separating pallets

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crowndale

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separating pallets
« on: January 01, 2008, 15:46 »
I know it can be done successfully because I've seen people who have made all sorts of stuff from pallet wood, but how on earth do you separate the wood without splitting it?  I want to make a couple of gates for the plot and have two large pallets just crying out to be made into gates but I cannot separate the wood panels to cut them to size, and the pallets are too big to use whole as gates.
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WG.

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separating pallets
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2008, 15:49 »
Bolster chisel

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David.

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separating pallets
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2008, 17:17 »
This is how I do it, but as I use the waste for kindling, and I get quite a few (approx 130 last year [07]), I'm not trying to salvage 100%:

Rest upright with slats on 'top' of pallet facing vertically. Using jigsaw, cut through top 2 horizontal slats either side of the (6?) verticals between the 'blocks', then pull them down to lever off bottom slat and set aside.

Cut up all horizontals into short lengths for kindling, leaving 3 individual sections, each consisting of 3 'blocks' with slats either side. You could carefully remove the bottom 2 horizontal slats at this stage, but I don't normally bother.

This is where I get my sharpened 750mm axe out, and cleanly slice the 2 approx. 6" long remains of the horizontals off the 6 verticals. Then I knock the blocks out of the other 3 sections with the blunt end, and slice off any remaining horizontal bits.

That leaves me with 12 slats which I then simply cut all projecting nails/staples off using an angle grinder, a bag of short lengths of slat for kindling, and 9 pallet blocks which, is softwood not chipboard (or even plastic!) can be easily smashed into yet more kindling.

Now, as "making from palletes" is in the Frugal Living Board header, perhaps our different methods of dismantling, together with some pics could be added as a 'sticky' topic?

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ditchdigger

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separating pallets
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2008, 17:43 »
Quote from: "David."
This is how I do it, but as I use the waste for kindling, and I get quite a few (approx 130 last year [07]), I'm not trying to salvage 100%:

Rest upright with slats on 'top' of pallet facing vertically. Using jigsaw, cut through top 2 horizontal slats either side of the (6?) verticals between the 'blocks', then pull them down to lever off bottom slat and set aside.

Cut up all horizontals into short lengths for kindling, leaving 3 individual sections, each consisting of 3 'blocks' with slats either side. You could carefully remove the bottom 2 horizontal slats at this stage, but I don't normally bother.

This is where I get my sharpened 750mm axe out, and cleanly slice the 2 approx. 6" long remains of the horizontals off the 6 verticals. Then I knock the blocks out of the other 3 sections with the blunt end, and slice off any remaining horizontal bits.

That leaves me with 12 slats which I then simply cut all projecting nails/staples off using an angle grinder, a bag of short lengths of slat for kindling, and 9 pallet blocks which, is softwood not chipboard (or even plastic!) can be easily smashed into yet more kindling.

Now, as "making from palletes" is in the Frugal Living Board header, perhaps our different methods of dismantling, together with some pics could be added as a 'sticky' topic?
PHEWWWW! Think i'd just buy some 3"x1"
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SnooziSuzi

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separating pallets
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2008, 17:44 »
I did this recently by using a hammer and crowbar.

turn the pallet so that the runners (the thicker supporting bits, not the top ones) are at the top and hammer the crowbar (or thingy that WG showed) into the gap between the top slat and the runner.  you will lose some because pallet wood isn't that strong, but you'll salvage more that way.

Whatever you do, don't try to prise the slat off the runner because they'll split and will be unusable for anything other than kindling.

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wellingtons

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I use loads of pallets ...
« Reply #5 on: January 01, 2008, 18:35 »
... and there are some that are easier to break up than others.   The easiest to break up are the ones that you chipboard blocks as spacers because you can simply whack the spacers with a hammer and they disintegrate!

For the others I use the wotsit WG recommends.  You do have a certain amount of wastage though.  I'm mid flow breaking up about 20 pallets for edging my path!  Wish me luck!

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David.

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separating pallets
« Reply #6 on: January 01, 2008, 19:54 »
Quote from: "ditchdigger"
PHEWWWW! Think i'd just buy some 3"x1"


Really? Surely that would cost at least 50p/metre, and I will get at least 12 x 1.20 lengths from a pallet + 2 bags of kindling that cost £4.50 each from the shop.

Each pallet only takes 15 mins to sort out, and I collect them locally (approx 2-3 minutes away).

So when I dismantle 4 pallets, I get at least £65 pounds worth of wood/kindling for an hours work. It would take me an hour just to drive to Wickes & back.

