#1 Best Way To Take Apart A Pallet | Reclaim Design
By: Michael Martin
Tags: Sustainability, Recycling, Upcycling, Woodworking, Pallets

How To Take Apart A Pallet | Reclaim Design

For those who prefer watching to reading — behold our “ How To Take Apart A Pallet — The Best Way “ video:

Pallet Safety

In our experience, it is best to use HT (heat treated) pallets. How can you tell if the pallet has been heat treated? Often there will be an ink stamp or brand on one or more of the pallet blocks which indicate country of origin and how the pallet has been treated.

Do not use pallets with an MB stamp. MB pallets have been treated with Methyl Bromide- a toxic, ozone-depleting pesticide which is not suitable for home use. It’s not really suitable for planet earth use either, so yeah, best keep it out your house.

If there is no visible stamp or brand, then carefully inspect the pallet and use common sense. If there are oil spills or stains of unknown origin(!), play it safe and don’t use the pallet.

Splinters are a common (and irritating) problem when you take apart a pallet, so be sure to wear a pair of gloves when you dismantle a pallet. Preferably not a pair riddled with holes, as per my well-worn beauties in the image below.

Tools You Will Need To Take Apart A Pallet

If you don’t have access to many tools, or don’t have much money spare to spend on tools, fear not. You can get away with using a pound hammer and crowbar (also known as a wrecking bar) to do the bulk of the work when taking apart a pallet.

The hammer/crowbar combo is fine if you take apart a pallet or two. If, like us, you disassemble a lot more than that, you’ll need to look into getting any or all of the tools listed below:

Recip Saw — Otherwise known as a sabre saw or reciprocating saw.

— Otherwise known as a sabre saw or reciprocating saw. Crowbar — A large size is best as it gives you more leverage and is kinder to your back!

— A large size is best as it gives you more leverage and is kinder to your back! Pry Bar — A smaller version of the crowbar which is particularly handy for creating a gap between the pallet block and pallet plank for the recip saw blade to seat. It’s also very useful for removing long nails from the pallet wood.

— A smaller version of the crowbar which is particularly handy for creating a gap between the pallet block and pallet plank for the recip saw blade to seat. It’s also very useful for removing long nails from the pallet wood. Pound Hammer — Gives some weight to your strikes, and is a perfect companion for the crowbar.

— Gives some weight to your strikes, and is a perfect companion for the crowbar. Claw Hammer — Best used with the pry bar. Great for removing nails and wielding the pin punch.

— Best used with the pry bar. Great for removing nails and wielding the pin punch. Compount Joint Pliers — These are fantastic for cutting through the thick threaded pallet nails, and for pulling nails with no heads (which you will become faimiliar with when tearing down pallets!)

— These are fantastic for cutting through the thick threaded pallet nails, and for pulling nails with no heads (which you will become faimiliar with when tearing down pallets!) Pin Punch — Choose a punch that is roughly the the diameter of the pallet nails you will be removing. You could use another large nail with the point removed, but they are likely to bend during continued use.

Different Methods To Take Apart A Pallet

As the saying goes — there is more than one way to skin a cat. The same applies for taking apart a pallet. I have been dismantling pallets since 2013, so I’ve got a fair bit of experience in this field 😉 I’ll give a quick run-down of some of the more commonly used methods, before explaining the technique I’ve adopted to take apart a pallet honed through many epic fails.

Hammer and Crowbar Method

Advantages — No need for expensive tools.

— No need for expensive tools. Disadvantages — Time consuming, and great likelihood of turning your pallet wood into firewood.

Pallet Breaker Method

Advantages — None that I can think of. You have to buy an expensive, specialist tool that can only be used to take apart a pallet.

— None that I can think of. You have to buy an expensive, specialist tool that can only be used to take apart a pallet. Disadvantages — Works only on specific pallet types, and even then the results are dubious. Not all pallets are constructed in the same way — there are multiple configurations, some of which are impossible to take apart without a lot of breakage or wastage using these tools. Don’t waste your time or money on these gimmicks.

Circular Saw Or Jigsaw Method

Advantages — This is the quickest method to take apart a pallet by far, and I’ve resorted to it when I’ve had enough of pulling planks apart!

— This is the quickest method to take apart a pallet by far, and I’ve resorted to it when I’ve had enough of pulling planks apart! Disadvantages — You lose a lot of the board length, and the tools are more expensive.

Separating The Boards

And now we come to the method I employ to take apart a pallet, perfected with many hours of blood, sweat and tears 😉

Firstly you will need to separate the boards from the blocks. The best way to do this, and keep as much of the wood as possible without breaking any of it, is to make a gap between the block and the board with a pry bar.

I sharpened the edges of my pry bar to make it easier to create the necessary gap. You can do this with a metal file or an angle grinder.

Place the bar between the board and block, then give a couple of good solid hits with your claw hammer.

Once the gap has been created, the blade of the recip saw can work it’s magic without straining the machine or wearing your blade down too quickly.

When using the recip saw, be sure to butt the blade guard right up against the workpiece to prevent the blade jumping around all over the place. This is potentially dangerous to you, and is likely to bend your blade quick smart.

If you do bend your recip saw blade, it’s not the end of the world. You can flatten it out fairly well using your hammer and a flat, hard surface to knock it back into shape. Better not to bend the blade if you can though. It will make your life easier.

I recommend pallet repair blades — I use the ones made by Bosch, but any can be used. The tooth spacing is somewhere between that of a metal blade and a wood blade, to allow for the cutting of both the pallet block wood and the metal of the nails. The length of the blade is also sufficient to work it’s way through the pallet blocks.

Another couple of points worth mentioning — make sure your reciprocating saw blade is properly locked in place before use! And don’t touch the blade directly after use — it gets hot. Very hot. I’ve burnt my fingers several times making this mistake myself.

I tend to work from the underside of the pallet first, since it is easier to remove the large threaded nails with heads intact when you flip the pallet over.

Once the base boards are removed, use the pound hammer and crowbar to prise up the blocks in readiness for removing the nails.

Have a look at our tutorial video for a visual illustration of how to take apart a pallet.

Removing The Nails

The nails left exposed can be trimmed down to make removal easier. They are less likely to bend when you are knocking them out with the claw hammer. The compound joint pliers come into their own for this particular job. You will really struggle to do this if you are using ordinary pliers!

Next, knock through the nails from the underside with the claw hammer. Once you’ve done that you can use the claw hammer or pry bar to pull the nails out entirely.

Put the nails in a container as you pull them to keep your workspace tidy. Believe me, you can generate hundreds of nails in a pallet breaking session, which can very quickly get messy. You could, if you felt so inclined, keep the cream of the crop for re-use. I no longer do this since I use a brad nailer these days for most of the work I do.

If you are unclear on any of the steps described here to take apart a pallet, take a look at our explanatory video for further clarification.

Cleanup And Storage

Once you’ve removed all the nails, you can fill the holes with wood filler to get the pallet boards ready for your woodworking projects. This will give your work a more professional, polished look. If you’re all about rustic then by all means leave the holes!

Stack the wood in a dry place that is easy to access. I’ve put up a couple of cross supports in my workspace roof that I can slide the wood into, which keeps the planks out the way whilst keeping them readily on hand. If you don’t have a roof you can do this to, you can neatly stack your wood on the floor or against a wall.

Neatly stacking is important. If you just throw the wood down in a pile, it will be a nightmare for you when the time comes to source suitable planks for your project. If you are stacking on your floor you can first lay down a couple of batons to raise the stack wood off the ground so that damp doesn’t seep in.

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