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what do you do with Pallets

Posted by joefalco z8 (My Page) on
Sun, Nov 21, 04 at 9:33

I can get plenty of free pallets, I was looking for ideas so I could have some free or real cheap project ideas to do with these.

I'm interested in seeing what you have done with these.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

  • Posted by indica WonganHillsWA (My Page) on
    Sun, Nov 21, 04 at 20:53

I just picked up some pallets. I'm going to make some compost bins with them. Recently on TV there was a show in which the wood from several pallets was used to make a cheap table.
cheers


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I saw a book at the bookstore in the crafts section that was about the furniture and other things you can make out of wood like that.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I wish I had seen that show on making the compost bin from pallets. I have a bunch of pallets and want to make a compost bin.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

We made a jerry-rigged hog pen out of some because my husband listened to the guy helping him build it. He also had a compost bin made out of some. Three sides were buried in the ground about 1/2-1 foot deep. He tied them together with clothesline wire & had some steel rods nailed at the corners some how. The 4th side he had it rigged with a pallet & rope so that it would raise up when the rope was pulled.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

  • Posted by indica WonganHillsWA (My Page) on
    Mon, Nov 22, 04 at 21:20

I plan on making my bins by standing the pallets on edge on three sides. I have some old fencing wire that I will use to tie them together. Then next to the first bin I will stand 2 more pallets to make second bin. I_I_I_I ,like this pattern if it makes sense.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I have been using mine to make a raised cedar walk way through my gardens. My husband takes 4x4 posts and cuts them 1 1/2 long and then buries a foot of them in the ground leaving 6 inches above ground. We put a post at each corner of each pallet and then cover the tops of the pallets with red cedar planks we get from a local guy for 1 dollar each.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I haven't found a good source of pallets yet, but I saw a video of an engineer in Albuquerque who saws them into boards he makes into ceiling joists for low cost housing. He has long 2x boards and the short lengths are glued and nailed up in a crisscross pattern. I saw some of these in place in a small building in southern New Mexico. They worked just fine. There was a report of this in The Last Straw, a magazine about strawbale building.
I've been wanting to try this out, but haven't the pallets.
Norm


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How do you take them apart

I've heard the easiest way to take pallets apart is to saw through the nails with a sawzall. Pulling out all the nails is way hard!
Norm


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

We had 3 compost bins made from pallets and they had metal fenceposts at each corner to tie to with wire. This made them sturdy enough to put one on the front too, just wire hinges on one side and a wire hook to hold it closed.


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I'm using the wood i my attic so I don't have to walk on the rafters.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

  • Posted by COBB 8SC USA (My Page) on
    Mon, Dec 6, 04 at 14:20

I made my compost bins from pallets in July. The termites are having a field day. Don't think they'll last past spring. Fortunately they are easily replaced.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

If there are termintes eating them doesn't that put your house in danger of termite damage?


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I know someone who took them apart, let them age to a barn wood patina in the back yard, then installed them as a rustic wainscoting in the basement family room. It was done with great craft, and is just beautiful!

I like all the other ideas posters have too.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Okay, this is kind of boring, but...I have tons of plants sitting in containers, and I put them on pallets. This discourages overgrown roots from growing into the earth below.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I've taken them apart-difficult, the wood wants to split- and used the wood to make 22 birdhouses. use the removed boards as the sides of a path, where everything is wood chipped the same. I put my gourds on them as the gourds cure outside during the winter-mice won't eat the gourds that way. I attached some left over lattice to one to make a easy/fast wall between my potting area and the rest of the patio. a bench for plants in the potting area is a pallet on top of cement blocks/chair legs.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

someone gave me the tip to cut through the nails with a sawzaw in order to take them apart easily


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I was searching through some sites on the www for something and ran across the directions for a hoop house type greenhouse that used pallets for the lower section (closest to the ground) the cattle panels were attached to the pallets...made for a taller hoop...

and

someone was building a wood storage shed using mostly pallets...I didn't save the sites but you could search the www for ideas.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

A link that shows how to do make the bin:

Here is a link that might be useful: Pallet Compost Bin


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RE: Pallet Bin

Different style bins:

