My business prooduces an excess of 10 or so wooden pallets a week and I would like to find something creative to do with them besides give them away. The companies that rebuild only take a certain size.

-- Chris Crooke (merlin@gulf.net), December 01, 2001

Answers

My sister-in-law and her husband used pallets to build a fence around their back yard. It looked better than I thought it would when she told me what they were doing. They are now building a deck from pallets to go all the way across the front of their mobile home. Haven't seen that yet as they live a 2 day drive from me. Her husband is a good carpenter and I have no doubt it will look great.

-- Billie Sowell (bbsowell@earthlink.net), December 01, 2001.

DH is a roofer, pallets abound here, too! We cut them up for kindling, and I built a compost bin.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), December 01, 2001.

I NAILED 5 wooden pallets togather & put tin on top & sides makes a nice house for my ducks this winter . They never use it unless the weather is really bad. pallets make good critter houses

-- Dave Coyner (dkoiner@webtv.net), December 01, 2001.

check the archives,,I know there are some ideas there,, Ive built a fence for the chickens,, kindleing,, vented raised platform for beehives,, HOOT had something in there about frameing in a shed,, can think they would be great for a corn crib,, compost bins are always a first for them.

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), December 01, 2001.

Cut up they make for a nice kidinling. I use them to to build walls around my compost pile. a 2x4 or a long Tpost stuck in the ground will allow you to stack the walls 2 pallets high. They make nice walls for a animial house. Can keep a dog house out of the mud.

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), December 01, 2001.

I made a pallet into a milking stand for my goats. Got the pallet and used other supplies that were here when I moved in so my milk stand cost me my time (which was about 1-hour)and nothing more. I have also used them to put fire wood on.For a compost bin. for a temporary holding pen.As I'm typing this I'm thinking about making a few outside tables from pallets for my family reunion next July 4th. May also use one to sit the port-a-potty on. I suppose if you have a muddy yard during spring that you could make them into a temporary walkway(as long as the slats are close together). I think someone should come out with a good book on what to do with used pallets, matbe that is a bad idea, because if everyone who gave them away found out what they could be used for then they would charge us for them.

-- george (bngcrview@aol.com), December 01, 2001.

When I start a new burn brush pile, I put a pallet on the bottom. It keeps the bottom off the ground and allows better air circulation to help the pile dry out better.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 01, 2001.

We built our chicken nesting boxes out of used pallets (and a little plywood for the roof).

-- Rose Marie Wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), December 01, 2001.

For those that used them for building--did you take them apart first? I've heard that is very hard--certainly beyond my spindly arm strength. Is that true?

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), December 01, 2001.

Ann, I didn't think that they were that hard to take apart and I am no spring chicken. We sided our whole barn with the wood from pallets, and built chicken coops, you name it.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), December 01, 2001.

Diane and Ann, in my experience, it depends on what type of wood the pallets are made from and how they are put together as to how hard they are to take apart. Some are easier than others. Another good use for pallets is to keep your beehives off the ground and high enough that the skunks can't raid them so easily.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), December 01, 2001.

In our area (So. Cal) we can sell them to pallet recycling companies. The companies pay $3-$5 each. I could find many creative things to do with $30 - $50 a wee

-- jennifer (schwabauer@aol.com), December 01, 2001.

I have used pallets and chicken wire to hold in the chickens. I have dismantled them and built a dog house and bird feeders/houses and other little items. Used some to help build a stage set my niece was working on. Scrap wood always lends itself to a project!

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), December 02, 2001.

I built the walls of my outhouse with pallets. We have a whole boardwalk outside the house made of really heavy duty ones made from 2x6 planking. Those pallets came from a book publishing company -- I guess they need the strength for all those heavy textbooks.

-- snoozy (bunny@northsound.net), December 02, 2001.

They work great for stacking firewood on, they allow for air circulation and also keep the wood off the ground. We also place them on each end of a cord for support, just drive in two t post or rebar for your support.

-- Kelle in MT (kvent1729@aol.com), December 02, 2001.

We have used pallets for many of the same as others have mentioned but also we have used them to build horse stalls and goat pens in our barn. They are the really heavey wooden ones...not the light kind. I use to joke with my husband about building a house with pallets....maybe not such a bad idea !! Good Luck !!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), December 03, 2001.

Backwoods home has a article on making birdhouses from wood pallets to sell. check it out. Debi

-- Debi (iowaranchgal@yahoo.com), December 03, 2001.

We built a 4 stall barn with pallets. The huge Harley Davidson motorcycle pallets up on their ends. Way taller than me. All we had to buy was the 16 foot long 2x4's for the roof, 80 dollars. Oh, and the rolled roofing for over the used plywood roof. We covered the outside with old oak barnwood from the old barn. And we used cedar posts from the woods for the corners and middles, sunk into the ground. It looks like it's been there forever.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), December 03, 2001.

CHRIS....THERE WAS A BOOK PUBLISHED ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO CALLED "CRATE CRAFT".THEY GIVE YOU DESIGNS TO BUILD ALL TYPES OF RUSTIC FURNATURE FROM IT.[BUREAUS,BUNKS,TABLES,BEDS ETC.] THERE WAS A COMPANY THAT BUILT FURNATURE LIKE THIS AS WELL. I SAW THERE STUFF AND ACTUALLY SOUGHT OUT THE BOOK.IT WAS A GREAT WAY TO RECYCLE. CORDWOODGUY PS: I USE THEM TO STACK MY CORDWOOD LOGS ON AS THEY SEASON.SOME OF THE LARGER OUTDOOR FURNACES HAVE DOORS DESIGNED TO ACCEPT WHOLE PALLETS AS A FUEL SOURCE.BROKEN DOWN THEY WOULD BE A GOOD SOURCE OF FIRE WOOD. [THERE ARE A LOT OF PALETTS THAT ARE MADE FROM HARDWOOD]

-- CORDWOODGUY (cordwoodguy@n2teaching.com), December 04, 2001.

Got a lovely entertainment center built out of them. Several tables for inside and out and also bookcases. Many old-looking benches. The dh made me an old wooden wheelbarrow that I just love. He also made some wooden plows but they are only decorative with metal wheels. Also a lovely "bar" stool that is used at the antique drafting table. There's a older book entitled BUILD IT BETTER YOURSELF. Of course the compost piles.

-- Sandy Davis (smd2@netzero.net), December 04, 2001.

Chris, here in okla. (Lake Eufaula) there is two brothers who I observed building a "L" shaped two story lake cabin out of pallets. I watched for a while and saw how it was done. Corners of 4#4's then a pallet,4#4, pallet, and so on. Floors were pallets and level, walls were straight and it turned out very well. They stuffed on the inside of pallets with insulation and after siding went up, you couldn't tell there were pallets there.

-- Dick Tracy (kb5drl@lakewebs.net), December 05, 2001.