dockboards often look like new wood and if not warped, are good for many outdoor projects. I am careful about handling and working treated wood and keep it outdoors and away from vegetable gardening and most human and animal contacts.