If you had a significant inventory of B-quality pallets with double side stringers and wanted to upgrade them to A-grade pallets by replacing the double stringers, how would go about doing it?
Ron Waechter, president of Smart Products, was asked a question like that by a pallet supplier that had about $250,000 worth of B pallets in inventory. Upgrading them to A quality by replacing double side stringers would roughly triple their value and enable the company to net about $200,000, noted the caller, who was interested in machinery options.
Ron and Smart Products co-owner and vice president Tom Waechter put their heads together and came up with an idea for a machine that could provide the solution: a band saw dismantler that may be operated by either one or two men.
The pallet is oriented on the dismantling machine so the stringers are parallel to the blade. Once the top deck boards are cut free, the pallet is turned over to finish the process on the bottom deck boards. The machine has a rounded trough under the blade; sliding the pallet into the trough after the first pass makes it easier to flip over. The machine also may be used for removing lead boards or completely dismantling a pallet.
Smart Products built the machine and tested it. “It worked great,” Ron reported. The pallet supplier that called will try out the machine.
“There is a big demand for Number One pallets and there is a glut of Number Two pallets,” noted Ron. “This could end up being a hot little machine.”
“It’s the perfect machine for smaller volume shops,” he added.
For more information about Smart Products or its pallet recycling machinery, contact the company at (800) 401-0099, fax (765) 284-9543.
