Where Do You Get Your Pallets

[velvetfoot]

That's pallets, not pellets!

Do stores give them away?

I'm thinking about using pallets.
Not so crazy about the increased hassle, just thinking about it.

 

[BrotherBart]

I get them from the ACE Hardware store two miles from here. They love it. The shopping center won't let them store them on the property so they have to pay to have them hauled away to their other store. The first time I asked about taking a few they hit the door running to help me load all I could hold in the trailer.

 

[velvetfoot]

Thanks. I'll try the local ACE too.
It's a 3 minute drive to the ACE and, like, 25 minutes to everything else for me, so it'd be great if it worked out.

 

[zzr7ky]

Hi -

I've found swimming pool and hot tub type stores are very good. They have heavy pallets and are semi seasonal so 'regular' pallet pickers are not as interested/quick to get them.

ATB,
Mike P

 

[senorFrog]

I didn't think you were supposed to burn pallets in wood stoves, as it's akin to using gasoline. Wood is so dry that it burns to hot.

 

[babalu87]

I didn't think you were supposed to burn pallets in wood stoves, as it's akin to using gasoline. Wood is so dry that it burns to hot.

You just have to be mindful of what you are burning. I wouldnt pack the stove with pallet wood and go to sleep but I do mix it in from time to time, especially late in the year or if I want to heat the stove up pronto.

 

[slowzuki]

I don't burn pallets, I use them to store wood on and make boxes for tossing slab wood into. The 4x4 pallets hold a 1/2 cord stacked. I've been peaking a roof on them with recycled tin and staining them to match our siding the last few.

 

[mayhem]

Local newspaper stacks them up and anyone/everyone is free to take as many as they want.

My brother in law took a few trips there with his triaxle dump truck and twin axle trailer before a family get together. The bonfire was unreal...it was like watching a pallet factory burn.

 

[restorer]

Having had a shop near a pallet recycler, use a novel approach. Go to them and see if they will GIVE you the parts they remove, or can not use. The guys that used to be near me had two large bins they filled daily with scraps, they were outside their gate and full when they closed for the day. Usually they were empty the next morning. Saves having to break them down.

 

[Harley]

motorcycle/snowmobile dealers are usually giving away the pallets and crates that all the "toys" come in.

 

[GVA]

I get a pallet free with every ton of pellets that I buy :lol: ;-P :lol: But they jam the auger :red:
Like Uncle Rich said... The pallet repair places remove and throw out tons of wood.
Smaller stores like the local ACE or plumbing supply stores etc...
BJ's, walmart and the like usually insist on CHEP pallets these are pretty rugged And they will never give these away (so don't bother)

 

[jtp10181]

Pallet chunks would also work really well to get the fire going.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I picked the ones I used last year up at a Islander Pools and Spas on Central Ave. They had them stacked pretty high in a couple different sizes.

Matt

 

[WarmGuy]

Our local dump/recycling facility always has a pile, and they are free for the taking.

 

[Gunner]

An excellent article on burning mill ends/dimentional lumber/pallets.

(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/homillends.htm)

 

[Jay H]

I get my pallets from the local post office but they're not too often but usually pretty good quality, i.e. almost new. You can also check your local Freecycle or Craigslist, I see companies posting free pallets all the time there. And sometimes if you just drive by various industrial looking places you'll see them outside with a sign saying "Free" on them...

jay

 

[DiscoInferno]

I get them from a local business that posts periodically on craigslist and freecycle. I think they're a paper supplies distributer. They have a whole wall of pallet stacks in the alley behind their shop. Best part is that 50% or more are oak.

 

[DriftWood]

With a lot of sewer and water supply work in town, cast iron water pipes are shipped on 4x4 oak dun-age. I love the stuff 6 nails in a 8 foot leingth.

 

[precaud]

Most small shopping centers have an area in the back for refuse & recycling. That's where I get mine. I was there yesterday going through the pallets when I saw the center's manager walking toward me. I thought he was going to chew me out for taking them. He asked "Why are you only taking those two? Please! Take them all!" I explained I only wanted the hardwood ones and only took the ones that were broken. "Oh, don't worry about that - please take any and all, and come back every week for more!" he said.

 

[Gooserider]

Agreed, go around to almost any shopping / industrial area and look for the piles - then ASK :exclaim: but in general, I would say that if the stack is not on the loading dock or in a fenced area, it will probably be OK to get as many as you can carry away... The other thing to look at is if the place is likely to be a net pallet getter or shipper - stores tend to get more than they use, factories might go either way, but because there are people out there that don't ask, if a place doesn't want to give away pallets, they will tend to lock them up in some way.

Gooserider

 

[restorer]

Goose reminded me of one of my periodic ventures. There is a specialty publisher near the shop. At odd times on a Sunday with nothing to do, I stop by their shipping docks. I'm not looking for fuel but unusual woods. I have been able to get dunnage of a whole different variety than anything I am aware of. I'll take a sample to a friend who manages a hardwood wholesale yard and we will try and figure out what the woods are. Two years ago I got some bright orange harder than hell wood, that even the state extension service can't identify...... So hard it's the outside wear tread for the big door. I have some black wood, again not identified that we couldn't set on fire with a Mapp Gas torch. But that is nasty. I have used a lot in doing restorations to copy grain and color. So, they don't mind me showing up, because the pile is always neater when I leave. We all know a few woods, but there are literally thousands and many that come to us as crating. There are some that are toxic, so we need to be cautious in burning. If it looks too strange, leave it for the next guy.