Uses for pallets

I have just been blessed with another load of 30 pallets.  I have used them for goat feeders, shelters, keeping hay and feed off the ground, and gates.  Are there any uses I am overlooking?

I am trying to rig up a couple to rest my tractor rear implements so as to keep them off the ground when not in use.

Eric

Strip them down and clean up the boards, have lumber ready to use

BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE PALLETS:

If they have an imprint saying  HT, PCP-HT, FCC-HT or KD they are fine to use.
If they have an imprint saing MB they have been treated with Methyl Bromide
and are therefore poisonous and should not be used for anything.

My number one use is as raised lasagna beds.
I used to split them in half and build one 4x4 ish bed out of two pallets and 8 deck screws..
Now I use 4 pallets and  cut the deck boards off of half of each one.
This leaves 2 feet of 2x4 sticking up, useful for holding trellising or plastic or frost blankets.
I use the removed boards elsewhere.

I just built some nice lumber racks out of pallets.
Most of the lumber on the racks, also from pallets.
I try to use them as is, with as few cuts as possible.

My biochar kiln is sized for pallet board's, as is my languishing rocket mass heater.

I've been building little cold frames from pallet wood and refrigerator shelf glass.
Rather than  buckets or half barrels , going forward I hope to use stacking pallet wood frames or crates to root  hardwood cuttings.

My soil sifters are made from pallet wood and various sizes of hardware cloth, as is my potting table.

The main limiting factor of pallet wood is the length.
I use screw  laminated posts quite often, but haven't graduated to beams or using glue.

For 6 foot tall  fencing, I use two rows of the roughly 40" pallet board.
The top row overlaps the bottom row,rather than them butting  together .
This means no measuring or cutting of the boards, and using a brad nailer keeps the fastening cheap and fast.

I have used brads and staples to  nail together wooden walkways, just pallet wood directly over dirt and the last quite a long time.

I've seen building plans for sheds, barns, houses, etc, that use pallets.

I like to keep a few pallets around for keeping things off the ground in my parts/gear graveyard.

I have some cut down trees aging on some pallets that I had on hand. When winter comes around I can just put a tarp over them to protect them from weather yet still have some airflow below.

They are great for emergency fence repairs in the snow or rain. With baling twine they can hold things together long enough until the weather improves.  I have also used them for temporary fences when I end up with livestock I wasn’t planning in getting but the price was incredibly good.

I bought plans on Etsy for a "Stand alone Canning Pantry Cabinet" that can be made from pallets. I was thinking along the lines of something I could put in a pantry to hold canning jars of different foods so I wouldn't have to run up and down the stairs every time I wanted to cook. You can use regular lumber or they have a second plan set using pallets. I thought that was a great idea that would cost nothing more than my time.

We lined our outhouse pit with pallets and used pallets as the framing for the outhouse floor.

We haven’t made a huge amount of use for pallet wood because of the pain of deconstructing them.

I wonder what ingenious methods permies use to dismember palettes and maximize reusable parts?

My daughter made me a lovely kitchen island from deconstructed pallets. Also bed bases which have hinged tops  for storing extra linen, duvets etc. She made them in 2 halves which push together so they are easy to move around and have structural strength. In the kitchen is an "L" bench, also with hinged lids to give extra storage.
Outside on the porch we have wrap around seating - probably the most simple construction being Pallets cut in half and placed on edge as legs, with the top slats screwed on top. Old foam mattresses provide cushioning and back support. Curtains along the front of the bench hides more storage spaceand provides cool nooks for the dogs in the summer.
Oh, and a deck made from extra long pallets on salvaged steel struts.
They truly are versatile.

John F Dean wrote:I have just been blessed with another load of 30 pallets.  I have used them for goat feeders, shelters, keeping hay and feed off the ground, and gates.  Are there any uses I am overlooking?

My first attempt at uploading a pic, so not sure if I have it right as it doesn't show

Annette Jones wrote:

John F Dean wrote:I have just been blessed with another load of 30 pallets.  I have used them for goat feeders, shelters, keeping hay and feed off the ground, and gates.  Are there any uses I am overlooking?

My first attempt at uploading a pic, so not sure if I have it right as it doesn't show

Yaaay, it worked so adding more, hopefully.

That's lovely Annette!

My son built me a garden shed using pallet wood a few years ago. I am very proud of him. He had to take all of those pallets apart first.
All I had to do was stain it (brown) when it was finished.
Here is it seen from different sides.

