Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[samanthaoverton]

I lined my two with plastic drop cloth and cut to fit. One of the darn things must have had a hole in it so it leaks

 

[MACCanadianCoop]

Well...all my pallet wood projects were built about ten years ago. And I have no building skills at all. So please be kind...lol. Thought you might like seeing how pallet wood holds up over time though.

Over ten year old and always in use compost bins...no repairs ever to this.View attachment 3209304
Storage area for odds and ends. This started as a fence to keep our bulldozer tortoise off the chain link...then when we replaced our garage door ..I changed it to create simple covered storage. Again...over ten years old and my first ever pallet project. No repairs ever needed on it.View attachment 3209305The inside of the above storageView attachment 3209307Our bulldozer tortoise house was also built from pallets. They're hard to see under all the outside layers ..but it's a u shaped box built from half pallets.View attachment 3209312
It's in need of repairs...not because the woods failed but because of tortoise digging damage. When I do repair this, I'll add a brick floor a couple feet down. Here's a pic that shows the damage. The pallet wood is holding strong and fully supporting the roof even though the surrounding brick insulation (that used to be filled with dirt) is collapsingView attachment 3209323Last is my pallet wood coop and run. Unfortunately I already tore apart the coop because I'm converting this space for ducks. It's my current project I've been working on. But the coop looked almost the same as this one and was made from pallet wood. I'm in the desert and good air flow is an absolute must...warm sheltered sleeping space is in little demand. So my coops are built for laying and so they can sleep out of the wind.View attachment 3209324
Here's pictures of the damage to the run that was caused by dumping water against it...I don't have before repair pics...but the wooden frame under the pallets is rotting. Again...this is over ten years of dumping water in the same spot... but you can see the wood is rotting. The whole door was crooked and it was sinking down.View attachment 3209328My "I don't know what I'm doing" solution is to lift the whole front panel and pop bricks under it to replace the rotten wood. Tentatively I think it's going to work. The first bricks are under so I can start digging and bricking. You can see the pallets used in the front and back in this pic...the low side is also made of pallets. Again, over ten years old and still strong other then the frame in just that one spot.View attachment 3209343View attachment 3209346
And believe it or not...I'm actually going to be reusing some of the ten year old pallet wood from my pulled apart coop! Only as siding to tidy up the inside of the run...not as structural wood. Here's some of the old boards I've been setting aside to reuse.View attachment 3209349

I did build a planting bed that broke years ago. It did have some wood damage but considering it was a watered garden bed...and that I tended to use the sides for leverage when turning the dirt...and I didn't design it well...it amazed me with how well it held up.
Wish I had pictures of beautiful pallet wood projects to share! But at least I can contribute with how well that wood lasts

Since you have a tortoise (LOVE!) I'm guessing you don't get snow. Since I do, I'm not expecting my pallet projects to necessarily hold up for 10 years. But hey, even if they last half that time, that would be great!

 

[ChicksnMore]

I like the door with flowers so cute it is so cool having a tortoise! I mean something that big just hanging out in the yard. I know I'm odd. It's so neat

They need repainted so badly! The tortoise is Spud...he's my hubby's pet and loves to chase anything red

Since you have a tortoise (LOVE!) I'm guessing you don't get snow. Since I do, I'm not expecting my pallet projects to necessarily hold up for 10 years. But hey, even if they last half that time, that would be great!

Yep, no snow and little water except where we garden, so probably different results in different climates.
I do actually water the compost bins though. Everything that needs hosed off gets done on top of them...so they've been exposed to tons of moisture. Here's a pic of the front of that run too.

The inside has higher dirt then the outside to avoid flooding during the monsoons, but this wood is always exposed to some moisture from dumping and rinsing water bowls there. You can see the bottom board is still moist even though I haven't used water there in a couple of days. The non-pallet wood just under the pallet rotted away and the pallet wood is still sound. I bowed out the front in my first attempt at lifting it from the inside. so once i had the first brick under it, i tapped it with a sledge hammer to knock it back into place and the boards handled that abuse fine.
I've broken so many boards prying pallets aparts...so I've been pleasantly surprised by the lasting power of them in actual use.

 

[Sally PB]

I'm so glad you made this thread, @gtaus!

I get a lot of satisfaction out of recycling and upcycling free material. I wish we would do more of that as a society.

Me too! I have some pallet stuff (pics to follow) and something made from scrap wood that DH brought home from work (pics of that too).

The pallet wood may be free, but you have to be prepared to put in some sweat equity into the project because you usually have to breakdown and process the wood before you can use it in many projects. For the home DIY'er, it probably worth the effort.

All I need for motivation to break down a pallet is a trip to the lumber yard, and to look at the prices!

The tortoise is Spud...he's my hubby's pet and loves to chase anything red

How fast can a tortoise go? Sorry, this just made me laugh.

Ok, some pictures. Pine, so fairly easy to work with.

A small table for the chicken run. It isn't this clean anymore!

A lean to shelter for food and water. The metal was a leftover piece from the roof on our house. The back piece was leftover from our coop add-on.

The white paint was left over from painting the inside of the chicken coop.

