Grabbed some pallets from work, made a few useful things
cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/65231458
Raised garden:
Kayak rack:
Work benches/storage:
(Don't judge my cluttered garage, that's why I built the benches, it's a work in progress)
And I've still got two pallets left! Plus some random bits and bobs.
Edit: removed some doxing info
43 replies
Did you ensure that the pallets are not treated with Methyl Bromide? That stuff is a nasty neurotoxin and you don’t want that in your garden.
I hadn't considered this!
How do I check?
My assumption is that they are not. These are custom pallets made specifically for transporting a heavy machine one time, and the manufacturer doesn't ask for them back.
I worked at a sawmill for a few years when I was younger, and this looks for all the world like untreated pine to me. Not exactly quality work to begin with, but good enough for a few years as a garden box.
They should be stamped with “MB”
There is an international standard for pallet labels.
I will check when I get home, thank you!
Looks like you’re probably good. You have HT pallets, not MB pallets.
Edit: looks like your wood is heat-treated. Someone spotted the HT labels in the pics.
Oh that's good. I'll still look closer at home 👌
Thanks again
It looks like they are stamped HT, so I'd assume they are heat treated? I hope so because I'm loading up a bunch of pallets labeled the same...
Good eye. Yup, that stuff is heat-treated. No MB.
I support this. They are treated against everything living, and that includes humans.
you call yourself dull. pfft. two kayaks.
Does it help that they haven't been used in at least two years?
well. at least your trying.
Dull . . . like a fox!
. . . wait 🤔
it's crazy satisfying how perfectly those pallets fit in that van or truck or whatever
You have no idea:
Incredible!!
I suppose picking a pallet's dimensions with some wiggle room as a starting point for a cargo vehicle's inner width makes sense, and squaring that to the vertical dimension makes sense too
Or its just total awesome coincidence, haha
Better not be in a head-on collision though 😬
🤫
Almost as if vans are deliberately sized to fit sheet goods etc.
unlike pickups.
Nice work! It's great to be able to take relatively useless material and turn it into something useful. Reuse and recycle, I could use a kayak holder just like that, thanks for the inspo!
Thanks!
I built it all without planning or measuring, just kind of went with the flow as I went. The tables are pretty sturdy, I stood on them. But they could've used better bracing on the legs, and the legs could've been shorter.
But I'm anchoring them to the walls too so they'll be more than strong enough.
Surprised they let you take them. Places buy those back
They were destined for the dumpster.
Ironically, the smaller crappier standard size pallets we save and stack them up to reuse or sell.
The really junky ones go into a separate pile that we hope to sell, but usually give away free.
These ones were huge and heavy, so because they didn't fit our normal procedures, they wanted them gone 🤷♂️
I didn't argue lol
Even slightly damaged or worn they are thrown out. you do not want to be near a pallet failure.
If that's what you consider a cluttered garage, I'd hate to see what you consider a messy one. That's the cleanest garage I've seen in possibly my entire life
😬
I looked at his garage, looked at mine and decided I hated him.
Possibly harsh, but I feel it is fair.
Seriously, the floor looks recently swept even.
I've been converting coffee tables into pallets, in case you need more.
🤣
uuuh nice :D
Thanks!
I miss having access to oak pallets from work. Awesome work!
They are so fucking expensive these days that I think buying raw wood is cheaper
Helps when they're free 😬
For sure, I get free some wood from boxes and it's been amazing not having to buy it
Free is pretty cheap.
Timely. I did some major yard work and ended up with a bunch of pallets. Local industry just piles them by the roadside as waste.
So what does a pallet cost?
According to uline, pallets cost $40-70 each, yet subsequently have no value after one use.
any tips how to pull them apart? it took me a hour of work. Those spiral nails are hard to get out.
Nice!
Depends on how much you care about the nails vs the wood.
I started with a big thin crowbar and a big sledgehammer, you can sneak between the wood and cut the nails with the crowbar and sledgehammer. It's a lot of work, and less the nail heads embedded in the wood, but otherwise it's very clean.
Then I tried beating the center 4x4s with the sledgehammer directly, this was VERY effective at getting everything apart. And it kept the wood planks looking nice. But it bent the nails such that they were very difficult to remove. You couldn't pound them out from behind because they were bent, and straightening them was a pain in the butt.
Finally I switched to hitting the planks from behind with a normal hammer. This beat up one side of the planks, which is ugly, but if you can hide it it's fine. And the nails stay straight, so you can pound them out from behind, and then pull them the rest of the way out from the front. This is what I mostly did once I figured it out.
These pneumatic nail removers easily punchout the nails. Not expensive.
But pallet strength varies, some of them are designed to carry stone or brick and are very hard to break apart.
Nice!