Burning pallets in your stove

[mellow]

Any tips on pallets to be on the lookout for to NOT burn in the wood stove? We get alot of freight shipments at work so I have quite a bit of supply of pallets that I trim up and burn, but I have heard that some of them are made with treated wood, how do I determine if a pallet is treated wood and not burnable?

 

[begreen]

A few do, be careful and learn how to identify the treated ones. Lots of prior threads on the topic.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/39057/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/32825/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/31297/

 

[ControlFreak]

If it's made of wood, burn it unless its treated lumber. The nails are a problem if you hit them with your saw or spread the ash on your lawn or something like that.

 

[firefighterjake]

Any tips on pallets to be on the lookout for to NOT burn in the wood stove? We get alot of freight shipments at work so I have quite a bit of supply of pallets that I trim up and burn, but I have heard that some of them are made with treated wood, how do I determine if a pallet is treated wood and not burnable?

Avoid painted pallets or pallets that may have questionable stains (i.e. oil stains, mystery fluid stains, etc.) If memory serves me correct some are labeled HT which may stand for heat treated pallets. Many of the pressure treated pallets are notably heavier and have a dark green look to them.

 

[mellow]

Thanks for the links BE, I tried searching and found the first 2 but didnt find the last one about treated pallets.

I am only going to use them to get the fire started so I will be on the lookout for the new pallets from now on.

I guess the whole pallet burning threads should be made a sticky.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

I burnt pallets in my old house - mind you it wasn't my house, stove, or chimney....

Actually they were fine, and if my dry wood stack runs out (first year burning), I'd go back to them.

Started off with the thin light ones that you can get from anywhere/everywhere, being careful to avoid painted/HT. They went up so quickly I took to nailing planks together with the nailer so that they behaved a little more like splits (but much dryer....)

Moved onto oak pallets from a stone mason - super dry, but plenty of heat.

Cut them using a circular saw. A new blade was night and day, but I knocked off half the carbide tips within a week by hitting a single nail

Unless you have a trailer, cutting them up on site helps you get more in - I used my minivan with the seats out.

If I do have to use them this year, it will be the last, as I have plenty of (drying) scrounged wood, and as long as you are ahead of the game, the time and effort for real wood is a better bet.

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

I used to burn nothing but pallets for yrs, I stlll have a giant stockpile of pallet slats stowed away.
The only pallets you should avoid are ones that stink, or are covered with mystery stains, greasy, or overly painted ones.

and the repaired ones that are full of staples and nails are worse, they ruin the chainsaw.

I have a few places that repair pallets here, so quite often there are truckloads of nearly new pallets for free sitting out. Anything that isnt 48x40, they dont want.
In fact I bring them a load of 48x40's and if they are in decent shape and only needing a slat or 2 repaired, they pay me for them!

I used to get $2 for each one, I have sold any in a few yrs.

As a bonus, now and then they get skids of new, clean pallet slats and bars that are the wrong size, and they toss em out. NO NAILS! Virgin pallet parts!
The last time I scored there I got THREE full skids of what seemed to be poplar planks, 1/2" x6" x48" they ordered oak and got those, and man, I had the best stash of kindling for a few yrs.

Once I got a whole truckload of warped 4" long 8"x 1" planks, I think they were pine. they burned really nice.

Find a pallet recycler and become their best friend.

But there is one place near here they grind up pallets to make mulch, I drove in and ask em how much for a load of crushed pallets (the crush them then dump them in a giant thing thats like a food processor... its really cool) and youd a thought I ask em for free gasoline, they scowled and almost chased me out the door.

I probably was the 500th person that day to ask that same question.... I dunno.

But the places that rebuild the pallets to resell ALWAYS has scrap. A lot of it is broken slats and rails so your job is halfway done, you cart off their garbage and they love you.

We used to have a box and crate company here too, they made shipping crates for machinery, and had 2 big hoppers full of cut plank ends, 2x4 pieces, odd scrap and now and then, bundled wood they didnt want. They went out of business, and I cried a little. LOL

 

[mellow]

Thanks for the advise on finding pallets, I am sure that will help alot of people.

I went out last night and looked at my current stack of pallets and none of them had HT on them, they "look" to be ok to burn, I am just paranoid.

 

[SteveKG]

Start to keep your eyes open if you drive around any loading docks or etc. I've seen many stacks of pallets set out on the edge of a parking lot with a sign "Free pallets." Of course, you need at least a pickup truck. And accept the fact that, sooner or later, you'll bugger up a chain or saw blade...last year, I was cutting one up and hit a section of nail in a slat nowhere neat the nailing area. I theorize someone repaired the pallet with an old slat. But the nail was invisible til I hit it and did a number on a Stihl chain.

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

I gave up using a chain saw on pallets. I break them apart first and then cut them on a table saw, easier to avoid nails.

the best tool to break a pallet apart is a 2x3. As long as you can fit the 2x3 between the slats, it makes a great lever to pop the slats off. Most disposable pallets they toss out are made with wide spaced slats to conserve wood. Use a 5" long piece of 2x3. You can pop most of the pallet apart, you might need a cats claw bar to get the last few piece apart.

Then just cut up garbage cans full of kindling as you need it. it saves a lot of expensive chains.

 

[myzamboni]

I use a circular saw and cut just inside of the runners and then third the runners. I rarely hit a nail.

 

[madrone]

being careful to avoid painted/HT.

correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't HT mean "heat treated", as in not chemically treated? I understood this to mean that they have killed any insects with heat, rather than chemicals, and therefore it is safer to burn.

I've mixed pallet wood with cordwood without ill effect. Hot and fast, for sure. I like to start a cold stove with oak pallets.

 

[Skier76]

" Of course, you need at least a pickup truck.

Beleive it or not....I can easily get 5 pallets in the back of my Grand Cherokee with the seats folded down.