I made a compost bin with cold frame on top.

4 pallets made the bin, attached at edges to make corners.  I put them with the 48 inch side vertical.  I lined the inside with cardboard to cover the gaps.  During the summer and fall I filled it with all the yard and kitchen “waste”, and moistened it.  What I wanted was a level top on the compost, and a gap of about 12 inches.

I started tomato and pepper seeds in doors on a heat mat, etc.  The last frost comes late at 6000 feet.  In order not to have tiny root systems and plants that can’t tolerate full sun or some 40 F days, I potted my little plants into gallon size and packed them in to the space on top of the compost and hardened them off.  There are plenty of sunny days before the last frost.  The plants are quite happy, and when the cold nights threaten, or winds,  it’s easy to cover the plants with a canvas tarp, or wool blanket if needed.  I had a half sheet of some corrugated polycarbonate greenhouse glazing I put on across the top of the pallets, I put the tarp over it for night time, and if it was a cold snowy frosty day, I left the polycarbonate sheet on top, weighted down with bricks.

Those plants were tough, compact, deep green and ready for the local conditions when they went into the ground!

I sold my extras at the small neighborhood farmers’ market.  Others also brought their extras.  Mine were sought after!

I made a giant box that can hold 3-4 cords of loose wood so I don’t have to stack it. Also made a simple fence for my chickens, and I cut some in half then made an ‘A’ frame chicken tunnel so they can go from their run over to the fenced orchard.

I saw some sawbucks made from pallets, but didn’t do it that way.

I am getting ready to build some nest boxes for my hens.  Pallets ought to work pretty well for that.

I had a pallet floor in the milking parlor end of the barn.  In the winter it was a lot warmer for my feet to be up off the frozen ground.

I have built 2 kinds of fences from pallets.  First was a long string of pallets at angles to one another.  Theoretically they would be 90 degree angles and overall you  would get a “straight” fence, but if you need a curve to fit your situation, you just adjust the angles.  This is a strong fence and you can climb over it.

In The second fence the pallets are end to end, and between each set of 2 pallets is a pallet placed crosswise.  This is a strong fence too, and I have used half pallets for the cross pieces in some situations.  If you have baling twine you can use that to tie the pallets together.  I don’t like the plastic disintegration that results, so I try to replace it with another style of fastener as soon as I can.

Inge - I love your shed, looks so sturdy!
Thekla, what a great take on hot beds, I can definitely see that in my garden plan. I'm away from Jan to early May, last frost date is end Jan so I miss the early planting season. I may just have to install a few of these, germinate indoors in Jan, transplant just before I leave, cover with a frost blanket and keep my fingers crossed! I may get plants well developed enough for the furnace that comes in June.

I really like the very simple pieces made from pallets, I'm not as experienced as many on here.

I'd love to see how many inside the home pallet uses anyone has done

I've tried to upload some pictures... Sorry, some are focusing on more important things!

Wow, some wonderful pictures of great projects on this thread!

I've built a bookcase from pallets, and also used them for fencing. For the fencing I set them up in a slight zig-zag fashion and at the corners gave a bit of extra support with a t-post. It amazed me how many years they lasted even though I didn't do anything to protect the wood. They make a very strong fence.

It amazed me how many years they lasted even though I didn't do anything to protect the wood. They make a very strong fence.

That's the one disconcerting thing about pallets -what did they use to make them so impervious to bugs and rot? I'm sure 'using them as compost bins and raised beds is OK, but I would never bury them in a hugel for instance. I once tried burning the offcuts in my Walker stove and my husband's asthma was triggered very quickly!

Sarah - Nearly all pallets these days are made from heat-treated wood. This is the least expensive means of making a moderately durable unit that won't have bugs or pathogens onboard to cause biosecurity issues in another country. You will usually see an imprint or brand somewhere on one of the crosspieces...look for HT.

Very occasionally you might come across a pallet that has been fumigated or (even more rarely) made from chemically-treated timber. The former is hard to spot, but the latter would have a different mark and no HT brand. Fumigation would be used if goods are imported from a quarantined region and could be a trigger for asthma.

Sarah Joubert wrote:That's the one disconcerting thing about pallets -what did they use to make them so impervious to bugs and rot? I'm sure 'using them as compost bins and raised beds is OK, but I would never bury them in a hugel for instance. I once tried burning the offcuts in my Walker stove and my husband's asthma was triggered very quickly!

