Pallets are hard to come by here

[velvetfoot]

The hardware store where I've gotten them for free the last couple of years is now charging 15 bucks for them 'cause that's what they spend each on deposit. The local Home Depot doesn't give them away, but sends them somewhere or other for recycling, and the two other local hardware stores just have junky stuff out on the curb. I think I'm going to try stacking 5 cords or so directly along the edge of the gravel driveway and see how that works out.

 

[branchburner]

Try craigslist, free stuff? Listed almost daily in ME/NH/VT/MA.

 

[learnin to burn]

If you have any local shipping/freight company's you may get lucky there or check with company's in a nearby industrial park.

 

[Skier76]

I get mine from a local stone yard/landscaping place. They give away a lot of free ones. I beleive most of them are originally used for shipping field stone. I often have to cut off a bit of chicken wire from the base of the pallets.

Call around to some smaller operations. For them, it may be more trouble than it's worth to hire a company to haul them away...or too much work for the business to haul and dispose themselves.

 

[savageactor7]

The wood will be OK on gravel but the stack could get in the way during snow removal. You could buy the necessary lengths of cedar planks to stack the wood on. They'd be better than pallets anyway...esp when your wood is halfway gone. We grew weary of pallets after using them for a number of years.

 

[velvetfoot]

It's experimental.
Where I stack the wood now is very very shady; there's stuff growing on some of the sides.
The piles of wood nearby where the wood guy dropped them have dried to a remarkable degree over this wet summer.
Hopefully the snow removal won't be too bad (snow blower); a plus would be that I'd have to clear around it anyway.
I might be able to not put the wood in the garage next year and just bring stuff in from the driveway stack.
It'll be a treat not to brush off each piece and pry off the loose bark, like I do when I bring the wood into the garage.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Ditto for the landscaping company - last year in a rented house with an insert I actually burned their pallets as they were oak (not pressure treated, just old and dry), not sure I'll do that with the new stove in this house. Also, the k-mart near me is happy for me to take their pallets (except for the blue painted ones).

 

[quads]

Just stack it on the ground. Only the pieces on the bottom will be touching the ground, and when it's time to burn those, if they look iffy to you, just throw them on top of your "fresh" pile and they will be ready next time.

 

[waynek]

A couple of suggestions for free pallets...I have good luck with the local newspaper and shopping news publisher. In addition, there are a dozen feed mills and ag centers in my area that have free pallets. They take care of all my wood stack needs.

If I want good quality and uniform size pallets (40" X 48" or 48" X 48") a local feed store sells almost new oak (hardwood) pallets for $3.00 a piece. The same pallets went for 6 to 7 dollars a piece before the economy went south last year.
jackpine

 

[danking49]

Try your local newspaper(s) for pallets as a regular steady supply source.

 

[iskiatomic]

The hardware store where I’ve gotten them for free the last couple of years is now charging 15 bucks for them ‘cause that’s what they spend each on deposit. The local Home Depot doesn’t give them away, but sends them somewhere or other for recycling, and the two other local hardware stores just have junky stuff out on the curb. I think I’m going to try stacking 5 cords or so directly along the edge of the gravel driveway and see how that works out.

velvetfoot, your location is not listed in your profile.

I'll give you some more ideas as to where to finds pallets. Check out the loading dock area of nursing care facilities, schools, assisted living places, hospitals. Think food service delivery places. These pallets get in the drivers way, and look for a place to dump them.

Of course, ask first.

KC

 

[TreePapa]

If your town or city (or one nearby) has a "light industrial" zone or area, just drive around, you're likely to find pallets (1) on the curb; or (2) in the dumpster ... just waiting for someone to take 'em away. Maybe not the nice oak pallets some folks here talk about (I haven't seen one here in decades), but the "crapwood" pallets, but they'll work for stacking.

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[Dix]

Ditto for the landscaping company - last year in a rented house with an insert I actually burned their pallets as they were oak (not pressure treated, just old and dry), not sure I'll do that with the new stove in this house. Also, the k-mart near me is happy for me to take their pallets (except for the blue painted ones).

The blue ones last longer for stacking chores