hello, a carpenter friend of mine would like me to build him a tool to disassemble the wooden pallets and recycle the planks, how should I conceive it, on the net I saw some user friends who made like a metal fork a big iron fork to unpin the planks , how to make it functional. thanks I wait for advice

Good morning Angiolino, how are you holding up during the pandemic? 

The tool you want is pretty easy to make. They're sort of like a claw hammer, two flat fingers maybe 8cm+ long, spaced far enough apart to slip over the thick lumber the planks are nailed to. The fingers need to be thin enough to fit between the planks so using a medium carbon steel like a car spring or old pry bar is perfect.  The place where the fingers connect needs to be pretty straight across so it will lay flat on the thick lumber. This fork is attached to a handle that is not a 90* angle but more than a 45* angle and long enough to be a good lever, say 150+cm. 

You use it like a spade turning a garden, slip the fork between the planks and push down on the handle, it'll pry the plank right off the pallet. Flat fingers won't do too much damage to the planks so you can salvage the lumber. If you don't care about saving the planks you can make it from round stock like coil spring steel. It'll work the same but do more damage.

Frosty The Lucky.

If you Google "PALLET BUSTER" or "PALLET DISASSEMBLY TOOL"  you will find many tools to do the job. 

Some are made of wood and some made of steel. There are commercial and/or home made tools shown there. 

You can find one there that will suit your blacksmith skills and available materials.

A five foot digging bar would make an excellent handle if you can find one (maybe at a garage sale) . I paid two dollars for one at a garage sale.

 

 

 

BUSTER PALLET

Buster BREAKER1 Breaker Pallet??

thank you for everything, I will search my warehouse to find suitable materials, thank you and sorry again

Thank you Dick, I knew somebody would know what they're called. Easy things to make and not terribly expensive to buy.

I've seen an old shovel with a 2" notch torched in the end used. The old guy whipped it up in about 3-4 minutes on a job. We had to clear a bunch of pallets on a job site and they were so tangled and water logged we had to bust them up. I'd have trouble sacrificing a good shovel but it's a field expedient option.

Pry bars work but not so well as a pallet buster.

Frosty The Lucky.

IPPC Stamps

 

Pallets with an IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention) stamp are used for international shipping. These stamps typically include:

• The IPPC symbol, which is located on the left side of the stamp
• The 2-letter country code followed by a company registration number, which is located on the right side of the stamp
• The treatment code, which is also located on the right side of the stamp

Treatment Codes:

There are four common treatment codes that tell what method of treatment the pallet has received:

• HT: Heat Treatment
• MB: Methyl Bromide
• DB: Debarked
• KD: Kiln Dried

[MB]: Methyl bromide fumigation, this is a potent pesticide linked to human health problems and ozone layer depletion. Methyl bromide fumigation kills invasive species like pine beetles.

Do not use a pallet marked MB for your craft projects or as firewood.

Methyl bromide is a broad spectrum pesticide used to control pest insects, nematodes, weeds, pathogens, and rodents. In the U.S., methyl bromide has been used in agriculture, primarily for soil fumigation, as well as for commodity and quarantine treatment, and structural fumigation.

Methyl bromide can enter the body through inhalation by breathing air contaminated with methyl bromides, through the skin or the eyes.

thank you again for the valuable advice, very useful and invaluable for amateurs in disarray like me, unfortunately I am still a rookie to train, I envy you and admire you veterans at the same time, thanks again, sorry if I disturbed you thanks again.

We all started knowing nothing. 

We gained knowledge through the kindness of others. 

It is always a pleasure to pass that knowledge on to those that appreciate it.

thanks again for your kindness and availability, you are priceless, especially in this period of crisis and covid, useful advice and very precious suggestions in my opinion thank you.