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Thread: Wood pallets for evaporator fuel

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Old Lyme, CT
    Posts
    272

    Default Wood pallets for evaporator fuel

    I have about 20 or so wood pallets stacked behind my shack. They came with wood pellets that I have had delivered in the last 2-3 years that I use for a pellet stove to help heat my house .

    Today, I tried to pull apart the pallets so I could cut them up for firewood for the evaporator (I have a 2X4 Mason).

    The nails are all rusted and it was a pain to pry them out. So I just cut up the pallets with a chain saw.

    But the long, thick pieces that provide the structural support for the pallets have many nails still in them. Should I remove the nails before burning the wood? Or can I just throw the pieces in the evaporator to burn and clean out the nails after the fire in the evaporator has gone out?

    Thanks

    Mark
    Mason 2x4 w/raised flue pan, 240 gal. sap tank, 80 Reds on 5/16 tubing and Lunchbox releaser/pump, 20 sugars on buckets

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Walpole, NH
    Posts
    1,363

    Default

    I burn them with the nails. Then before firing up the next time, I use a magnet on a stick to get the nails out of the ashes.
    Sugaring for 45+ years
    New Sugarhouse 14'x32'
    New to Me Algier 2'x8' wood fired evaporator
    2022 added a used RB25 RO Bucket
    250 mostly Sugar Maples, 15% Soft Maples. Currently,(110on 3/16" and 125 on Shurflo 4008 vacuum, 15 gravity), (16,000 before being disabled)
    1947 Farmall H and Wagon with gathering tank
    2012 Kubota with forks to move wood around

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Corinth, New York, United States
    Posts
    557

    Default

    I use pallet wood every year. My grates are a series of angle iron and the nails fall right through and come out with the ashes.
    2021 230 Taps on vacuum
    Smokylake 2X6 pan set with auto drawoff
    Homebuilt 2 4x40 membrane RO
    Homebuilt filter press
    Rebuilt arch with under and over the fire air we have named V 2.0
    Smokylake steam bottler
    Hoods and preheater
    500 gallon vertical polytank to store sap for RO
    Adding a laser eye to my bottler for autofill/stop

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Old Lyme, CT
    Posts
    272

    Default

    Thanks guys.

    I wasn't sure if the nails would somehow damage the evaporator.

    But if I don't have to pry the nails out of the wood, it makes using pallets for fuel a lot easier.

    Mark
    Mason 2x4 w/raised flue pan, 240 gal. sap tank, 80 Reds on 5/16 tubing and Lunchbox releaser/pump, 20 sugars on buckets

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Potsdam in far northern New York
    Posts
    775

    Default

    Just be careful about where you dump the ashes. Some of these newer fasteners remain dangerous to tires for decades.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Plymouth WI
    Posts
    142

    Default

    We burn lots of pallet wood and call our evaporator the nail puller.
    After each cook we use a magnet to collect the nails and end up with a 5 gallon bucket full by the end of the season.
    2x6 Smokey Lake raised flue w/AUF
    16x30 Sugar Shack
    7" SL SS filter press
    Smokey Lake water jacketed finish pan & bottler
    350 RO
    517 taps and I seem to keep finding more!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Perkinsville, VT
    Posts
    114

    Default

    I burn it with the nails and use a magnet to get the nails out too. My local scrapyard will take the buckets of nails.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Walpole, NH
    Posts
    1,363

    Default

    I take my ashes after running the magnet threw, and run them through an old window screen that I put over another bucket to make sure that the nails are all out.
    Sugaring for 45+ years
    New Sugarhouse 14'x32'
    New to Me Algier 2'x8' wood fired evaporator
    2022 added a used RB25 RO Bucket
    250 mostly Sugar Maples, 15% Soft Maples. Currently,(110on 3/16" and 125 on Shurflo 4008 vacuum, 15 gravity), (16,000 before being disabled)
    1947 Farmall H and Wagon with gathering tank
    2012 Kubota with forks to move wood around

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