You know how they say not to let paint freeze? Well, the 5 gallon bucket of paint wasn't totally ruined, but it wasn't nice and smooth any more either. The chickens can't tell. I'll be using that stuff till it's gone. And it gets stored in the basement now, not the garage.

This chicknic table is made from scraps of wood DH brought home from work.

I also built myself a sturdy step stool from wood scraps and pallet wood, but I don't have a picture of it. I didn't bother to paint that white.

DH made a VERY cool foot locker/drawer out of another pallet. (No pics.) That one was oak and put together with staples. He had a lot more effort into reclaiming the wood.

DH retired a couple weeks ago, but may work part time still. I've told him to keep an eye out for good pallets and more scraps!

Tangentially related, since it's reclaimed stuff... He scored (25) 10' long u-channel posts from work. The customer was going to trash them. They now are around my garden. It would have cost $1325 to buy them.

 

[Wolfie2]

I like the idea of the tool storage pallet thing. I have a plastic tool hanger in my garden shed that I have used for 10 yrs but it it now falling apart. I have a pallet that is unused @ thie moment and will do my best, in the near future to do somethimg with it to store my tools. Looks like a good idea I can adapt.

 

[Egger4me]

Chickens coop twenty plus pallets and old fence.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Some really wonderful stuff everyone's built! I really love all the coops and the gorgeous planter boxes. ❤

I'm so glad you made this thread, @gtaus!

Me too! I have some pallet stuff (pics to follow) and something made from scrap wood that DH brought home from work (pics of that too).

All I need for motivation to break down a pallet is a trip to the lumber yard, and to look at the prices!

How fast can a tortoise go? Sorry, this just made me laugh.

Ok, some pictures. Pine, so fairly easy to work with.
View attachment 3209479
A small table for the chicken run. It isn't this clean anymore!
View attachment 3209490
A lean to shelter for food and water. The metal was a leftover piece from the roof on our house. The back piece was leftover from our coop add-on.
View attachment 3209496
The white paint was left over from painting the inside of the chicken coop.

You know how they say not to let paint freeze? Well, the 5 gallon bucket of paint wasn't totally ruined, but it wasn't nice and smooth any more either. The chickens can't tell. I'll be using that stuff till it's gone. And it gets stored in the basement now, not the garage.

This chicknic table is made from scraps of wood DH brought home from work.
View attachment 3209510
I also built myself a sturdy step stool from wood scraps and pallet wood, but I don't have a picture of it. I didn't bother to paint that white.

DH made a VERY cool foot locker/drawer out of another pallet. (No pics.) That one was oak and put together with staples. He had a lot more effort into reclaiming the wood.

DH retired a couple weeks ago, but may work part time still. I've told him to keep an eye out for good pallets and more scraps!

Tangentially related, since it's reclaimed stuff... He scored (25) 10' long u-channel posts from work. The customer was going to trash them. They now are around my garden. It would have cost $1325 to buy them.

I love that lean to. I mean really love...lol. I'll have to get some pallets when my to do list is caught up and see if I can build one.

Not fast on the tortoise! More of a lumber then a sprint. But he gets top marks for effort! We gave him a red jolly ball from our horses that he used to chase all over. He'd stomp upto it and try to take a big bite...then chase after it when it bounced away. He never got bored when he had that thing

 

[gtaus]

The planters look great! I would definitely line them with something. Not only will it help with the lifespan, it will also stop the mucky water from leaking out and making a mess

Thanks for the compliment on the planters. My first attempt and I was pretty happy with the results.

I think I'll add some plastic liners to protect the wood. But these planters will be sitting out on the lawn somewhere, so no need to worry about water leaking out and making a mess. I might make some planters for the deck, in which case they will probably be on short legs a few inches off the deck. For sure, you don't want a leaky mess in that case.

 

[gtaus]

I've broken so many boards prying pallets aparts...

There are many ways to break down a pallet.

Prying the boards out with a pallet buster or crowbars breaks too many boards, in my experience.

If you just need shorter slates, like about ~18 inches, the fastest way I have found is to cut the boards off the pallet stretchers with a circular saw. I then knock off the cutoff ends on the stretchers and pull the nails with a crowbar. That way, I can save both the short planks and the 2X4 stretchers. If I need a longer plank, I'll use the Pallet Buster to pry up the board with nails in the middle of the pallet. Usually, with the pallet buster tongs on each side of the middle stretcher, the boards will pry up without breaking.

If you need more full length boards, then the Sawzall method of sawing through the nails between the planks and the stretchers is the easiest way - but then you need to punch out the nail heads on the planks for many projects before use. The nail bottoms are still inside the 2X4 stretchers and I have not figured out a good way to dig them out. So, if you use the Sawzall method, you end up with nails embedded in all the stretchers which means you probably don't want to recut them to size on any saw. If you hit a nail with a spinning blade, that's not good.

If you had bad luck breaking down pallets in the past, you might try any number of the other methods to see what works best for you. Of course, a lot of that also depends on the type and quality of the pallet.

 

[gtaus]

Chickens coop twenty plus pallets and old fence.

Clearly on another level of pallet projects compared to me! Thanks for sharing your pics.