PHEWWWW! you must have loads of money to spare.

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DD.

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separating pallets
« Reply #7 on: January 01, 2008, 19:58 »
Quote from: "David."
Quote from: "ditchdigger"
PHEWWWW! Think i'd just buy some 3"x1"


Really? Surely that would cost at least 50p/metre, and I will get at least 12 x 1.20 lengths from a pallet + 2 bags of kindling that cost £4.50 each from the shop.

Each pallet only takes 15 mins to sort out, and I collect them locally (approx 2-3 minutes away).

So when I dismantle 4 pallets, I get at least £65 pounds worth of wood/kindling for an hours work. It would take me an hour just to drive to Wickes & back.

PHEWWWW! you must have loads of money to spare.


I think it was just meant as a throw away remark! :lol:
Did it really tell you to do THAT on the packet?

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crowndale

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separating pallets
« Reply #8 on: January 01, 2008, 20:08 »
Quote from: "WG."
Bolster chisel


Well, a friend of mine has one of these so I'll try this approach next.  thanks for all the tips, I may well yet try out others depending on how successful I am with this method!

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David.

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separating pallets
« Reply #9 on: January 01, 2008, 20:24 »
Quote from: "DD."
I think it was just meant as a throw away remark! :lol:


Too much gets thrown away these days, first pallets, and now remarks.

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ditchdigger

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separating pallets
« Reply #10 on: January 01, 2008, 20:39 »
Quote from: "David."
Quote from: "DD."
I think it was just meant as a throw away remark! :lol:


Too much gets thrown away these days, first pallets, and now remarks.
Iwouldn't ever throw pallets away, I'd burn 'em and put the ash round me onions. :lol:

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wellingtons

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I had a delivery of about ...
« Reply #11 on: January 02, 2008, 11:09 »
... 30 pallets about October time and you should see the envious looks I got.  I actually got this lot delivered and stacked right on my plot and because I don't know how many I'll need (cos I'll ruin a few along the way) I haven't yet let anyone else have any.

I can positively see people drooling at they look at my three stacks of pallets.  

I have given Chris next door two already, cos he's a total sweetheart and he didn't actually ask for them, he asked if I could let him know where he could get some from.

But the rest are mine all mine I tells ya ...  :lol:

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crowndale

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separating pallets
« Reply #12 on: January 02, 2008, 17:02 »
I started with about 30 but the fence is just a little over half done now so about 14 left I think.  But I have two huge pallets in the garage that i want to split to make gates.  I've used whole pallets in the fence but thats too heavy for the gates and they aren't the right size either.  Will tackle the other side of teh plot next autumn after I've had time to dig out the bind weed at the border with next door (left) and a chance to check who is responsible for the falling down fence now, hopefully he'll be happy enough for me to replace it when I am ready to, don't want to lose any more growing room by having to build infront of the existing 'fence' as I lost a foot already by putting up the pallet fence in front of the current (raised) paved path between me and the right side next door neighbour.  Could have moved the path I guess but that would have been a lot of work and probably not endeared me to the neighbour as he'd have lost his path and some growing room too.

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noshed

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separating pallets
« Reply #13 on: January 03, 2008, 10:30 »
You want to watch what you're doing with that bolster chisel - losing a foot is bad.
Self-sufficient in rasberries and bindweed. Slug pellets can be handy.

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daveinmanc

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separating pallets
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2008, 11:53 »
simplest way i've found so far is the hammer combined with brute force and ignorance method lol . . . . . .

works a treat to separate the blocks from the pallet, yes you may waste a little if the planks attached to the underside split but its a small price to pay. saving them for the OH's fire  . . . . .  

after faffing about with a hammer and a crowbar/flat floorboard crowbar i got fed up trying to gently prise them apart and resorted to smacking the blocks as hard as i could, bingo ! three good cracks and one side was off, after that i simply ground off the nails poking through with an angle grinder and they were done, total time per pallet, about five minutes lol.   :shock:

the older pallets come apart a lot easier doing this, the pallets that are near new take more persuasion and i did actually take the flat crowbar to these so as not to make a mess off them as they looked near new.

did two trips just driving around trafford park in manc last night and came back with 17 lol  :D , seems to be the general opinion that if the companies leave them lying about outside then they're 'rubbish' and they don't mind people helping themselves to them, or at least i hope that true. . . .  so if you dont hear off me for a while . . . . . . .  lol  . . . . . .   :shock:



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