Question about Pallets

[teekal]

Hey guys, so I am going to be heading out to cut up a ton of fallen ash in the next week or so, but I'm guessing it is not going to be seasoned and ready to burn for this winter.

Right down the road from where I live there is a feed mill that goes through about 2 dozen pallets a week. As far as I know they just take them to the dump.

What are your thoughts on me picking up a dozen pallets or so each week, sawing them up, and using them for fuel this winter? Does anyone have experience burning pallets, or is it a waste of time?

I had thought I might buy some seasoned wood off of Craigslist this year, but I've never done it before and I thought this might be a good alternative to keep my thriftiness meter high.

Thanks as always for any input!

 

[prezes13]

A lot of us did and still burn pallets. First of all make sure they are not made of treated wood, are not painted or soaked with some chemicals. It's a lot of work to cut them but they burn great. You have to be very cautious when you burn pallets so you won't over fire your stove. Small very dry splits... You get the pic. I like to use them to start fire with or help some of the not well seasoned wood.

 

[BigCountryNY]

Pallets can be a life saver. You can even cut them up and not worry about the nails, using a magnet to pull the nails out of the cool ashes later after they have been removed from the stove. I always keep some on hand, for the reasons that prezes13 mentioned above.

 

[prezes13]

Only thing I forgot I believe that in cat stove you shouldn't burn anything metal (nails) because it might damage the cat.

 

[branchburner]

I have gone through a lot of pallets over the years when short on seasoned cord wood. Kind of a PITA, but better than burning green/wet. No matter how careful, there is always the stray nail that dulls the chain (though others have used tools besides chainsaws to process the wood). The best ones BTU-wise are thick, heavy oak, but those can be few and far between where I work. But a BTU is a BTU.

The nails also build up in the ashes pretty quickly, and then need to be separated. I actually prefer scrounging dead limb wood, even if it's a bit more work.

Depending on how long the ash has been down, if you find trees that have been long-dead and are not flat on the ground and water-soaked, you should be able to find some that will burn fine this winter. If they are split a bit smaller and stacked in a loose criss-cross single row style, with sun and wind they should dry up pretty well.

I have had very good luck scrounging dead wood in the summer and early fall to burn a few months later... really depends on the species, how long dead, and whether it's been off the ground. Around here there is tons of small standing-dead white pine that borders on punky, but is light and dry and easier and more fun to process than pallets.(Compared to the relative pleasure of bucking up cord wood with a sharp saw, cutting up lots of pallets gets old and tiresome real fast.)

 

[velvetfoot]

The other question is whether 24 pallets a week will be enough to keep you warm, though you could be stocking up now while it's still warm.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

thats assuming they are throwing them away, a lot of places recycle them, meaning they use them again and again.

 

[teekal]

Thanks a lot, everyone for the great information.

Depending on how long the ash has been down, if you find trees that have been long-dead and are not flat on the ground and water-soaked, you should be able to find some that will burn fine this winter. If they are split a bit smaller and stacked in a loose criss-cross single row style, with sun and wind they should dry up pretty well.

Thanks for the info, Branchburner! Can you elaborate on how you suggest stacking them? I have one long row of 6 pallets to stack my split wood on, and I'll be adding another row of about 8 perpendicular to the existing one.

thats assuming they are throwing them away, a lot of places recycle them, meaning they use them again and again.

My Dad works at the mill and he is the one who told me they take them to the dump to be burned.

 

[branchburner]

Can you elaborate on how you suggest stacking them?

I used to stack two or more rows tight together, but now I leave a foot or more between them (I can still get two rows of wood on a string of pallets that way).

But for optimal drying, I would only do one LONG row, well off the ground. And rather than criss-crossing the splits only at the and of a row, to tie them in for support, I would criss-cross every layer of splits for the entire length of the row. Further, instead of having the splits tight against one another I would leave a few inches of air space between each and every split. So a very loosely spaced stack where the majority of every split sees some air. (This would take up 2x or 3x as much ground area, but space is not an issue for me.)

So rather than this:
________
-------------
________
-------------

You would have this:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I got some standing dead to dry very fast by stacking it like that on my driveway, in the full sun and open to the wind from all sides. I would leave the stack uncovered in dry spells, and cover only the top during rainy spells. Compared to stacking it piled tight inside a walled shed, it dries much quicker. But if the wood is actually green, versus dead but moist, there's no way to speed the seasoning process short of kiln-drying.

 

[firefighterjake]

I burned pallets in my secondary burner in the first year . . . helped a lot to get the temps up and burn a bit cleaner with my marginal wood.

At first I tried to pull the nails and cut them up so they could stack nice and neat . . . soon realized that this meant a lot more work. Ended up just making a few cuts and dealing with the weird shaped pieces with the top and bottoms attached to the stringer.

As mentioned you do want to be careful about the nails and staples . . . be aware of where you toss the ash . . . or be very careful when you sort through the ashes to remove all potential tire poppers.

 

[iamlucky13]

No matter how careful, there is always the stray nail that dulls the chain

When I cut up pallets, I bust them apart with a hammer and pry bar, then cut them to length with my miter saw. For wood that size, it's much easier than a chainsaw, in my opinion. A circular saw would fall somewhere in between the two for ease.

I don't bother with pallets made with ring-shanked nails. I HATE those nails.

And yes, a lot of places re-use pallets. We get a lot of parts come in on pallets, which get assembled into large machinery. We re-use some, but we receive more parts small enough to fit on pallets than we ship out. The rest we have a dumpster specifically for. Since we pay to get rid of them, I don't feel bad about pulling items out.

I usually only bother for wood for projects like the shelves in my garage, but I've also found whole 4x4's used as dunnage tossed in there. I feel like there's got to be some better use for them, but we can't ship out of region using wood that isn't known to be treated to kill bug larva, so I sometimes cut them to length and burn them.

I believe the outfit that empties the dumpster for us just grinds whatever is in it into hog fuel, which I assume gets used either for animal bedding or for burning in boilers at local mills.

I also know there's a company near us that buys and resells used pallets if they're in decent shape and of standard sizes. Ours are too wide of an assortment.

 

[WES999]

I have burned tons of pallets, I use them kindling and for getting the fire going quickly.
I like to keep a supply in the basement in case I don't want to go outside to bring in more wood.
The best way I have found is to take them apart with a pallet fork, and cut them with a chop saw.
An inexpensive carbide tip blade will go right through any nails.
If you can get the ones with oak 3 x4 they burn almost as good as cord wood.

 

[AmbDrvr253]

Pallets IMHO require ALOT of work for the BTU's. They do have a place in the stacks. But, WOW, is it a PITA!

 

[NordicSplitter]

Average face cord weighs roughly 900 lbs. Approximately 30-33 pallets will equal a face cord in weight. Just so you know..

 

[teekal]

Depending on how long the ash has been down, if you find trees that have been long-dead and are not flat on the ground and water-soaked, you should be able to find some that will burn fine this winter. If they are split a bit smaller and stacked in a loose criss-cross single row style, with sun and wind they should dry up pretty well.

Hmm, thanks for the encouragment, BB.

The ash has been down for years, maybe I'll try and pick and choose for trees that are laying off the ground (there are a ton of them, a whole grain field's worth along the river). Then maybe I'll sacrifice my driveway for a few weeks and lay it all out in small splits.

 

[Typ0]

If you get your ash split and stacked it will be ready in February I would imagine. Not perfect....but a hell of a lot easier than trying to process those pallets.

 

[teekal]

I think I have enough ash that I cut last December to last me until February so that would be perfect! Thanks guys.