# Pallet breaker



## woodtickgreg

I have been thinking about making one of these for awhile now. Been gathering some materials to make some different prototypes to try out. Heres some of my ideas so far. I am really trying to keep this simple and not over think this. It just has to be strong to do some bull work.

Here's some material info. Prying arms are 1/2" thick hot rolled carbon steel.


 arms are 1" wide.


 if I weld them on edge they will be seriously strong. A 1 1/4" Dom tube can be used for a handle, it will fit right inside this tube.



Arms will be approximately 6" long. This gives an idea of what this one will look like. Tube for the handle is about 4" long and drilled for a 3/8" bolt.


 side view, heavy wall tube for the fulcrum should hold up well and roll over easy.

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## Lou Currier




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## ripjack13

Cool.


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## woodtickgreg

Version number 2.

Arms laid flat and to the outside of the 4" center tube.



Side view.


 
Third version.
A 6" center pipe with the arms under the pipe. That still gives 4" between the arms and leaves ample surfaces to weld.


 
This will allow the arms to be almost.flat under a board. However I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing.


 top view


 side view.


 
I just have to cope a few more handle mounts and weld these up to give them a try to see which one works the best.

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## ripjack13

If you're welding everything up, how come you're not welding the handle on too?


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## ripjack13

I think the first vesion will be better....


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## woodtickgreg

ripjack13 said:


> If you're welding everything up, how come you're not welding the handle on too?



Because others may want one and it will be cheap to ship this way. Dom tube is available everywhere and folks can just purchase their own handle locally.

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## woodtickgreg

ripjack13 said:


> I think the first vesion will be better....



We shall see, I intend to make and test them all.

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## ripjack13

woodtickgreg said:


> Because others may want one and it will be cheap to ship this way. Dom tube is available everywhere and folks can just purchase their own handle locally.



Aha...Thats a great idea. Another WTT I need....

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## ripjack13

@lvstealth needs one of these....

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## Schroedc

Greg, there might be some ideas here that will help you figure out what works best. Your project is looking great just figured I'd pass this on in case it might help you avoid totally reinventing the wheel.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR4D17...t=&hvlocphy=9015094&hvtargid=pla-319839169325

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## woodtickgreg

Schroedc said:


> Greg, there might be some ideas here that will help you figure out what works best. Your project is looking great just figured I'd pass this on in case it might help you avoid totally reinventing the wheel.



Thanks for that, I have seen those, and many others like it. I'm not the first to do this or will I be the last. I just want to remember the k.i.s.s. Just want to make a simple, strong, tool that works and will last. That tool in the link is cool, but it has moving parts, moving parts always wear out. I have taken apart my share of pallets, simple tools work, it's all about technique! When I get these done I will try and do a video showing the testing, which one works best, and technique used.

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## lvstealth

some things i have found: the fingers just have to go over a 2x4, and should not be much bigger (the slats can be closer than normal, and often are on the "good" sturdy pallets... and THOSE are the ones that are a bugger to take apart) dont bother testing it on a simple pine pallet, those come right apart with any method, a board under either side and "pop" it is off with no breakage. i like the idea of everyone getting their own handle, you can get yours for your height. this is hard to describe, but the middle is a round thing, it needs a "shelf", small one. something that makes it sit on the 2 edge of a 2 x 4. if it is round, i am afraid it will want to wobble to my weak side (my left, bad knee and such). i think a flat surface riding on the 2x4 will give it an ease of use.

on another note, i am more than willing to "test drive" it for you! hehe.

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## woodtickgreg

@lvstealth Remember when I suggested finding a sheet metal company for a pallet source? We get them all the time at my work, they are always hardwood, 5/4 boards nailed to 4x4's with spiral ardox nails. When I get a few of these welded up I plan to shoot a video of the testing and that way all can see how they work with me. Most of the better tools that I have seen have a rounded bottom, you want to be able to just set the tool on the main runners and the give it a popping motion to break the nails loose. If you try and muscle it and just pry it up the boards usually will split. You could even add some solid bar to the end of the handle to add mass which will add to the momentum of the popping action.

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## lvstealth

There are some pallets with 4x4 stringers, but most I get/read that others get are 2x4 stringers. and yep, they all have the bleeping nails. One problem I saw right away was when the slat is all the way to the edge and there is no place for the tool. and a trick I use, when you first start on the pallet, hit each nail (I use a 3#sledge hammer) seems to make it easier. Using the 2 board system, I can do it with little to no breakage and using a smooth, no jerking, movement. Using any of the things I've tried, smooth works better... For me anyway. 
I'm excited to see the finished product!!

