Using pallet wood

[wahoowad]

I recently cut up about 5 pallets. I figure I would use it to start fires, toss a few pieces in here and there, and primarily serve as a reserve if I run out of seasoned wood. I met an old fellow who said he burns them all the time. He loads the slats tightly together as if they were a single block of wood. I don't think he loads the whole stove this way (it would be one thick block of wood) but he suggested he did this with several handfuls of slats. I have no idea what kind of stove he has, but I think it is a big one as he says he doesn't have to cut them down very much.

How do you use pallet wood? I'm burning some tonight in loose piles and it is working fine. Burns down fast but what the heck.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

biggest thing with pallet wood is you dont know what it is, beware of anything that may have been treated, pallet companies will make pallets out of virtually anything they get their hands on. some treated woods are not good for catalytic units or those equipped with refractory panels. im sure there are other reasons but these are all i can think of right now

 

[Elderthewelder]

I got my stove in Sept and I did not plan ahead and scrounge any wood to burn this year, and I refuse to buy firewood, so I have been burning pallets and skids, mostly skids made from 4x4's with thin slats going accross them, I use the slats and pallets for kindling and burn the 4x4's

 

[Jake]

I burn nothing but kiln dried hardwood, and jatoba (brazilian cherry) crates

 

[VT-Woodburner]

When I lived in the Poconos of PA we had a local trucking terminal nearby. (Roadway Trucking)They had an area in the yard where they tossed the broken pallets and skid wood. There was always somebody in that pile with a chain saw cutting the wood. Me. I never saw treated wood used as pallets because the treated wood was heavier than untreated and that added to shipping weights. So most of the wood I got was oak. It burned nicely in my Avalon and heated up the house quickly. I threw the wood in nails and all. The nails just came out with the ash.
There was also a pallet manufacturer about 1/2 hour away so we would sometimes go over there and get his scrap for a very low price. Those oak 4x4s burned very nicely!

Now that I live in the country, a favorite source of skid wood are the local snowmobile dealers. The shipping crates make great firewood. But since there isn't any snow this year, the dealers aren't selling sleds, so there's no wood.

 

[PaulyV]

I manage a Landscape construction company. I have access to oak pallets when I need em. Just brought home 27 skids stacked on a trailer...Time to get my kids and let em earn some $$. They love to stack.