How many burn old wooden pallets

[RIDGERUNNER30]

I have been getting all kinds of wooden pallets from work and taking a chain saw and cutting them in small pieces and taking a spilting axe and making kinding. I don't use the end pieces because of all the nails in them, the wood in these pallets is good quality wood such as walnut, redoak,and maybe some pine. Do you guys collect pallets for burning and kinding?

 

[SWNH]

I love pallets! I have enough pallet wood to feed my shop furnace for the whole winter....and enough NOT broken down yet for next winter. I burn it all...nails, staples, etc. It all just falls thru the grate into the ash pan for easy disposal. I sometimes fire a nail thru 3 or 4 slats to make a longer burning "log".

I always check CL for free pallets and coordinate pickups when I have to travel somewhere. Storage space is my only limitation. 6 acres, but most of it is not easily accessible for my truck and trailer (yet).

 

[stee6043]

I burned the pallet my EKO came packaged in, does that count?

I'd love to burn pallets but it almost seems like they take more time to process than cord wood for the amount of wood you get out of them. But it is nice and dry wood, ready to go...

 

[Risser09]

It is a bunch of work for not that much wood, but I still do it. My goal is to fill 2 huge boxes with 16" boards for the winter. I burn a Woodstock Keystone, which doesn't have a big firebox, so if I can fit a few more boards in, all the better. They are also very helpful to start a bed of coals with because they burn quickly because of their size and dryness. Recently I found a few pallets that had 3x4 rough cut boards in them, which are the size of some of my wood splits. I take every pallet that my work puts out for trash.

 

[Duetech]

I burned pallets for two winters as my main source of heat in a wood stove. I wore welders gloves and used a bar magnet to sort the nails out of the ash pan. I must have move 200# of burned nails in 5 galon buckets by time I was out of pallets. The big chunks of oak in some of the pallets burn super hot and could warp the metal if you get over zealous (voice of experience) but the house stays warm. If you use ashes in your garden be sure to clean the stove real well before you go to other wood sources or you may find a nail or two while workin in the garden.

 

[firefighterjake]

I have been getting all kinds of wooden pallets from work and taking a chain saw and cutting them in small pieces and taking a spilting axe and making kinding. I don't use the end pieces because of all the nails in them, the wood in these pallets is good quality wood such as walnut, redoak,and maybe some pine. Do you guys collect pallets for burning and kinding?

I burned some last year . . . as you said . . . good for kindling and/or to get the fire up to temp. I also used some of the larger pieces during the shoulder seasons . . . nails can be a pain in terms of cutting the stuff up and disposal for some folks. This year I will not go out of my way to get pallets, but I suspect if I see a bunch I may bring them home and process them -- not quite the same as cutting and splitting wood, but BTUs are BTUs.

 

[iskiatomic]

I just droped some here at my place. I can get all I need. I will wait till I get 15-20 then cut them up.

Nails, yeah they got nails. They just end up in the ash drawer, and dump when cold. Not in the garden however.

Great for kindling, and quick HOT fires.



KC

 

[WES999]

I burn pallets all the time, they are great for kindling and to get a stove up to temp quick. You just need to be careful not to add to much at a time, and keep an eye on temps so as not to over fire.

I break them up with a "fork" then cut them up with a circular saw with a cheap carbide tooth blade. Myself I would want to use a chain saw on pallets as sooner or later you will hit a nail and wreak your chain. I like to have a supply of cut up pallets in the basement, it's easily accessible and nice and dry .

 

[Dune]

After burning hundreds upon hundreds of pallets, I have a system. I run a skill saw on both sides of the center runner. Then break off each piece. Flip over, repeat. Finaly, cut through the fork cutouts in the runners. Ocasionaly hit a nail, no mater how hard you try, but use the cheap throwaway carbide blades. Tried chainsaws and most everything else over the years, this system works best for me.

 

[stejus]

I only burn them in an outdoor fire pit. Usually cut them in half and let them rip. Sparks and popping to say to least.

 

[Badfish740]

I use a yard sale sourced circular saw (pallet work is pretty tough on a saw) with the most aggressive carbide blade I could find. Once you get going you can usually get into a pretty good rhythm-I can process about 10 an hour I think. They do require a little more work than raw wood, but I have an unlimited supply, so its nice to know that I can always fall back on them.

 

[rowerwet]

Guy I work with heats with wood, he begs me to bring in my pallets from my pellets for his kindling, he says it is the best for starting fires. He cuts them up with his sawzall.

 

[n3pro]

Heck yea, if it's free its for me! I got over a dozen collected. Lots of work, keeps me out of trouble but for some reason I don't mind. I burn more during shoulder season or a good starter fire after cleaning.

 

[bigoak9745]

Like many others have said, if it's free, burn it! I have a local business that gets decent, (clean ) pallets and disposes of them out back. I get about 35-100 pallets per year and stack them out back. I cut them up and use for kindling and to burn in the fall/spring. Just watch where you empty the ashes as the nails/staples are bad on tires.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Pallets got me through my first year of burning.

That said, if I had to burn them now I'd probably use a sawzall instead of a chainsaw to do the dirty work. I went through a lot of chains.

Matt

 

[stockdoct]

Last year I ran out of wood. Had some cord wood that had only sat 3-4 months, and didn't want to burn that in my stove. But after I learned (from this Board) hw to use a skill saw to slice and dice a pallet, I was able to make 4-5 pallets into chunks, burn it along with the partially seasoned wood for an extra month I hadn't expected.

Yes, pallets are more work than cord wood, but they're also so free of moisture --- I suspect a 30# pallet gives off as much heat as 50# of poorly-dried cordwood. I'm going to stick with cordwood now that I have enough to last a couple years (I've been working hard this spring!) but will always remember to think of pallets if my supply starts to dwindle.

 

[Flatbedford]

I use them to store my wood until they start to fall apart, then they become kindling. I haven't burned much of them yet. I do have a practically unlimited source. The owner of my local nursery will put as many on my truck with his forklift as I want. He always asks me to take more.

 

[madrone]

I keep my eye out for oak pallets at work, mostly to use to get up to temp. BTW, is there a name for that first small fire in a cold stove? "Preheat load"? "Starter fire"? "Stove priming procedure"?