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## David Van Asperen

@woodtickgreg 
I am in line to purchase one for the 2x4 and one for the 4x4 unless the guy that was going to build these for me ( about a year ago) come through.
Dave

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## woodtickgreg

lvstealth said:


> There are some pallets with 4x4 stringers, but most I get/read that others get are 2x4 stringers. and yep, they all have the bleeping nails. One problem I saw right away was when the slat is all the way to the edge and there is no place for the tool. and a trick I use, when you first start on the pallet, hit each nail (I use a 3#sledge hammer) seems to make it easier. Using the 2 board system, I can do it with little to no breakage and using a smooth, no jerking, movement. Using any of the things I've tried, smooth works better... For me anyway.
> I'm excited to see the finished product!!


You need to make a video showing your technique for others to see! You go girl!

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## woodtickgreg

David Van Asperen said:


> @woodtickgreg
> I am in line to purchase one for the 2x4 and one for the 4x4 unless the guy that was going to build these for me ( about a year ago) come through.
> Dave


Keep following this thread to see how the tools develop. I'm wondering if one tool would do both? I'm thinking it will just by shifting it to the side to position on arm next to the 2x4.


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## sprucegum

Just noticed this thread very interesting. Never was very interested in pallet wood because they come apart so hard maybe you are on to something.

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## woodtickgreg

sprucegum said:


> Just noticed this thread very interesting. Never was very interested in pallet wood because they come apart so hard maybe you are on to something.


If you have seen some of the pallets that I have and the nice wood that is often in them you would understand why a better way to take them apart is needed. There is a company around here that delivers full size sheet metal on large pallets. The runners are always 8' long 3x4 and 4x4 hardwoods of oak, maple, ash, and sometimes cherry and beleive it or not I have even found walnut. The tops are 5/4 of the same species and 6" to 8" wide. 
And places that import stuff will usually have pallets made of woods we consider exotics.
As far as the breaker goes I am not the first person to do this, I'm just trying to come up with something simple that is tough and will last and make the job easier. Not trying to over engineer it or re invent the wheel.

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## lvstealth

i hope it works great! 

i get pallet wood because i am not able to buy wood. so free is the only way to do this. most tools out there are $70 plus, so out of my price range. if... and i mean if... i had $70 i would buy a nifty tool to make my hobby better (just starting, i have next to nada) 

my problem with pallet harvesting is what fits in the car. a trailer was suggested, and i looked around, and in the future i might be able to find one, but for now it has to fit in my vehicle. so i am pretty stuck with 48" max. and i am an older disabled female, not to say i am not capable of a lot - i am, but the weight is a concern for me. i am very capable of getting "heavy" into the car, but then i have to tote it a football field to the back. The 48" ones i find i can roll... it takes a little while, but it is within my capabilities. maybe in the future... well... i can dream!

the 2" and 4" thing i think will be important, but the testing will tell! 

i will see about making a video, but most things i do are just adapted to my abilities and disabilities. i can take apart a pine pallet (not the euro ones) sitting down and using a mini pry crow bar and my 3# sledge hammer, i always go around and hit all the nails (like i am driving them in) i think it "loosens" them. i also use another method if i am in more of a hurry, i take two 2x4s about 20" long, place one on either side (and for the first one or any that dont have a board near, i use another slat or another pallet by it) and just press down. i find that the fast jab has the tendency of either ripping the screw through the wood or cracking the board (especially if it is damaged a bit) and it is more likely to result in injury to me. i press the boards evenly and slowly till i hear the sound of the nails moving (there is a specific sound) then i re-position, so i dont fall over when it comes right out. for the oak and other hard wood pallets i find, they seem to have more slats and closer, so the two boards do not work, but i can sit and use the sledge hammer and small pry bar and i get great results. it does take a bit longer, but i have time. the one that was the hardest was the one from Cuba. with the harder ones, i place them leaning on a tree and start at the top and use the hammer and pry bar and just work my way down till i turn it around. i do this for the geometry, a better swing.

what kind of price are you thinking? sorry if that is not a good thing to ask. i am sort of thinking that if i had something that really worked, i might get the shop owners to let me take them apart there, then i could get more in the car.

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## woodtickgreg

@lvstealth They will be cheap, haven't really worked up a price yet. I need to get them done and see what size Feb they will fit into. I like to keep things simple and usually just price things including shipping. 
I admire your tenacity to get wood for projects. I have been doing that for years, and still do. I can't walk past a pile of pallets without looking to see what's there. Or a friend's firewood pile, I find stuff there too. Remember Lisa, wood is free! It is everywhere, you just have took for it, and sometimes do a little work for it. You have figured that out and you are making things, very cool.

