Pallets are 4-foot pieces of wood joined together in to a box, usually in two layers with another piece of wood holding them apart. They are used to put building materials on for easy moving with a forklift. You will often see wood or rocks or perhaps pavers stacked on pallets and shrink wrapped so the material will not fall off when moved. Next time you are in a big box store, look up to see what materials are stacked on or watch the fork lift carrying something through the store. Those forks in front fit through the pallet and allow the fork lift to pick up the building materials. Most pallets end up in a land fill somewhere, but can we recycle them into something useful, like a fence. They are already 48 inches by 48 inches, so hooked together with some cut off for easy joining almost end to end, a six foot, eight inch fence could be erected with ease.
Step One
Cut one of the pallets down 16 inches on one flat side only, leaving the bottom and perpendicular boards in place. That allows the two pieces to easily slide together. When attached together, the fence will be 62 inches high. Put the cut pallet over the full pallet and nail them together. You now have two pallets nailed together that are 80 inches long.
Step Two
Transport the number of sections you need to where your fence is going. These pallets are very heavy, so you will need two or more people or a lawn tractor with trailer to move them. Be very careful as they can slip, fall and injure anyone nearby.
Step Three
If you are on a slope, you can stagger the heights of the pallets each 48 inches. Level off the ground under the pallets and use concrete blocks as a footing. You will need three 8-inch by 8-inch by 16-inch concrete blocks under each 48-inch section. Level each 48-inch piece of ground and stagger them if you are going downhill.
Step Four
Support your fence. Dig holes every 4 feet and place one wooden 4-inch by 4-inch by 8-foot treated lumber in each hole. Drop the lumber in the post hole, pour a 40-pound bag of barely wet concrete in the hole. Plumb your post and let it dry overnight. If you want your fence in a straight line, run a string line from one end to the other at the desired post height. Use that guide for the posts and later for the pallets.
Step Five
Put each pallet upright against the posts. Nail the posts together with scraps from the pallets you cut down in step one. Screw the pallets to the fence posts. A cordless drill makes this job go much easier. Depending on how many pallets you had, you now have a complete fence or must wait until you can find more pallets. You have not only made a pretty and functional fence, but kept all those pallets out of a landfill.