What to do with Used Wooden Pallets
May 7th, 2013 · 6 Comments · Posted in farming, Sustainability
Just returned from the local grocery
Did I mention that the primary source of heat in our new farmhouse in Upstate New York is a wood stove?
The house, just five years old, is extremely well constructed and well insulated. The previous owner was a builder. And apparently he and his family had planned to stay there a long time because there is no central heating like we are used. In fact, we had a big go-around during the purchase negotiations because we had hoped to install a geothermal heating/cooling system, but for that you need duct work and there’s none of that in the house and no obvious place to put it.
The home inspector also had some nits to pick because the owners were using the basement to store their firewood. The mom stayed home all day, schooling the two kids, and she preferred walking down a set of stairs for wood than trudging through the cold and snow outside. Except firewood doesn’t dry very well in a basement, and the home inspector detected mold.
Then, when it came time for the previous owners to move out, they asked if they could take their stove with them. We thought that was fine, since my wife intended to replace it with something super-efficient. The only problem with that is the super-efficient stove she had in mind will only use logs cut 10 inches or less in length and professional firewood operators are set up to cut wood 16 inches or more. They are loathe to re-calibrate their machinery for a single customer. So we finally settled on a somewhat less efficient stove that will handle 16-inch logs.
Which brings me to the wooden pallets you see in the photo above.
Now is the time of year people stock up on their firewood for the winter to come. That gives the logs several months to fully dry and season. You don’t want to be burning green or moist wood in your stove. So we placed our order, the only question remaining: where to put it? It certainly won’t be going into the basement. But there is no barn, shed or other shelter for the wood near the house.
I found the pallets behind the local grocery store and got permission to take some home. These will be lined up on the ground around the corner from the front door so the wood can be stacked above soil level. That will allow some air circulation, and keep the bottom layer of logs dry.
The only remaining question is how to protect the wood from the elements. Do we build some kind of shelter around it? Wait for a new barn? Tarps? Sheets of metal roofing?
And you thought farming was just about growing food….
Hahaha! It goes on like this each and every day. There is no shortage of brain activity needed for problem solving on a new farm, and you’re right, it is not just about growing food. Having said that, there are a lot of ‘one-time problems’ that do get solved so you can go on to the any of the others on the ever-growing list! However, our motto is that we bought the farm to keep us young, not kill us, so be sure to take time to sit down to enjoy the sunsets. 🙂
Great advice, Diana. I’m an early riser, so my rest periods and sunsets start around 9 am. People asked if I was retiring when I moved up here. Yeah! I replied. And working my ass off!
Bolt those pallets together and stand them up and you have some very well ventilated walls. A some 2X6s and tin, and there is your roof. For almost no money you have a perfect wood shed.
Cool suggestion
If you find free wooden pallets in good condition, take them. They can used in a number of ways on a small farm. I made a hay feeder for the goats by attaching one pallet in a corner of their stall, turned another pallet into a small milking stand, two more into containment for small goats, and three into a barrier to contain my meat pullets when they are indoors. Pallets are also great for closing small gaps in fences. I think that the only ting that I haven’t used pallets for in the past six months is to store things off the ground, which is their intended use.
Thanks for insights, Marcello. Please keep them coming.