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## Mike1950

I already had a pallet breakdown tool- always works- lots of moving parts- very effective I will sell ya the plans.... cheap

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## woodtickgreg

These are the kinds off pallets I was talking about from a sheet metal supplier.
I do a Forman at one of the shops I go to a favor once in awhile and haul his pallets away for him.
A small stack.



All loaded up and strapped down.


 
All five quarter boards on top and heavy hardwood runners. This batch seems to be mostly oak, and some pine. But i get a variety.


 
I took these to my work, what ever I don't want we cut up and use for shipping. I hope they stay there long enough for me to use them for the testing video.

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## Herb G.

Just a little side story here.
When I got out of high school, I sort of jumped from job to job for awhile.
I got a job in a warehouse that got equipment from all over the world.
They would get pallets from every place on the planet.
Any kind of wood you could imagine. I wasn't into wood back then, or I'd still have a lifetime supply.

They had a machine that tore apart pallets. All you did was stack the pallets up, and slide them onto a ramp.
The machine did everything else, including stacking the wood up on the other end of it.
It took about 15 seconds to disassemble a pallet into it's components.
It even removed every nail & dropped them into a bucket.
Pretty cool machine if you ask me.

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## Tony

@lvstealth Where are you? Ain't seen you in awhile! Tony

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## woodtickgreg

Just an fyi, I'm saving some pennies to get a pipe notches so I can cope the handle mount pipe before welding. That will be much more solid as that is where most of the force will be generated, very important in my opinion.

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## Herb G.

You could always buy a pallet buster or a deck wrecker bar.

Just saying...


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## woodtickgreg

Herb G. said:


> You could always buy a pallet buster or a deck wrecker bar.
> 
> Just saying...


What is the fun in that? And I bet I can make em and sell em for less than what they want, LOL.
I could go to the lumber yard to buy lumber.........but I mill my own.

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## lvstealth

im here!!! i am a diabetic, and they just put me on Trulicity... lots of side effects and i had them all! it is a monthinto it, and gotten better. i havent even been out to the wood in a month!

i did actually buy a piece of wood though! there is an exotic wood warehouse in Knoxville i went to Thursday. i found lots of great things, but only bought one piece. it is listed as Mora, but after doing some looking, i think it is http://www.wood-database.com/guatemalan-mora/ this. it looks a lot like mahogany. a rich brown piece.

any progress on the pallet breaker? just picked up 2 more pallets, one from Poland and the other is USA and seems to be poplar. i need to break down the 20 or so i have before i get too many more!

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## rocky1

Good to see you back Lisa, hope things level out and get all better for you, so you can get back to tearing pallets apart.

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## lvstealth

awww! thanks! i did manage to learn some about sketchup while i was recouping!

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## woodtickgreg

@lvstealth Glad your ok Lisa, no progress on the breakers yet, I need to get a coping jig for the pipe handle part. I too have a lot going on in my life, making some tool rest for others and myself for the lathe. Still working 2 jobs, working on bicycles, trying to find time to excersize and work on my shop, etc. Lots of irons in the fire for me. Kind of ironic though because the box of parts I have made for the breakers so far is still on the floor in the front seat of my truck!
I looked at that box and thought of you Lisa and wondered where you have been and if you are ok. Glad to here from you, I hope you get the meds worked out.

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## woodtickgreg

I ordered a tubing notcher! The rest will be easy.

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## lvstealth

yippee!

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## woodtickgreg

It has arrived!


 

 


Pretty nice little unit, just need to get it mounted on the drill press and get the right size bi-metal hole saw.

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## sprucegum

woodtickgreg said:


> It has arrived!
> View attachment 131389 View attachment 131390 View attachment 131391
> Pretty nice little unit, just need to get it mounted on the drill press and get the right size bi-metal hole saw.


Really nice but kind of a cop out to buy one when you could have just fired up your lathe and milling machine and made one.

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## sprucegum

Mike1950 said:


> I already had a pallet breakdown tool- always works- lots of moving parts- very effective I will sell ya the plans.... cheap
> 
> View attachment 129573


Looks like Mike has copied my plans and is now selling them.

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## woodtickgreg

sprucegum said:


> Really nice but kind of a cop out to buy one when you could have just fired up your lathe and milling machine and made one.


Ha ha ha, very funny! 
No time, sometimes I buy time. I do have an idea for one though.........maybe someday.

