# Oak pallet wood



## rickw (Mar 25, 2009)

I am curious if the raw ends of pallets would be any good for smoking. My brother says the guy he gets his firewood from says this is just raw oak, not treated. The ends he has looks like rough cut 4x4 pieces, opinions?


----------



## txbbqman (Mar 25, 2009)

I would say as long as it is oak and it has not been treated then you should be fine.

Being the ends of pallets it may be so thin that it will burn rather quickly, but still should be able to use it


----------



## bigsteve (Mar 25, 2009)

Kind of a risky proposition if your brothers friend is wrong......


----------



## tasunkawitko (Mar 25, 2009)

hopefully, those pallets never carried anything toxic....


----------



## rickw (Mar 25, 2009)

Hence the question. These are the bigger pieces of oak not the thinner ones. Like what would be on the bottom of the pallet. 

They are from a pallet company that makes new ones, they have never been loaded.


----------



## tasunkawitko (Mar 25, 2009)

in that case, i don't see any problems ~ could be a good score unless someone here knows a good reason not to use them!


----------



## bbq engineer (Mar 25, 2009)

Rick,

I'd sure take a look at them, and then use your best judgement.  It just might pan out, and you'd have a heck of a score on your hands.  Good Luck.

BBQ Eng.


----------



## alx (Mar 25, 2009)

Normaly i would say no-but if this is a pallet factory etc. and wood is not to dry-as i couldnt see them necesarily kiln drying pallet wood- since the design makes the strength- i would go for it.I sawz -all the discarded broken ones for kindling in my shop stove.


----------



## pineywoods (Mar 25, 2009)

If your sure the wood hasn't been sprayed with pesticides or something to preserve it then it may be a great source.


----------



## rickw (Mar 25, 2009)

Before I even try we are going to make sure 100% it is raw oak and not treated.


----------



## smoke on the water (Mar 26, 2009)

I don't think they would use oak to build pallets. When I used to handle pallets and had to get rid of them when we had a truckload I beleve they used inferior soft wood. Check out this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet#...erican_pallets


----------



## rickw (Mar 26, 2009)

From your link.

 The cheapest pallets are made of softwood and are often considered expendable, to be discarded as trash along with other wrapping elements, at the end of the trip. These pallets are simple stringer pallets, and liftable from two sides.

Slightly more complex* hardwood *block pallets, 

 It looks as if they do indeed use hardwoods for some pallets.


----------



## azrocker (Mar 26, 2009)

I would be afraid they are treated with pesticide etc.


----------



## rickw (Mar 26, 2009)

If there is the slightest chance of any chemicals I will nix the idea straight away.


----------



## flatbroke (Mar 26, 2009)

try it and feed the food to the neighbors you dont like and see what happens.


----------



## zapper (Mar 26, 2009)

Pallets are often treated with pesticides but usually after they are constructed. If you are sure that these scraps are byproducts from the original manufacturing of new and untreated pallets then you have a good source of wood. Many places remanufacture or rebuild pallets and I would not reccomend using the wood from any pallet that has left the manufacturing plant for cooking or indoor heating.


----------



## mcp9 (Mar 26, 2009)

i would not use them.  way too risky.


----------



## 1894 (Mar 26, 2009)

We got a box and pallet co near here.  Oak and maple are the wood of choice . 4x4 chunks are at least great firewood . Grab what you can , check with the company re pesticides , but I doubt those chunks have been treated yet.  They are the off cuts of big random length bundles that get cut to length for whatever pallet size they are building that day. Watch out for pine , looks similar when rough cut , weight and smell will help you sort them out.


----------



## slim51015 (Mar 26, 2009)

I work at a pallet co./mill our pallets if need be are treated after assembly. We use all hardwood. The cutoffs prior to assembly are very good for smoking just may have to season them a while. We use a mix of woods like oak, maple cherry, ash.....


----------



## rickw (Mar 27, 2009)

I stopped by today and talked to the fellow at the pallet company. I asked if the wood has ever been treated with anything. He told me this wood, mainly oak, is straight from the mill and is just plain rough cut oak, not treated with anything what so ever.

 If there is anyone else in the Chicagoland area interested they have quite a bit for sale and it's a real good price.


----------



## davenh (Mar 27, 2009)

Rick...sounds like these are cut ends from the building process. I would think the are just raw milled lumber at that point. They would only spray the finished pallet if anything. Sounds like a good source. You'll probably need to season a bit.


----------



## rickw (Mar 27, 2009)

Yeah they are still green. Good thing is my brother buys it and has some left that he got last summer and fall. They should be seasoned enough.......no?


----------



## davenh (Mar 27, 2009)

They are pretty thin pieces so wouldn't take long. Maybe toss a few pieces on top of the smoker to help them along :). A hot sunny day or two will take a lot of moisture out of them if you were to spread them out in the driveway. A 2x4 dries pretty quick in the sun...lol.


----------



## rickw (Mar 27, 2009)

These pieces are more like a 4x4 about 12 to 18 inches long. They are pretty good size pieces. I would still think they would be good to go though.


----------



## pineywoods (Mar 27, 2009)

Rick take a piece and light it watch the ends for any sign of moisture if none you should be good to go. Sounds like you found a great source


----------



## rickw (Mar 27, 2009)

Thanks Piney, will do.


----------



## gdchristian (Jul 8, 2013)

I just used some for smoking.  It looks like raw wood.  If not, let me know.  Seems to work very well.


----------



## hambone1950 (Jul 8, 2013)

RickW said:


> I stopped by today and talked to the fellow at the pallet company. I asked if the wood has ever been treated with anything. He told me this wood, mainly oak, is straight from the mill and is just plain rough cut oak, not treated with anything what so ever.
> If there is anyone else in the Chicagoland area interested they have quite a bit for sale and it's a real good price.



Well , you did your homework and it checks out good. That is a great find. I know a lot of guys who'd love that as firewood but we're too far away. So , it should be good fuel for a smoker , right? Once it's seasoned anyway. Still it's a great idea.


----------

