Good Trash Wood For Making Pallets?

[lxskllr]

I used to get pallets from Jacks Small Engine, but they seem to have become unavailable. What would be a good wood to look for that's uninteresting as firewood or good saw logs? I can make pallets out of anything, and barring other suggestions, I'll just use whatever softwood turns up, or maybe tulip poplar, but is there anything else?

When I use the term "pallet", I'm speaking very broadly for my purposes. I just want to keep firewood off the ground, and I'd be freehand milling the wood, and probably arranging it without fasteners. It's just to keep firewood dry. I'll be making some out of willow for the boss' girlfriend, cause I'll be clearing a pond of willow, and that's what's available. I believe that's an especially bad choice, but it's there, and it's free and easy.

 

[davidwyby]

Stickers...do it

 

[lxskllr]

You mean stickers out of willow, or just in general? I have a bunch of stickers for the little bit of milling I do. Reminds me, I need to see if I can start my poulanpro with an impact driver now that I have a charger for it. Recoil broke, and the $5 I put into a new spring which broke again is just about the max $ I'm willing to put into that turd. It would be an acceptable saw to beatup doing small milling with, and starting with another tool won't be a big hardship for that.

 

[Kaveman]

Willow and Cottonwood are actually fairly rot resistant in my experience, so it should work great for your purposes. That said, AZ is very dry, not at my house today, but in general lolz.

 

[Tree09]

You can also use a few cinder blocks, place them on edge and use the holes to stick whatever in, it'll hold them off the ground nicely. You can use them for uprights too. You can even use small limbs, 4x4s work good too, basically size them to fit in the block

 

[SeanKroll]

I've done this with cinder blocks scrap 2x4s and mill waste slab material.

 

[lxskllr]

Didn't really think of 2x4s. I'll have to check the treasure boxes at work.

 

[Altissimus]

Mills here buy Palette Grade (third from the basement on price sheet) , usually take any sound hardwoods with three clear faces that didn't make higher grade for defects. Excepting Poplar , sold a bit of Soft Maple for Palette .... now for runners under stack firewood I'll use literally anything handy including steel pipe.