Why Wooden Pallets Are The Best
It’s Great To Incorporate Wooden Pallets into your Everyday use
Wooden pallets may be versatile in its uses. You can easily find people using them for shipping purposes, upcycling for home use, recycle for office and shop uses, among many other tenacities.
However, some people think that wooden pallets do not last long. They have this sentiment that it’s because it is made of wood, so therefore its lifespan is short. The same group of people also think that pallets made of plastic and non-wood material will last longer, by logic.
Such an approach is not just flawed and presumptuous, but it’s been “debunked”. Pallets made out of wood tend to last longer in a sense that you can refurbish it. Using the same material – wood.
When a wooden pallet is broken, you can easily take the better parts and refurbish it to make it look anew again. Note that this is provided if the wooden pallet is not completely destroyed or dirtied beyond assistance.
Sometimes, some shipping companies only use the wooden pallets for a 1-time journey. Then they may discard the wooden pallets at their destination countries. They may bring it back to their departure point to return it to their issuing companies. Who knows?
However, that’s beside the point. The main point is that since these wooden pallets are used for a 1-time journey, they are clean more often than not. Having said that, it means you can take up these relatively clean pallets and upcycle them for personal/civilian use.
Versatile Yet Diversified
Its versatility isn’t just the best thing about wooden pallets yet. You can find many kinds of wooden pallets used across many industries. Here are just some of the more common wooden pallets you can find:
Block or Deck Type Pallets
You can lift block or deck type pallets from all of its 4 sides. It stereotypically is a 4-way pallet. The upper deck is supported by twelve columns. The deck/block type pallet may or may not be a bottom deck. Block pallets usually are able to provide high handling efficiency. They are typically made of wood, but they can also be made of plastic or metal.
Stringer Pallets
Stringer pallets provide extra support more than block pallets do. Two boards going in between the top and bottom deck on two opposite ends of the pallet. These provide additional reinforcement for the pallets. However, this means stringer pallets can be lifted only from two sides that are open. It does not mean that four-way stringer pallets do not exist. They do. Four-way pallets are also available where the stringer has a notch cut out to allow forklifts to pick up the pallet.
Double-Faced Pallets
Most wooden pallets usually have only a top deck. Double-face pallets have a top and bottom deck and both sides can be used interchangeably. They are sturdy and can be used for heavy-duty tasks.
Double-Wing Pallets
For Double-Wing pallets, the top and the bottom deck goes beyond the stringers to provide additional surface areas. It makes these pallets useful to transport a huge number of goods all at once.
Solid Deck Pallets
A solid deck pallet has a single continuous wooden sheet with no spacing in between. It’s usually made of wood, however, it’s normal to see it made of metal and plastic material too. Those are easy to clean and transport and are very useful in moving smaller items.
Pros and Cons of Using Wooden Pallets
As there are many uses of wooden pallets, it does not mean it is without pros and cons. Here are some of them.
Advantages
They are more sustainable.
It is without a doubt you can upcycle, refurbish, or re-use them for various purposes. Use it for shipping. Turn it into a bed frame. Make it a piece of furniture for your café or restaurant. Or you may re-use it for shipping purposes again.
Eco-Friendly
Wooden pallets are stereotypically eco-friendly, and with good reasons too. If the wooden pallet is beyond market or home use, you can always have it put in the landfill for easy decomposition.
Affordable and Economical
Anything made from wood has traditionally and stereotypically been considered as affordable and economical. And for very good and solid reasons too. Wooden pallets are also characteristically less expensive to acquire than pallets made from other materials (for example plastic pallets, corrugated pallets, etc).
Think about it this way: if a plastic pallet breaks in 1 place, then you will have to replace the entire pallet. The end result is that the cost for that pallet is considered a “non-recoverable loss” eating away at profits. Unlike wooden pallets that can be repaired and recycled.
On top of that, wooden pallets are affordable and easy to fix too. It has the distinct benefit of being put together and assembled piece by piece. If a wooden pallet breaks, it can be conveniently and cheaply restored and replaced if necessary. This depends on how badly damaged the wooden pallet is.
Furthermore, when it comes to constructing wooden pallets, the construction time has been reduced for pretty obvious reasons. That means you can pretty much acquire wooden pallets pretty quickly in a large quantity. This factor is especially important for importers such as agricultural businesses.
Disadvantages
It breaks easily.
Wood is not as strong as you think they are. They may be made from some of the strongest timber types. But it does not mean it will not break. It will, as compared to the ones made of plastic and metal. However, you can always refurbish them, no problem at all. They will be as good as new!
Subject to rot when exposed to natural elements
When exposed to natural elements like heat and rain for long periods of time, there’s a good chance it will become bad. They can either rot away from termite attacks or become super soggy when exposed to too much water. Too much heat or fire can scorch or weaken it.
Chemically-treated woods can be dangerous
There are organically-treated wood pallet, heat-treated pallets, and chemically treated pallets. Pallets that are organically-treated and heat-treated are safe to use and pose little to no health hazards. That’s why people who often look for wooden pallets and up-cycle them for home-use choose those kinds over the chemical treatment wood pallets.
Chemically-treated wood pallets are treated by chemicals that are hazardous to humans when they come into contact with it. Wooden pallets that have been chemically-treated are no exception to that.
Conclusion
Wood pallets are indeed a bunch of useful entities. You can use them for shipping, for home use, for refurbishment, among many things. If you ever need wooden pallets, we have them right here for sale!