Taking apart pallets for wood- tips or tricks?

[Noymira]

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to find as much free material as possible for our shed conversion and my husband has access to free pallets at work. My dad is helping me with construction, he is a carpenter by trade, and has tried to steer me away from using pallets. He says they are hard to take apart without destroying and not worth the effort.

I trust his judgement, but I also know how much money I have for this project, very little! I'm thinking about snagging a few to try and take apart myself to see if he's right.

So, I'm wondering what kind of experiences my resourceful BYC friends had with pallets.

Are they worth the time and effort to take apart? Any tips or tricks to it? Anything we should look specifically for or avoid? What have you used the pallet pieces for?

I'm trying to figure out where we can use them in our project. Has anyone used them to cover the walls over insulation instead of plywood? I was thinking we could also use them in building our run, but I'm not sure how yet.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Well, I would have to agree and disagree with him. It does take some elbow grease and muscle, time AND patience when dealing with pallets and trying to take them apart. BUT, it is worth every sweat drop, every cut finger, every banged knee. Comparing the sweat to spending money, I will take the sweat ANY day. You just have to take your time in (cleaning the pallets) taking the nails out. A crow bar and hammer worked for us. We got free pallets from everywhere and anywhere but mostly from our local glass company. We collected pallets for about 1 month. Of course, we stayed away from split or rotten wood or anything that we thought was treated wood.

Below you can see our pallet projects and other FREE recycled wood that we used. If I would have had to purchase all of this wood, I would have spent $$$$$$$$$$$$$ thousands of dollars. I am VERY cheap and I knew that I was NOT going to spend any more than I needed to. Craigslist became my Number 1 online source. I say that if you have the time and patience and can take apart the pallents, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try that first. It worked for me. The proof is below in all of my pics. What do you think?

 

[schellie69]

kuntrygirl you make my pallet coop look ratty

Yes taking the pallets apart is a pain but so worth it in the end. Here is my coop as it was coming together if its nice this weekend I will get pictures of it put together we used old shower doors inside.

I was able to get the recycled rubber flooring it can be hosed out it never rots and no little bugs will eat it

This is the storage side

I used barn paint and a cheap free bucket of paint for the trim.

 

[paddock36]

I have used pallets to make a temp. coop (and it wasn't pretty) which has turned into not being temporary. I broke a lot of boards trying to use a hammer to get them apart. I have since found out that if you use a Saw-zaw with a metal blade you can cut the nails to separate the boards. Some are a little harder to squeeze the blade in between the boards but it just takes a little effort and you don't break any boards.

 

[PapaChaz]

Quote:
wonderful advice! i use my sawsall all the time, it's great for disassembling things! much easier to work the blade between the boards and cut the nails than the hammer and crowbar method!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Nothing is ratty when you're using FREE pallet coop material. You're off to a great start! I'm jealous of yours. You have recycled rubber flooring? I'm so, so, so jealous. YOU ROCK!!! That is awesome. Great find!

I love the way yours is coming together. Keep up the great work. Post more pics when you're done.

 

[paddock36]

Quote:
wonderful advice! i use my sawsall all the time, it's great for disassembling things! much easier to work the blade between the boards and cut the nails than the hammer and crowbar method!

Absolutely! I just wish I would have figured that out when I made the temp coop. I'm planning on redoing it but I'm in no hurry 'cause I didn't tell the hens it was ugly.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
We found out about the Saw-zaw after all of the pallet stuff had been made. We recently bought one about a month ago, so that is what we will be using from here on out. We will begin building more breeding pens and brooder/condominuim area with about 15 - 20 individual condos that will house chickens, ducks, geese and turkey who are "in waiting". Waiting for eggs to hatch.

I can't wait. Of course, we will be using free pallets and free recycled wood.

 

[schellie69]

Quote:
Nothing is ratty when you're using FREE pallet coop material. You're off to a great start! I'm jealous of yours. You have recycled rubber flooring? I'm so, so, so jealous. YOU ROCK!!! That is awesome. Great find!

I love the way yours is coming together. Keep up the great work. Post more pics when you're done.

It done just need to take pictures. I did buy the recycled flooring new and the roofing material rest was recycled I even have nest boxes that open from the outside which where made from a old toy box. I will pictures this weekend. my DH made me a feeder for the new coop also. Right now my 5 new chicks are in it. I will get all the pictures up just been to cold and snowy here. I love making stuff from free stuff. I love to recycle that's why we used the pallets I also used plywood that I found that someone threw out. I have an old dog house that i am using for my coop now as soon as the new pen is built it will be come my duck house. Well DH won't notice 4 new ducks in the back yard right. I would use anything you can for free it helps keep the cost down.

 

[The Driver]

Use a nail bar with a hammer and you will cut down on damaging boards. The good thing about pallets is that they are made from rough cut wood which will last a longer!