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The ocean gifted me 10 planks of 2X12 PT lumber, 8' long. They drifted up on the beach in front of the house. The downside is that they have been spiked together in a rough platform, 6 planks across 4 planks with 2 galvanized nails driven through each lap. I don't know how long this has been drifting around, long enough to chaff off the corners of the downside planks and start some corrosion of the nails, but not long enough for any barnacles or mussels to start growing on it (if they'd grow on PT lumber).
The question is how can I get them apart. I used a 6' pry bar to lever one plank off, but ended up with a marginally useful plank that wouldn't make good firewood. The plank split in several places and the nail heads pulled through the plank. The nails may be clinched on the under side, but I can't get at them. I'm too old and lame to be able to flip this thing over. Each plank weighed more than 50# before soaking in the ocean for a good long while so the whole thing weighs well in excess of 500#. I used a 6' pry bar to lever one plank off, but ended up with a marginally useful plank that wouldn't make good firewood. The plank split in several places and the nail heads pulled through the plank. The nails may be clinched on the under side, but I can't get at them.
My slothful self says send it out on the next tide and let the next guy deal with it, but my cheap self says that's at least a couple hundred dollars that would be floating away. Any suggestions how to dismantle this thing so I can get more out of it than some exercise?
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Cut the joints out and be satisfied with shorter boards.
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What do you imagine using them for?
Landscaping or the like, would not suffer for having some holes
in the wood.
Might try a hole saw to cut away "plugs" surrounding those nails.
Mark Singleton
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At first I was thinking a Nicholson workbench, but maybe not with PT lumber. Then joists for a small shed. Raised beds wouldn't be a bad idea either. A hole saw might work. It wouldn't need to be very big one diameter-wise as long as it can reach through the 2X. I could take the pilot out and use a piece of plywood with a hole cut through it tacked over the nail as a guide.
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Couple of suggestions:
Not a simple task, but could you remove the nail heads with a drill, much like you would for a rivet, then pry the planks apart?
Any way to sneak a long sawzall blade between the planks?
Good luck
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(12-31-2020, 06:57 AM)brianwelch Wrote: Any way to sneak a long sawzall blade between the planks?
Good luck
^^^This is what I would try.
Spiral nails are often used as fasteners on these kinds of pallets. That's the reason why it only took me once to be disabused of the notion that pallets are a decent source of lumber.
If you manage to get it apart, get it good and dried out to see what you have. If it stays straight, that would open a wider range of possible uses.
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(12-30-2020, 07:16 PM)Phil S. Wrote: The ocean gifted me 10 planks of 2X12 PT lumber, 8' long. They drifted up on the beach in front of the house. The downside is that they have been spiked together in a rough platform, 6 planks across 4 planks with 2 galvanized nails driven through each lap. I don't know how long this has been drifting around, long enough to chaff off the corners of the downside planks and start some corrosion of the nails, but not long enough for any barnacles or mussels to start growing on it (if they'd grow on PT lumber).
The question is how can I get them apart. I used a 6' pry bar to lever one plank off, but ended up with a marginally useful plank that wouldn't make good firewood. The plank split in several places and the nail heads pulled through the plank. The nails may be clinched on the under side, but I can't get at them. I'm too old and lame to be able to flip this thing over. Each plank weighed more than 50# before soaking in the ocean for a good long while so the whole thing weighs well in excess of 500#. I used a 6' pry bar to lever one plank off, but ended up with a marginally useful plank that wouldn't make good firewood. The plank split in several places and the nail heads pulled through the plank. The nails may be clinched on the under side, but I can't get at them.
My slothful self says send it out on the next tide and let the next guy deal with it, but my cheap self says that's at least a couple hundred dollars that would be floating away. Any suggestions how to dismantle this thing so I can get more out of it than some exercise?
Will the effort and the result be worth more than the approximately $200 it would cost to buy new?
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Bill
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Just thinking out loud.
At high tide, I'd use a come-a-long or block-n-tackle to get the "pallet" to higher ground and let it dry out. Once dry, it will probably come apart much easier. If not, the sawz-all should work wonders cutting the nails.
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If all the boards are in the same condition, I wouldn’t waste my time given your experience with the first.
A new 8’ 2” X 12” is about $25.00
One which splits apart under stress and “wouldn’t make good firewood” has no value.
Gary
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(12-30-2020, 07:16 PM)Phil S. Wrote: The ocean gifted me 10 planks of 2X12 PT lumber, 8' long. They drifted up on the beach in front of the house. The downside is that they have been spiked together in a rough platform, 6 planks across 4 planks with 2 galvanized nails driven through each lap. I don't know how long this has been drifting around, long enough to chaff off the corners of the downside planks and start some corrosion of the nails, but not long enough for any barnacles or mussels to start growing on it (if they'd grow on PT lumber).
The question is how can I get them apart. I used a 6' pry bar to lever one plank off, but ended up with a marginally useful plank that wouldn't make good firewood. The plank split in several places and the nail heads pulled through the plank. The nails may be clinched on the under side, but I can't get at them. I'm too old and lame to be able to flip this thing over. Each plank weighed more than 50# before soaking in the ocean for a good long while so the whole thing weighs well in excess of 500#. I used a 6' pry bar to lever one plank off, but ended up with a marginally useful plank that wouldn't make good firewood. The plank split in several places and the nail heads pulled through the plank. The nails may be clinched on the under side, but I can't get at them.
My slothful self says send it out on the next tide and let the next guy deal with it, but my cheap self says that's at least a couple hundred dollars that would be floating away. Any suggestions how to dismantle this thing so I can get more out of it than some exercise?
Use a punch to push the nails through the top board if flipping it is an issue use a lever to get it up block it and repeat
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