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## sprucegum

One of my friends had a uncle who they claim built himself 3 new houses in his lifetime. So the story goes he would first setup a machine shop and build a sawmill then harvest the logs, mill the lumber, and build his house. When the work was done he would sell his mill and machine tools. In time he would tire of the house and start over again. Perhaps he was a distant cousin of Greg's.

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## woodtickgreg

sprucegum said:


> Perhaps he was a distant cousin of Greg's.


Not likely, my family tree is more like a stick!

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## sprucegum

Been to a couple weddings myself where I was related to both the bride and groom. Guess they weren't really blood kin but it is still good for a laugh.

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## mdlbldrmatt135

Any more progress since getting the tubing notcher? Been wanting one, we have a few pallets stacked up that are a bear to get apart without damaging the lumber.


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## woodtickgreg

mdlbldrmatt135 said:


> Any more progress since getting the tubing notcher? Been wanting one, we have a few pallets stacked up that are a bear to get apart without damaging the lumber.


Unfortunatly no, started a new job and that has been taking a lot of my time, been getting a lot of overtime and I really need it, the money is helping me to get back on my feet again. It's still a work in progress though, I need one too! And I think I can use the tig welder at the new job.

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## woodtickgreg

Well today I finally got the first prototype welded up and i gave it a try on some pallets at work. Worked very well but noticed a couple of things. I think the angle on the handle needs to be greater which would lower it and make it easier to use. It works great if you give it a snap with the handle, pops the boards right off.

And here's the first one, not painted yet.


 Handle is about 5 feet long.



The handle just bolts on with one bolt



I think I need to open the angle up on the next one. I also welded the fingers on vertically for more strength. 


 not the prettiest but it worked well. Now I need to try a couple other styles to see which ones work the best.

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## Tony

@lvstealth, where have you been? Tony


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## rocky1

She got a lathe, had to take on a second job to buy all the other goodies she needed to go with it!

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## lvstealth

Hiiii!!!!!

No, I can't swing a lathe yet, but I am getting a scroll saw. It's a Wen. I'm going to try my hand at Intarsia. We shall see.

Believe it or not, I got all whacky because I couldn't sleep. Just all of a sudden one day I stopped sleeping. Weird that you need sleep to think straight, but it came on all of a sudden and no one figured out why. Then one day it was better. No one knows why. 

I'm trying to read and watch Intarsia stuff, any ideas would be greatly appreciated! -Lisa

Oh... And great job @woodtickgreg! I need that!

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## Tony

lvstealth said:


> Hiiii!!!!!
> 
> No, I can't swing a lathe yet, but I am getting a scroll saw. It's a Wen. I'm going to try my hand at Intarsia. We shall see.
> 
> Believe it or not, I got all whacky because I couldn't sleep. Just all of a sudden one day I stopped sleeping. Weird that you need sleep to think straight, but it came on all of a sudden and no one figured out why. Then one day it was better. No one knows why.
> 
> I'm trying to read and watch Intarsia stuff, any ideas would be greatly appreciated! -Lisa
> 
> Oh... And great job @woodtickgreg! I need that!



Good to see you back Lisa! Tony

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## Lou Currier

Welcome back Lisa.

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## woodtickgreg

Lisa, I have been using the breaker to see what I like and don't like about it. So far it has proven to be easy, tough, and doing the job. But it needs a little refinement yet.

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## mdlbldrmatt135

Any more updates???


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## woodtickgreg

Only that I use it a lot at work to take apart scrap pallets so they don't take up as much space in the dumpster. It has proven to be a tough tool and sta ding up to frequent use well. It's always in the back of my pick up because you never know when it will be needed.

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## woodtickgreg

I still have not been able to find the time to weld these up. But I have been using the crap out of the prototype and it has held up very well, I decided that the angle is good enough and it gives good leverage. I broke up a bunch of hardwood pallets for the work today, 90% hardwood, mostly oak and maple but some cherry. Heres todays work.

5/4 hardwood boards nailed to 3x4 and 4x4 runners. Work needed the runners to set heavy blocks of steel on.


 even spiral nails are no match for the breaker, if it doesn't pull the nail out it just rips the heads through the boards.


 Takes me about an hour to bust through a stack like this and that's not working hard.


 It has proven to be a very tough tool.

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## woodtickgreg

Heres a quick video I did when I made the tool. Keep in mind I am using it with one hand while I hold my cell phone with the other hand to make the video. But that should also tell you how easy it is to use.

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## Lou Currier

Works great

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