Here is a link that might be useful: Another Set of Instructions


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Have an idea for some pallet wood. I have a back room where I keep my plants for the winter and wanted to make it a little more presentable for guests to see. I am going to paint a mural on the wall and then use pallet wood to make a fence in front of the mural. The wood will be spaced far enough apart to still see the mural behind it. Will look like the outdoors while being indoors. May never happen, but have thought about it for some time.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

i use them for making garden crates. what i do is cut across the pallet cutting the three nailed sections out of the pallets leaving short boards, i do that because it's too much trouble to deal with the nails and it's really easy to just run a circular saw across the pallet six times (3 each side). when that's finished i cut two 6x2's short and use those for the ends of the crate, then i hammer the short boards across the bottom and sides for the bottom and sides of the crates using roofing type nails with a wide head. it's so easy you can make a few of these an hour when you get going and they are very useful in the garden. even though they are wood i leave them outside because .. well, who cares, they are easy to make, pallets are free, scrap 6x2's are free, nails costs are insignificant, and it comes down to how much time you feel like making them. i give plants away in these crates in the spring.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets (#2)

actually that's a mistake, you run the circular saw across the pallet 8 times, 4 per side, to remove the nailed ends and the center nailed section.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I want to try making some furniture out of some pallets, have seen it done on tv and the pieces look great.

I did make a shelf for my garden out of parts of a pallet that had been broken up. I used piles of bricks for the legs.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

We got a little more elaborate with our compost bins made from pallets (okay, we went way overboard with our compost bins). This construction would only be recommended if you're fairly handy and have the tools. And have scrounged materials. And are VERY SERIOUS about composting.

Take an automobile wheel. (You can find bent ones at the junkyard or at a friendly garage.) Bolt it in the center of a pallet using the lug bolt holes in the wheel. Drill holes in the pallet so you can insert the bolts. You may need to insert wood blocks between the pallet and the curved interior of the wheel to make solid contact.

Repeat with a second pallet.

Using these pallets as opposites, use six more pallets to construct a box. We hinged one side, using hinges salvaged from an old door.

Insert a length of pipe through the axle holes in the wheels. It needs to be strong; we used pipe that had been used for an underground water pump.

Okay. I'm going to forgo the illusion that any reasonable human being is going to follow these directions and just tell you what we did.

We salvaged two truck bumper jacks, rated for several times the weight we expected to be lifting, and set them each in a concrete base far enough apart to give us about three feet clearance on either side of the box and at a level where the pipe through the box rested on the plate, the part that you would ordinarily insert under the car's bumper, when the box was on the ground. We welded a steel guard on the plate so it was looped over the pipe. That would prevent the pipe from kicking out.

We put a couple of inches of dirt in the bottom of the box to bring the soil microbes into contact with the compost and filled the box with compost. When the box was half-filled, we laid an old piece of hose (artfully punctured to serve as a leaker hose) across the boxes so we could water the middle of the pile.

When the box was three-quarters full, we jacked it up and rotated the box to turn the compost. See the method to our madness? Ever turn a large compost heap by hand? We have four and can water and turn them all in less than an hour. They can be tilted, making it much easier to load the contents into the bed of a pickup.

These are good quality pallets and they last. To dismantle a box that needs replacing, remove its hardware, and build another takes only a couple of hours if you're doing it by yourself, about an hour with a competent helper.

Slide the pipe from the compost bin and the entire bin can be taken somewhere to be emptied.

Ray


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RE: what do you do with Pallets (#2)

Now for some more normal uses:

Nail four of them together to make a pen for ducks, puppies, small children. But not all simultaneously.

Stand one on its side so the open end is up. Nail to the wall of your garden shed. Nail strips to divide the opening into segments. Use to stand your rakes, hoes, etc. upright.

Tie segments of block styrofoam, such as what might be used to pack VCR's, underneath the pallet and use as a floating platform in a pond for your ducks. Do not use as a swimming platform for people. Tie a rope to the platform so you don't have to swim out into the middle of the lake to retrieve it.

Stack firewood on the pallets to get it off the ground and protect from ground moisture.

Use as a work platform when you're working at a table with a person of a different height (such as a child). If there are wide gaps between the slats, cover with a piece of linoleum, plywood, plexiglass.

Use as a raised sidewalk over muddy patches or seeps in the garden, etc.

Remove the center slats and use as a frame for a planting bed.

Use four to build a box for your trashcan so wind or animals won't knock it over.

Remove center slats. Slide down over your mailbox post and use as box to plant flowers around it.

Use as fuel for high school bonfire. For football game pep rallies, not to actually burn the high school.

Ray


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I dismantled the pallets and used the slats as pickets for a fence around the vegetable garden.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Since I've had several requests, here is a picture of my pallet-picket fence...

