Sawzall is a great tool. But if you want the clean lines with no holes, I would just cut them from the edges. Then you will have less wood but it will be cleaner.
This might depend on what you are going to do with the pallets, if you are after the boards, a saw cutting through the nails is the best way to go. Keep extra saw blades on hand.
I assume you are talking about wooden pallets. The method can be determined by what size lumber you hope to obtain. The fastest way is just run a power saw down beside each support rib to cut the ribs off. This will quickly yield short boards approximately 2 feet long. If you want to use the whole pallet and get longer boards you will need a claw hammer, large crowbar, and maybe a sledge hammer.I suggest a large crowbar instead of another hammer, because the longer handle on the crowbar increases the leverage you can apply when separating boards or pulling nails. A lot of pallet ribs are made of oak. Dried oak really holds on to nails and staples. You will appreciate the extra leverage of a long crow bar to pry them loose.
Some pallets have boards on both the top and bottom. After you get the boards off one side, put supports at the end of each rib so the pallet is supported about one to 4 inches above the floor. This will allow you to hit the boards from the back side to easily knock them loose. If the boards are bad to split put a block of wood on top of the board before hitting it with your hammer to spread the force of the hammer blow over the width of the board. Finish by pulling out all the nails.
Planer knives and saw teeth do not like steel nails which will destroy the cutting edges. You can protect your tools by using a metal detector to find broken nails before putting the boards in a planer or before cutting them with a power saw.
There is no easy way to take pallets apart. It will take you a long time to complete taking them apart. I'm sorry. I speak from experience. There is another easier way if you haven't bought your pallets. I found a place the a only sold pallets. They had thousands still intact and just by walking around I saw piles of wood dismantaled from pallets. I asked someone if these boards were for sale and he said yes, but they were a little more expensive. I needed 500 boards which cost me 100.00 with most of the nails taken out but cut so they wouldn't stickout. I was so pleased on how much time I will have saved. Worth asking at the place you are going to buy the pallets. Good luck!
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https://www.1001pallets.com/how-to-dismantle-a-wooden-pallet/
Hi Jollie. I have found the easiest way is to use a saw saw and cut through the nails. Have a extra blade on hand. Good Luck!
This might depend on what you are going to do with the pallets, if you are after the boards, a saw cutting through the nails is the best way to go. Keep extra saw blades on hand.
I assume you are talking about wooden pallets. The method can be determined by what size lumber you hope to obtain. The fastest way is just run a power saw down beside each support rib to cut the ribs off. This will quickly yield short boards approximately 2 feet long. If you want to use the whole pallet and get longer boards you will need a claw hammer, large crowbar, and maybe a sledge hammer.I suggest a large crowbar instead of another hammer, because the longer handle on the crowbar increases the leverage you can apply when separating boards or pulling nails. A lot of pallet ribs are made of oak. Dried oak really holds on to nails and staples. You will appreciate the extra leverage of a long crow bar to pry them loose.
Some pallets have boards on both the top and bottom. After you get the boards off one side, put supports at the end of each rib so the pallet is supported about one to 4 inches above the floor. This will allow you to hit the boards from the back side to easily knock them loose. If the boards are bad to split put a block of wood on top of the board before hitting it with your hammer to spread the force of the hammer blow over the width of the board. Finish by pulling out all the nails.
Planer knives and saw teeth do not like steel nails which will destroy the cutting edges. You can protect your tools by using a metal detector to find broken nails before putting the boards in a planer or before cutting them with a power saw.
There is no easy way to take pallets apart. It will take you a long time to complete taking them apart. I'm sorry. I speak from experience. There is another easier way if you haven't bought your pallets. I found a place the a only sold pallets. They had thousands still intact and just by walking around I saw piles of wood dismantaled from pallets. I asked someone if these boards were for sale and he said yes, but they were a little more expensive. I needed 500 boards which cost me 100.00 with most of the nails taken out but cut so they wouldn't stickout. I was so pleased on how much time I will have saved. Worth asking at the place you are going to buy the pallets. Good luck!