Materials & making
Building a half pallet out of a dead one
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Twelve per cent of everything that comes into this yard leaves as a different pallet than it arrived as. That step has no marketing name and it is the most interesting work in the building.
Remanufacture sits between repair and recovery on the waste hierarchy. The pallet cannot be restored to its original form, but the lumber is sound and still assembled. Rather than taking it apart entirely, we cut it into something smaller that it can still be.
The standard cut-downs
| Damage | Becomes | Yield per pallet | Finished value |
|---|---|---|---|
| One outer stringer broken | Half pallet 48x20 | 1 unit + boards | $13 – $17 |
| Centre stringer broken | Two 48x20 half pallets | 2 units | $26 – $34 |
| Both ends damaged, centre sound | One 24x40 quarter | 1 unit + boards | $9 – $13 |
| Top deck destroyed, base sound | Skid with new deck | 1 unit | $11 – $15 |
| Stringers sound, decks poor | Display base, sanded | 1 unit | $15 – $22 |
| Heavy damage throughout | Dismantle | ≈ 23 bf lumber | $1.60 – $3.20 |
The economics are the point. A 48x40 with a broken centre stringer is worth about $1.20 as a core. Cut into two half pallets it is worth $26 to $34, against roughly nine dollars of labour and fastener cost. That is the single largest value-add step in the yard per unit of effort.
How it is actually done
- 1
Mark the cut
Against a jig, not by eye. The cut line runs just inboard of the damaged stringer so the remaining structure is intact.
- 2
Cut
A horizontal band saw through the stringer, the deck boards and whatever nails are in the way. Blades are consumable and budgeted.
- 3
Trim and square
The cut face is dressed and any overhanging board ends are trimmed flush.
- 4
Re-runner
A new outer runner from reclaimed stringer stock, ring-shank nailed. This is what turns a half of something into a pallet.
- 5
Deck as required
Replacement boards from the de-nailing line, spaced to the customer's spec.
- 6
Sand if retail
Display bases get the top deck sanded. It takes ninety seconds and roughly doubles what the unit sells for.
Why retail loves them
A full 48" x 40" pallet in a supermarket aisle blocks the aisle. A 48" x 20" half pallet sits against a gondola end and lets a trolley past. That is the entire commercial logic of the format, and it is why demand is steady regardless of what the pallet market is doing.
- Half pallet, 48x20 — the standard end-cap footprint.
- Quarter pallet, 24x20 — promotional, fits an aisle without blocking it.
- Display base with sanded deck — where the pallet is visible as part of the merchandising.
- Branded stencil — applied in the yard, usually a supplier's mark rather than the retailer's.
- Chamfered edges — stops trolley wheels and ankles finding the corners.
The part I like
There is a batch reference in our system, RPC-24-0837, which was 1,420 mixed cores from a warehouse clear-out in Aurora. Eight hundred and ten of those were beyond repair. Four hundred and eighty of the half pallets we built the following spring came out of that batch, and they are currently holding seasonal produce in grocery stores across the Front Range.
The pallets that were too broken to be pallets are doing more visible work than the ones that were fine.