Here is a link that might be useful: fence (left side of picture)


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

We prop them up on concrete blocks set in shallow water in our swampy bottomlands as a "bridge" across the areas. Sometimes they float away, when water gets deeper, probably should tie them down. They rot, but are easily replaced.

Here is a link that might be useful: A makeshift bridge


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Hi. We made a neat deck in our backyard using free pallets. By alternating the direction of the slats we created an interesting mosaic. We took apart some to provide extra slats and bracing underneath. They look great and when they rot too much, we'll do it again.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

We NEED to see pictures of this deck.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

To make a 4" or 5" deep "container garden"
Turn the pallet, flat side down. Nail boards all around, and cover the "box" with thick plastic.Drill a few holes for drainage. If desired use 2 sawhorses or an old table to elevate.Fill with soil. You have now a "container garden"
I did not try this myself yet, just wanted to share the idea, and hear your comments.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Jeanne - nice fence!


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I'm considering hanging a pallet vertically off a wall or fence to use as a planter for epiphytic plants such as staghorn ferns. A little wire or webbing at the bottom and sides should be adequate to hold a growing medium such as sphagnum moss or bark, and the slats in the pallet should make for interesting designs and combinations of plants.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

we used our old pallets to make a fence around our vegetable garden, to keep the dogs out.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

What about using pallets as raw material to make raised beds?

Trying to picture that.

No luck.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

My father made a terrific 4-bin compost bin out of pallets. Each bin was 3-sided & the fronts were left open. This way it was easy for him to turn the stuff from one bin into the one next to it as they "cooked". The compartments on each end were used for finished compost & brand-new scraps.


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Off-The-Ground Storage

Oh - I also use pallets to store my hay, straw, & other horses supplies off the ground in my barn. I imagine they would work just as well keeping perishable gardening supplies off the ground as well.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I used mine to make bat boxes that I sold at the farmer's market for $15 a piece. You can make 2 nice nesting boxes out of one pallet.I got the screen for free from the local hardware store as they had a bin of scrap screen from replacing it on doors. They sold well enough to become a fundraiser for my environmental club at college. A little creativity and they can be made into birdhouses.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

In this month's Better Homes and Gardens Magazine (Australian Version there are instructions to make a coffee table with pallets. We also have BH&G television show which they show the projects from the magazine being made. To remove the slats all they did was run a circular saw along the slats just in from the nail holes - they pulled the centre nails out, leaving the slats only about 2-3 inches shorter.

My husband mentioned he has some pallets at work and I'm gonna get hime to bring them home. Most of our pallets are made with Australian hardwoods - I want to try to make a bedend for our king bed with them.

Also found a shed made from pallets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pallet shed


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Lots of great ideas here. That pallet shed is terrific. I've used pallets this year under a two-high hay bale row to keep the hay bales from rotting so quickly. Right now there's a 3" layer of soil on top of the hay bales with arugula and lettuce seedlings sprouting. Not an original idea. I also used pallets to elevate my behind-the-garage rain barrels. A layer of left-over bricks on top of black plastic, and then I topped off the pile with two pallets. Then come the rain barrels.


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Grassisevil, I would love to see pictures of the flying bins. Sounds like something I would do just so people would have something to talk about!


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I use them as an area subfloor on my basement floor. I keep my roof vegetables there with crates and baskets. I also read that someone built a small shelter area in there basement with six of them for walls, ceiling and floor.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

ahh, my dream topic, LOL. I am incredibly cheap, and I was tedious enough to remove nails with a hammer, until my hus got the circular saw out... that was not good enough for me though because you have to sacrifice length, so we went with a sawsall. We worked it ti the nub too! He finds my frugality to border on ridiculous, but he confesses that we have made some nice things.

We made a beautiful pump house using really nice pallets from a paper company, the slats were 10 inches wide and sanded. we even made trim for it. It was difficult to separate the center support with the sawsall, so he drilled around the nails with a 1/2 inch hole saw, and we left the holes for ventilation.

