# How I process pallets into firewood



## ruserious2008 (Nov 24, 2011)

I've threatened to post this for a while on various posts so I thought I'd do this while the turkey is cooking

I can process about 12 pallets per hour by myself and more with some help. I have a small stove and heat 2 rooms that are very "tight" (insulated, vapor barriers, etc) and easy to heat. During shoulder season I mostly use pallets parts to take the chill off. During the winter I use pallets parts on top of kindling to get some nice hot coals in the stove then throw my "real wood" on there. 
 First here's my trusty stand I built for cutting the slats off. Yes I built it from pallet parts 









I then either use a small chainsaw or a sawz all/reciprocating saw  and cut the slats off. Sawz All is best I think because inevitably I'll hit a nail and that blade takes the abuse better than my chainsaw. Still with a good sharp blade even with the red oak pallets I sometimes get its pretty much like cutting butter. 




So the pallet pieces wind up in a pile and I usually make kindling out of them with a small hatchet.








Other thing I have done with the slats is to take four or five of them and hit them with the nail gun and make small "logs" out of them. Pretty fast work with a nail gun. These saved my butt my first year burning when I realized the "seasoned" wood I bought was wet. Two of these on the fire and then a green piece of wood got me thru the winter. Not really planning to make any of them this year as I scrounged lots of wood this year.





Then I take the runners and cut them up with a table saw. I find this much faster than the Sawz All or a chainsaw. I sharpen my own blades so no biggy when I hit a nail. 










Of course the end product is irregular so if you have any disorders requiring you to have things stacked neat and even this could put you over the edge I just throw them into a bin I made out of, yup, pallets 





So that's about it. My source of the red oak pallets is out of business but it was a company that received heavy machinery on the pallets if you want to find some in your area. Stores like "The Scooter Store" usually have all the pallets I want but most are pine but some are oak. On CL around here there's usually no problem finding all the pallets I need. Its free and dry wood and I don't find cutting them up to be a big issue. Obviously avoid painted pallets (the few I get of them I use to stack my wood on figuring they will past longer)  or anything that has stains on them that could be chemicals. Or course you'll have nails in your ashes but I just use one of those magnets you can get at Home Depot that roofers use to pick up nails. I just run it around in the ash bucket and then pour the ashes out over it into my compost pile get them that way and I have coffee cans full of nails that I use often for misc projects.


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## MF1635 Owner (Nov 24, 2011)

nice process you have there!


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## NNYorker (Nov 24, 2011)

Like the sawzall and stand idea. Lots easier on the back and knees.........and quicker than my method. I've been using a circular saw with an old carbide tipped blade.............takes a lot of time for what you get out of it.


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## bogydave (Nov 24, 2011)

Cheap heat for sure. 
The magnet is a good idea.
Recycling is a good thing.


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## weatherguy (Nov 24, 2011)

So you use pallets to cut pallets then store on pallets and burn pallets, pretty neat use of pallets.


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## Hass (Nov 24, 2011)

very nice.
I stack the runners after I cut them... yeah, I'm a bit of OCD in that respect but I got it down pretty good. I was good at tetris also.
I also like sawzall with nail demo blades (Milwaukee makes them called "The Ax"). I can run through nails all day long and the blade still is as sharp as when I opened the package. I can't even tell when I'm going through a nail 4/5 times. I can use a new sawzall, but can't justify it when the one I have still works. It quit working last year because some in line fuse block melted up pretty bad. the part was like $40, so I just used electrical tape and wired them back together and she still runs. But I don't run it past 3 on the variable speed (goes 1-6), and I give it frequent breaks. The saw isn't even worth $40, so buying the real replacement wasn't worth it.

Thanks for sharing with us. The pictures are nice  Helps understand it better.
Have you tried using a chop saw/miter saw for the runners instead of a table saw?


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## nate379 (Nov 24, 2011)

I never risked the ashses out of my stove.  I let it cool outside for a couple weeks and dump it into the dumpster at work.  It's minimal benefit to the ground (if any) isn't worth have flats all summer with my yard equipment.


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## chvymn99 (Nov 25, 2011)

Nicely Done.  I've got quite a few pallets to use for my garage this year.  Thanks...


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## andybaker (Nov 25, 2011)

I have a great source of broken pallets I use for kindling.  I call the guy with the pallet repair business and see when he will be around and I show up with the trailer.  He uses his fork lift and picks up his garbage bin and brings it out and dumps it for me.  At home I separate out the sizes and stack them in the garage.  One load will usually last me for about two years.  There are always a lot of big square chunks in there at the bottom and to start the year I'll burn them for a couple weeks.  I've often wondered with a little thought that someone with a stove could make real good use of all this waste.  Looks like you've already done it.  One thing I enjoy with burning wood is using up what would end up in a land fill and putting it to good use.


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## woodchip (Nov 25, 2011)

Look well organised compared to what I do, usually use a crowbar to dismantle the pallets.

I suspect I take longer than I need to get the job done, must do a time and motion study out in the yard someday  ;-)


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## Lumber-Jack (Nov 25, 2011)

The only pallets I get are from my work, but they charge a $20 deposit on them so it's not worth burning them. However I agree with your sentiments on burning wood scrapes to take the chill off. I burn a lot of scrapes in my shop stove when I'm working out there, and save my big stuff for longer burns in the house. It's great to be able to recycle scrape wood like that.
One mans garbage is another mans heat.


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## BlankBlankBlank (Nov 26, 2011)

ruserious2008 said:
			
		

> I've threatened to post this for a while on various posts so I thought I'd do this while the turkey is cooking
> 
> I can process about 12 pallets per hour by myself and more with some help. I have a small stove and heat 2 rooms that are very "tight" (insulated, vapor barriers, etc) and easy to heat. During shoulder season I mostly use pallets parts to take the chill off. During the winter I use pallets parts on top of kindling to get some nice hot coals in the stove then throw my "real wood" on there.
> First here's my trusty stand I built for cutting the slats off. Yes I built it from pallet parts
> ...



Nice process.  Thanks for all the pics.  I like your wood storage made from pallets.


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## Gasifier (Nov 26, 2011)

Nice process you have there ruserious! I can see how that would make some nice savings for you. Thanks for sharing, and good pics.


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## punchy (Nov 26, 2011)

i think i might end up burning some pallets this year, not all of my wood is ready yet.  i cant wait til next year, i am already ahead for it. where i work alot of pallets end up in dumpster.  i really liked the making small logs out of them.  sounds like that would wok good.


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## Vincent (Nov 26, 2011)

I used a cordless DeWalt circular saw. I would just saw the boards.


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## BlankBlankBlank (Nov 27, 2011)

Vincent said:
			
		

> I used a cordless DeWalt circular saw. I would just saw the boards.



That's the tool to have for pallets.  There's a guy offering a ton of pallets at his shop.  Thing is that my trailer is only 5'x8', so the trailer fills up quickly with full pallets.  The pallets are located far from the building so no power.  I've got this idea that if I could cut all the boards off the pallets before bringing home, then I could fit a lot more wood on my trailer.


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