Does this look like firewood to you?

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Rookie1

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I have permission from company to cut this up. Helps them from having to pay to truck away. I think its a win win situation. Lots of large skids 3"x4" oak also lots of regular pallets. Ive been burning this stuff while its not too cold yet,burns hot. I also have a couple of cords of split wood ill use when it gets really cold. Let me know what you think. Am I doing good or am I not a good little woodburner going out in the woods cutting down trees.:)
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Bunch of old pallets doesn't amount to much compared to real firewood. Is it great? no. Is it a resource, yes.

Personally, I rip the runners our with the saw and split the rest into kindling, pine and popple pallets that is.
 
Pallets burn just fine, although the thinner planks tend to burn up too fast. Much more work to cut up (per pound of wood) than a tree, but no splitting is needed, so it pays off in the end. That, and the wood is well seasoned when you pick it up.

You need to be careful about your ash disposal, because it will be full of nails.
 
I want to say nuclear waste...... naw just kidding. They make steelstampings for cars. Big round coils of steel come in on those oak skids and truckloads of parts go out. Ive never been inside building but I can hear a big press booming away inside. There may be a little poplar and pine but most of it is oak. And its not treated.:)
 
I know many people that use palletwood and have no issues with it , some guy's get call and get a buck a pallet to pick up from regular clients , but lately some guys are picking them up to resell so now it's a sport .
:cheers:
 
If you look youll see those skids that hold coils I was talking about. They are 3"x4" proabably 3' long with 1"x4" nailed to them to make a square. I know all about selling pallets my FIL owns a feed store that gets and sells pallets from recycler. So far Ive only cut pallets for kindling.:cheers:
 
Couple of businesses around here have pallet burners...OWBs with big doors to be loaded with pallets by a forklift.

I've watched these guys work...you need a LOT of pallets...10 or 12 at a time...every hour.

But they're heating a warehouse....
 
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How good a deal it is, depends on you and your situation. If you can haul them and not have to travel extra miles for them and don't mind the work to cut them apart. I'd say go ahead and go for it. But, watch where you dump your ashes, there will be lots of nails in those runners.
 
The place is a mile from work. I punch out drive there,get out 021 cut right there,trucks dont deliver after noon, load pickup and go home. I sweep up my sawdust and mess and put in dumpster. Another bonus is it stacks really nice.:clap:
 
you could always take them and stack your wood on top of them like we do around here. I dont think it would be worth it to cut and pry them apart to use them as firewood since they wouldn't last very long in a stove.
 
They make good wood for fires in milder weather, or to keep the stove going during the daytime, better than having nothing to burn! I use them to stack wood on too, and when some get bad or too busted up I burn them.
 
my interesting pallet use

I did a lumber cutting project last year and made some good use of pallets. I'm a novice and happened to have the trees, the need and the dedication to build my wife some stalls for her new horse barn. In any case, I did a lot of reading and planning in my head to pull the project off.

Among many other logistical problems I need to solve, I needed to come up with a way to sticker the wood for drying. My first thought was to rip 2x4s into 1/4 strips and then cut them to length. That is until I did the math on how many I would need and what it would cost.

That's when I came up with the pallet idea. With a circular saw, I cut the deck boards and underside boards off as l long as I could make them. The stringers were cut to length for burning and the deck boards were cut to 1.5" widths and used for stickering the pile.

I ended up needing thousands of them. You can see the garbage cans and bins full near the back end of the truck in one of the pictures and later the empty cans when the piles were done.

I've been using them as kindling in the fireplace for quite a long time now and still have plenty left to go. They burn quick, so you'll need alot to keep warm, but there's an almost unlimited free supply out there if you know where to look and who to ask.

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Will they let you cut on site? That would be too many back and forth trips for my liking. As stated earlier, not much there when you subtract the air space. But a good load if you can make them smaller on site.

You need to be careful about your ash disposal, because it will be full of nails.

Invest in a good magnet. Seriously. Most of my kindling is construction waste. 2x4s, 1" boards split with a small axe. Some clean, some with nails. Not worth the effort to de-nail them before burning. A good magnet will pull them right out of the ash bucket.

Too bad they're no good for building after they've been through the fire. I'd need never have to buy nails again.
 
Will they let you cut on site? That would be too many back and forth trips for my liking. As stated earlier, not much there when you subtract the air space. But a good load if you can make them smaller on site.



Invest in a good magnet. Seriously. Most of my kindling is construction waste. 2x4s, 1" boards split with a small axe. Some clean, some with nails. Not worth the effort to de-nail them before burning. A good magnet will pull them right out of the ash bucket.

Too bad they're no good for building after they've been through the fire. I'd need never have to buy nails again.

Yes they let me cut there as long as I dont make a mess. I sweep up when done and throw away any trash I make. I normally go there after work and cut for an hour. then fill truck. I dont worry about nails in ashes cause I put them in garbage.:)
 
I want to say nuclear waste...... naw just kidding. They make steelstampings for cars. Big round coils of steel come in on those oak skids and truckloads of parts go out. Ive never been inside building but I can hear a big press booming away inside. There may be a little poplar and pine but most of it is oak. And its not treated.:)

I have seen some really nice furniture made from pallet oak... Not sure anymore, but a lot of it was clear too.
 

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