We also made a moveable chicken pen out of pallets 2x4s and chicken wire salvaged from out old pen. It is a 2X4 frame and runners, and we can drag it. it is about 6ftX3ftX3ft, complete with a little hasp on the door :)

The precursor to the moveable pen was a lean-to pen made of nothing but pallets, and the central support was made by marrying the supports together to make a long rafter. This one was big for our cornish X rocks. But has since been torn down. our only flaw (lack of a wood roof) soon became apparent when out goat climbed on the porch and jumped on top of the pen caving in the chicken wire roof to get at the feed. crazy goat :) LOL The goat was a feast for a hispanic friend that september, and a new moveable pen was built :)
If you disassemble the pallets, you are only limited by your imagination ;) We also used them to build the sides on our porch, they were only framed when we bought the place. And our next pallet adventure will be compost tumblers using plastic barrels from a cola company... $3 apiece! Have fun!


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and...

PS.....taking notes on that shed!


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Hello,

I started this thread a while back and I am glad to see it is still going and there are lots of great ideas here.

Recently I used some pallets to enclose a homemade trailer (old pop-up camper)

Also someone mentioned using a hold saw to cut around the nails in pallets and then leaving the holes as ventelation. I have found that if you use the hole saw and then use the next size up hole saw on a scrap piece the larger piece fits as a perfect plug for the smaller hole.

A little wood putty for the drill hole and your good.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

You can stand a pallet on end vertically, then nail on a cross-board to the bottom for stability, and you have a saw horse. Make 2 sawhorses, add a top, and you have a temporary, movable work table. Or gardening table.

I have yet to find pallets, but I want to make some shelving for my garage using the boards.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I found a wrecking bar at a major store for only $5. And it wasn't even on sale. But the next cheapest one was $13. It's a 1" hex steel thing for pulling nails and demo work. Now I can use all sorts of scrap wood, and I can get those stubborn ring shank nails out so they won't mess up my saw blade.

And it's good exercise.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I have a grody basement and when I first moved here, the floor was damp. I'm a germ/scuz nut, so I refused to step on the floor. I had my washer and dryer put on pallets and made a walkway from the bottom of the stairs to the appliances with pallets I got from a shipping company (which was GLAD to give them to me) I used old plywood, a table top etc on top of the pallets. It worked great.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Why you make furniture with extra pallets! See link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Table


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

THAT IS FROM A PALLET???????????? OMIGD!!

*falls in a faint on the floor*


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

  • Posted by suzieh 9 Altadena CA (My Page) on
    Sun, Apr 24, 05 at 3:14

Hello all...new member here.
Can't believe I found this incredible post all from a Google search.

I plan on making a simple potting bench with a medium-sized pallet.

I have a smaller pallet that I'll be putting wheels on to use as a dolley.

A larger pallet was going to be used for lifting stuff in garage off the floor which flooded with the heavy rains in the Los Angeles area.

But, saw pretty neat u-shaped firewood holder at a craftmen house and will probably do that instead.

I recall that on one of the home decorating shows that they used pallets to put in a wooden floor.

Ain't recycling great :0)


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Mark M.... that table is gorgeous!


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Well back when I had access to a whole lot of land to garden with ( A pasture mostly weeds and solid clay soil of course ) I was hooked on the idea of having a square foot garden. I had no $$ for materials but access to pallets and lots of compost - every now and then. So I knocked out select boards on the pallets - stacked one on top of another for height and used the boards I knocked out to seal up the sides of the pallets to contain the soil... needless to say they were small odd shape squares. However, I had lots of them they were spread out but I built a lot of them. I also recycled dresser drawers in this manner - I just knocked the bottoms out of the drawers and had an instant frame to place soil in and added plants grown from seed. Voila a cheap great tasting crop of plants and flowers. Yes it was quite odd looking but the field was away from local neighbors and I am not one for 'looks' just practicality. I had a great time with it and now that I have moved I sure do miss it +sigh+ I now am at a smaller lot and don't have the loads of room I used to but I am getting by. This is something I have tried successfully before. It does work.

Barb


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

All pallets are not created equal. A good place to get pallets with 1x4x6, and 2x2x3's are a home center or lowes. The crates that log spliters and mowers are packed in is great lumber and very smooth. We have a good source and have built several shelves, a well house, a tool shed, a feed shed, a temp. goat house, and a temp. chicken brooder with 2 rooms. and several 6 1/2' by 6 1/2'by 4' tall duck and chicken tractors.

We have done the sawsall and circular saw routine but if you are being truely tightwaddish it's not practical. We have found as long as you have 2 good hammers and get them apart before they can take up moisture they come apart decent enough. (practice makes it go much faster). We have a very good supply of very nice boards that we have stacked up an area cross stacked by size totaling about 10'x20' 4 feet tall.

