I picked up some flooring at Prosource Flooring here in St. Paul today for a job we are working on. Pete, the warehouse man and I got talking about the pile of pallets he has outside by the loading dock. I inquired, "what's the plan for those?" Pete said I could take as many as I want and he'll save them for me if he knows I'll come and take them. He said this time of the year nobody wants them. In the fall he can get rid of them to people who want them for firewood. But, this time of the year nobody comes to take them. They would make great pallets for whatever and free for the taking. I am going back Friday or Monday to pick up another order and I plan on taking the trailer to grab what's on the pile. I can use then for stacking or cut them up for some shoulder season material for next spring. So, check around this is a good time of the year to get some pallets if you need them. Gosh, do I love this time of the year. No, bugs and the woods are coming alive. You can hear it and smell it. I am playing hooky on Friday to spend some time in the woods.
I have to pick up a couple of pallets for wood stacking purposes. I'll keep my eyes open. The wife is on board with where I want to stack my wood as a fence line.
The pallet fairy was good to me last fall. A builder was delivering them till I cried uncle. But they are looking awfully loney stacked up on top of one another in my back yard. Now I need my tree service to show up with a grapple load so I can put something on top of them.
I've been looking for free pallets for the last week or so. Can't find any. Found some for $5 each. Can't bring myself to spend $100 on pallets. Seems like it wouldn't be that hard to find free ones.
Cantoo, those pallets look pristine. Not a splinter to be found. I can get some free from work but they're usually the ones they don't feel like using anymore - trashed. Ok for kindling but not so much for stacking wood. I got my tractor pallet forks last week so my plan of stacking my splits on pallets is in action. On a related note, I was thinking I should wrap each pallet of splits so they don't shake apart when I move them. What do you guys use that's cheap and doesn't interfere with the drying process?
I put my skids on the ground and the splits fall onto them off my conveyor. I also put old ones under my firewood crates to save the crates. They last a few years then I cut them up and they go into the owb. There are also guys around here who get them and fix them for resale. Skids are getting hard to find because of Facebook and Pinterest. Women are making their poor husbands and boyfriends make crap out of them. http://www.designrulz.com/product-design/2012/09/35-creative-ways-to-recycle-wooden-pallets/
I'm with you. I'd rather climb a ladder than walk up that thing. Fortunately in about another season or two the Pinterest hipster stupidity should die down.
Have you checked with any local LTL trucking companies? I get all the free pallets I need from work granted a lot of them are junk but I get good (some brand new) 42x48- 4 way skids, sometimes even 4 X 8 footers great for stacking firewood on, and to keep the round hay bales off the ground. Might be worth checking.
Hey where are you from in michigan? I know here in muskegon we have a movie theater that has over 30siting outside. I talked to the manger and he told me anyone can have them. I already have more then I need. Even if you are not by Muskegon, a theater is an overlooked place to get pallets. They get all their concession food delivered on them.
I'm sure the " lumbersexuals" are using pallets too. I've not seen any free pallets on cl recently either. 2-3 dollars is what I've seen. I can't bring myself to pay anything for pallets. I just need to ask the right people, or do a business park drive by.
Unfortunately I am a couple hours drive from Muskegon. But the movie theatre is a place that I hadn't thought to check. I will also try some LTL trucking companies as Driver suggested. Thanks for the ideas, guys. Much appreciated, as always.
Local printing company here used to have beautiful softwood pallet that the rolls of newspaper was delivered on. Brand new, 1 time use always inside. I have no idea why they didn't resell them. My fil used to burn them all the time, what a waste. Maybe one of the reasons they went bankrupt, too blind to see what was costing them money.
My local lumberyard (Mom and Pop place) often had pallets set aside and free for the taking - you could try those kinds of places. Cheers!
I have a friend that works in the speaker industry in St. Paul. They get large plastic and aluminum panels shipped to the factory quite often. My buddy noticed my wood stacked on pallets when he was up here visiting. He called me one day and told me to stop at his place next time I was down in the cities. He saved some 110" pallets for me. This is a pic of a couple of them. They're a little light, but I'll use the extra lumber attached to them to re-enforce them. Since I got these 2, he's snagged a couple more for me.
I actually saw a link on Facebook for various uses of pallets myself, and went downstairs that evening and made some shelving out of pallets that I had to stack wood on. I've made 3 different sets now, 40' deep and 7' long and all it cost me was four 2x4's for each set of legs! It's really helped clean up all the clutter that was in my basement.