As Phil stated, the pallets are stamped. Because I was fencing dogs, I always made sure the pallets were stamped HT (heat treated) so I wouldn't be introducing any toxins into my dogs' environment. The same with the bookcase I built which, 10 years later, I am still enjoying in our house.

I had another idea this morning, for non poisoned pallet wood.

I have a post hole auger for the pto on my little antique kubota tractor.

I plan to drill holes and then pack them full of pallet boards.  All nails removed.

If I am wanting to divert the flow of water down a broad low spot in my pasture, I would leave them poking up a few inches. If I want to ease the waters penetration into my pasture, I would make the ends of the boards flush with the ground or two or 3 inches lower. Just not an ankle breaker.

And speaking of ankle breaker holes, I have a robust population of prairie dogs in the lowest part of my pasture. I sometimes use the auger to drill into where I think their passage might be. I could also put boards down their entryway. I don’t necessarily want to kill them or murder them all, but I would like it very much if they found it more inconvenient to live in my field than elsewhere.

And another use!

A friend gave me a couple dozen strawberry plants and even if I only get 10% survival, it is worth the effort, but you know chickens!  Moist soil is a magnet for them…. And they have their own philosophy regarding appropriate use of strawberries.  They showed up as soon as I began.

Photo below.  I watered, loosened the soil, applied my amendment materials, put the pallet in place, then added the strawberry plants.  I will probably toss some seeds in there since I will be watering, probably white clover.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:And another use!

A friend gave me a couple dozen strawberry plants and even if I only get 10% survival, it is worth the effort, but you know chickens!  Moist soil is a magnet for them…. And they have their own philosophy regarding appropriate use of strawberries.  They showed up as soon as I began.

Photo below.  I watered, loosened the soil, applied my amendment materials, put the pallet in place, then added the strawberry plants.  I will probably toss some seeds in there since I will be watering, probably white clover.

Hmmm, I might try this for flower borders and seedling beds to keep the cats out of the new "litterbox" I made and stop the dogs flattening my cosmos. Great idea!

I threw together this raised bed in the People Garden part of the Village Green community garden.
The People Garden is free for all to planting tend and harvest.
I've done some of each and this is the second bed I've built there.
It took 5or so cuts and 8 screws to make this from 1 big wide pallet and a couple of 2 foot x 4 foot pallets.
I brought bagged leaves for the very bottom, and then I asked the work crew there that day to fill it with whatever weeds they pulled.
Boy did they!
I will be topping it with compost and planting into it.
Suggestions welcomed!

Potatoes?  Would they like it?

Mycelium from desired and appropriate species?  

What do you want more of?

Potatoes sound good!
I just dumpster dove some  russets, I have access to some actually seed potatoes and some perianal potatoes I special ordered.
I've often grown dumpster potatoes in similar beds, just for  the biomass.

I wonder how sweet potatoes would do in a bed like this?
I've been meaning to try that combo for years now

I like to build beds like this near each tree I plant, to give nutrients and be a moisture reservoir.
I  don't mind the root competition with the annuals in the bed, since I add more material to these beds every winter and plant into the latest layers of compost in the spring.

I might plant a tree near this bed as well, or a maybe a fruit bush at each end.

William Bronson wrote:I threw together this raised bed in the People Garden part of the Village Green community garden.
The People Garden is free for all to planting tend and harvest.
I've done some of each and this is the second bed I've built there.
It took 5or so cuts and 8 screws to make this from 1 big wide pallet and a couple of 2 foot x 4 foot pallets.
I brought bagged leaves for the very bottom, and then I asked the work crew there that day to fill it with whatever weeds they pulled.
Boy did they!
I will be topping it with compost and planting into it.
Suggestions welcomed!

No hugel-ey logs around to put at the bottom?

Not for this one.
I hope to put some biochar in the bottom of my next two!

About planting a tree next to one of this sort of above ground compost bins:

Along about the late 70s or early 80s , “Gardens Alive” (if they’re still in business, they were and likely still are a great company with lots of permie appropriate stuff) sold fence wire hoops about 4 feet tall and 3-4 feet in diameter.  The idea was, you toss your weeds in, and kitchen wet garbage etc, manure or grass clippings.  Fill it up, water it once a week or so, plant tomato plants around the outside perimeter.

I thought that was the most wonderful idea!  I had never heard of or seen anything like it!  It inspired me to understand the variables of a situation and do what made sense.  I haven’t ever stopped!