Every calls our place the pallet palace.

The pallets that are runs of boards on each side of 2 2x4's are the hardest to work with we avoid those like the plague (they are too hard to be worth the time for building with).

I think it's great that people are using up pallets and keeping them out of the landfills (very few places recycle them due to transporting cost).

We also use the shaving from cutting the boards and mix with wood glue for filler on some of our stuff, it's cheaper than filler.

Best of luck to anyone that recycles. Let you mind wonder and have fun with it.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

My company has a huge, huge, huge mess of pallets that are free for the taking. They are all different sizes and some are even of hard woods. I am in Spartanburg, SC but if any one is interested in getting some just email me and you can have as many as you want.

Cindy


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Thank you everyone who has posted here. I have several things I would like to make but have not had the money for materials. Knowing this, I can have quiet a party here. Some of the things on my list are as follows:
A dog house,
A desk,
A chair for my desk,
compost bin,
garden beds.
Thanks again,
Engi


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I'm thinking of trying something like this for my screened pool area on my backyard patio. Theres SO MUCH construction going on in my area I can get pallets for DAYS...

I'm wondering, though, if i should pre-treat the materials so that they are more weather resistant???? how would "ya'll" handle this type of project? I'm thinking cute the pallets to uniform size planks, treat them? sand them? stain them? and then secure them together in tile sized sections, place the "tiles onto a substrate and secure them??

Heres' the link to my very ambitious PALLET PROJECT

http://thedeckingoutlet.com/repo.html

Here is a link that might be useful: The Decking Outlet


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My husband wants to make a garden path out of pallets, I have searched all over the net for samples or advice, can't find any. This site has the most creative answers and things to do with pallets, any one make a path or got pics or ideas, please let me know!! Thanks Tracy


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

This thread started in '04, ran through '05 and now again coming back to life in '06. How cool is that?

All I can say is....Me, myself, and I created a sunken deck using old wood pallets given to me by my neighbors son. It is pretty awesome. I love it better then the weed patch that was where I built it.

Radd


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

If anyone is in salt lake city and wants some pallets e-mail me. I had projects for them, but chances are none will materialize (already made compost bins).


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I have built many things with used pallets. A fence to hide the trash cans. Another fence to go around and hide some junk in my back yard. I use them to stack my fire wood on and have made several that hold exacly one cord so when I have to buy wood I know if they are trying to cheat me or not.lol. I built a very nice dog house which a neibhour saw and offered me 200 bucks for, yes I sold it and built another. I built a very heavy duty work table as well as a picnic table , benches, and chairs which I have sold several of. Saw horses, wow the list goes on and on. There is a company in cali that builds any kind of furniture you can think of out of them. Of course to build really nice furnitue like that You would need a wood workshop. I read of a whole town in Mexico built entirely out of pallets. Basically what you can build out of Pallets is only limited by imagination, getting the right pallets made from the right kind of wood for your project, time, tools and skill level. Like any other type of wood it can be protected from wheather in various ways and it can be planed, sanded, straightened. It's hard to beat free lumber but remember it is not really free after you put in the time and labor that it takes to make folks that see it say " WOW! That was built from Pallets!" Happy building folks.


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I had to bring this back up for '07 :)


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Where can I find pallets? Who do you have to ask?

Thanks -- now I can't wait to get started making something!!


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My neighbor works at walmart and has made many things from pallets. His dog has a pallet house, and he has utilized pallets to fence around his house. His most interesting project by far has been a twenty foot bridge across a run-off gully (usually dry, but can run heavy and fast) It's yet to be tested under "fire" so to speak. He's used 4x4 posts and pilings of concrete block, and resembles a train trellis.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I'm surprised no one mentioned the most obvious use, cut them up for firewood.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

we made a coffee table with a pallet left over from our roofing shingles. We took some old legs off a broken table and used them for the new table. We had thought of using fence posts and cutting them down to size. We are planning on making another table for our back patio and we will use the fence posts.

here is a pic

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I was under the impression that it wasn't a good idea to burn pallets because a lot of them are pressure treated to extend their "shelf life" and prevent premature rotting. In fact, I know my wife used to have to turn a lot of people away where she worked when they asked for pallets for firewood for that very reason. <shrug>

Also, wouldn't that make them a bad candidate for composting bins? I've been looking for a way to get my hands on enough wood to build on in my backyard and I absolutely refuse to pay over $300 for the wood to do so. <sigh>


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I have only used the pallets I've 'scrounged' to make a compost bin, didn't want to put it right against my neighbor's privacy fence, but I really like the idea of using it as a base for firewood. Right now, ours is stacked between 2 trees, & the stuff at the bottom is pretty yucky...


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

The usual compost bins are my main use. I also pry the boards off to build raised garden beds. The bottom frame of the pallets work good as a trellis for veggies, netting slips perfectly over the nail heads that held the boards on.

By laying one pallet flat on the ground, scrwing on corner posts and adding another pallet on top, you can make a nice tool holder where the handles are supported between the boards and are easy to grab out.

I use the ones with very old looking wood to build bird houses and feeders. It makes for a nice rustic feeder, and I add perches made from rusted horseshoes or tree prunings to complete the look.

Pallets are also great for curing garlic, squash, and onions on. The slats allow for air circulation and the veggies sun-cure quickly.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I make lots of stuff from pallets. look at my web page and see.

Here is a link that might be useful: MY web page :)


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I found your posting when I Googled to see if anyone else has been doing anything with pallets.

For two years now I have, as a hobby, been dismatling pallets and making Bantam chicken houses from them. I have made many different types. I have now settled on a basic shape structure and will be working on a guide for novices to follow.

I don't know how to post a pic on this forum so cannot show you?


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

OK I think I have worked out how to show a picture throught this link

Here is a link that might be useful: Broody house and run


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Glad to see that I am not alone. I had the idea yesterday to make compost bins, now after reading this thread I have many other ideas. Who would you ask at Lowe's or Wal-Mart for the pallets? The general manager maybe? I am thinking of making some walls inside of my basement to separate out a romp room, home theater, and game room area. Been toying with the idea for a while, just did not want to spend the money on the wood. Any other ideas of where to get the pallets? I also need a new shed mine is metal and starting to rust, the wooden pallet idea is amazing. If it starts to rot, big deal, spend a few hours and build another.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

rgrace,
I see free pallets listed on Craigslist all the time. If you don't have a local Craigslist, check your newspaper classifieds. Also, drive around the industrial area of your town and you will be bound to find plenty. Pallets seem to mulitply like hangers!
Kath


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

We get free pallets at a local plumbing supply company. These are all untreated hardwood pallets.

Pallets can be used as is and we have done that many times for compost bins. I now have a 5 bin system and will post a link to a pic. Compost bins made this way will last for many years. Nothing fancy, they are just nailed together.

We regard pallets as free wood and my DH now cuts the ends off to obtain usable pieces. Much easier than pulling nails which he used to do. He's made many things from them altho sometimes uses them for kindling if I don't come up with a woodworking idea soon enough.

Many years ago I watched a TV show where a guy made many nice pieces of furniture from pallets. He ran them thru a planer first. He explained that there were many different exotic woods in pallets.

Such a waste if they go to the landfill.

Here is a link that might be useful: 5 compost bins


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Please consider the safety of working with Pallets. Many include harmful chemicals.

from wikipedia:
'Discarded wooden pallets should not be used for fire wood or crafts unless it has been determined that the wood in these pallets has not been treated with wood preservatives, fungicides and/or pesticides. Various pyrethrins and propiconazole are common treatments for wooden pallets. In addition, imported palletized goods are routinely fumigated with highly toxic pesticides such as ethylene oxide and methyl bromide. During use, harmful materials or chemicals also may spill on the pallet wood and be absorbed.'

Here is a link that might be useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Remove all the nails and use for flooring in your attic if needed. Use them to stack things, like bags of mulch or to keep anything off the floor.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Not all pallets are treated with chemicals, some are heat treated.


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Great Reading!! Has anyone made birdhouses and do you have pictures.
Thanks,
Patsey


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

Check The Knock off Wood blog ... she's doing amazing things with pallets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Knock Off Wood


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I use Pallets to build my greenhouse and also an outdoor cat house and a chicken coop


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

How about a storage counter?

Here is a link that might be useful: Loft & Cottage / found furniture


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

We are going to make a potters bench with ours. I'm thinking of what else we can do with others. I work for a construction company and they have pallets coming out the wazoooooo....


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RE: what do you do with Pallets

I saw a great site on the net for using them as living walls. She stapled landscape cloth around 3 edges (folding edges under), the filled with potting soil and planted with succulents. I believe she left in for about a week before hanging to get the roots to develop to keep soil in place.


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