fence made from pallets

Karen Biondo of La biondo Farm and Kitchen, on Vashon Island in Washington state, shows off her fence made of pallets. After getting this bit of video, she showed me another pallet fence that wasn't doing so well - it used a zigzag design - but apparently could not stand up well to the animals. And then there were designs with steel fence posts that weren't doing well either. But this design, the one in the video, help up especially well.

Goats and pigs are both known to be extra hard on fence. And this fence has held in both goats and pigs.

And she is in the same county as Seattle. So this fence is tolerating a lot of wet rot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWQ13GCgc-M

Right on!

I was pondering how to fence an area to keep the goats and such OUT of my witch's garden. (ie-Herbs, medicinal plants, of course some pretty flowers!) I was thinking of planting lilacs around as a natural border along with these pallets would be extra pretty and the fact that they are free makes them down right beautiful!

Thanks for this video!

the only fence that ever worked for my goats was electric. They'd get over a pallet fence without it even slowing them down...

This is outstanding. No posts anywhere? just the pallets sitting at grade? I see those spaces as little "bays" and think planting in the bays would be a great addition (on the non-goat side of course). Well done; I want to try this.

Whoa!What about all those nails.The last thing I want to be thinking about(esp in the future)is blood poisoning.I work hard to never allow nails to sit around in wood outside.Sure it works for now but when it comes time to dispose of the pallets?Of course Im partial because I stepped on a nail as a child that was in a half rotted peice of wood that wasnt completely burned in a bon fire and sat in the grass for a year or two first.

If you sift your ashes, and crush your charcoal, whatever nails are there can be separated and saved for your next project. You are more likely to get skin cancer from the sun in a pasture than you are to get blood poisoning from the nails in the pasture.

The biggest problem is finding enough FREE pallets to get the job done. A good place to look is at a trucking company. They are often required to remove pallets (in exchange) when they deliver palleted goods. If they are in good shape, they are worth money to the company. If they need repairs, they are a liability to the company. Replacing one cracked board would cost them more than the pallet is worth. In this case, YOU, the good citizen are saving them the tipping fee at the city dump when you haul them away for them.

Does anyone know how the in-line pallets are attached to the cross pallets?

She said screws, but nails would work also.

John Polk wrote:
She said screws, but nails would work also.

bailing wire could probably do the job, too, I'll bet. Frankly because of the free nature of the pallets I might be inclined to drop some dimes on nice painted square head deck screws. Keep a can of bright paint handy and mark where you drive each screw and then when you have to replace a section you can reuse the nice screws.

This is great! Thanks for sharing!

the goats would likely escape if they had reason to. shes got about 6 acres of paddock with plenty of grassa nd some brushy fodder, the goats are very socialized and have room to wander- and they get treats and feed so they havent a whole lot of reason to get too rangy. not to mention that excpet the back acres, where a different fence is used, her surrounding neighbors DONT have desireable acres for goats. the fence itself is a neat reuse, and actually aesthetically nice compared to t-posts and wires. that said, shes started her first willow plantings and is looking deeply at multifunctional hedgerows and fodderbelts - used as living fences- which IMHO is alot more more interesting than the pallets on a bajillion levels. Karen is a really neat, powerful and energettically charged woman. all the more joyful for the art space she opens at her farm, walls to paint and art space offered to the community. shes taken that design charge to the planning of her site to become more of a perrenial farm, and its a really neat thing to watch unfold.

as far as nails: after if years aof working old farms with crumbling bldgs and nails everywhere, ive come to the conclusion that they are actually a great source of mg and zn for soils and let em be when they in wood and out of drive/foot traffic areas.. Ive stepped on one or two, and its never been an issue. last tetnus was in 88. I leave them in hugel wood piles from salvaged buildings. my 8' perrenial kale agrees. I get more problems from paint (dont tell karen, her place is adorable but I could never do that to wood!)...paint on salvage wood, I never feel like Ive done enough to stop the lead and other nasty stuff in that unretreivalable uncycleable detritus.

What about snow rot? If snow accumulates and sits at the bottom of the fence wouldn't they fall apart much sooner?

Wow, very impressive resourcefulness. I will not be forgetting this idea.

I needed a gate beside the leaf heap so I did not have to climb through the heap or walk all the way around. I picked up a couple of heavy duty galvanized hinges, hung a pallet. I had to add a pole so I could keep it closed with a piece of rope. So far, Bull has not figured out how to get through it.

We have a lot of pallet fences. Pallets are free and very solid. Some we simply tie together. Others I stick a log or 2x down between the slats to lock a group of them together to form a wall that is even more solid. Setup in the fall they freeze together for our long winters. Also great for making compost bins.

Crubin wrote:
What about snow rot? If snow accumulates and sits at the bottom of the fence wouldn't they fall apart much sooner?

depends, most likely not because in most areas where it snows the wood will spend most of its time either dry, or to cold for rapid rot. I can't imagine a temperate climate where wood would rot faster than here on the NW coast, so the chance is your fence will last longer than hers

Just made my first pallet fence! just a small one to keep in some chickens, I have about 4 laying hens and so far they have been very well contained. LOVE IT! So stupid easy! I'll try to get pics up soon

This fence is being used to hold in 4 laying hens in an urban setting. Unfortunately most of the time these birds will be in a "sacrifice zone" so to say, where there will be basically nothing growing due to the small space, over grazing and thick shade. Although I do have plans to let them out and forage around the yard on days when I am out and can supervise, I do think this is a less then ideal system for my chickens, but they are my first attempt, and I am dealing with very limited space. I am also growing sprouts for them on a semi daily basis and have plans to start trays of wheat grass on rotation for them.

OK, anyway... about the fence. You can see in the first photo a couple heavy duty zip ties that I used to help hold two pallets together. I mostly used zip ties to hold the thing together; two for each pallet connection, I also used a couple screws here and there to help too. The only problem I had (which I had a feeling would happen) was that the chickens could just jump up on the pallet and jump to the other side, where my garden is, and where all the goodies are. In the last photo you can see how I used screws to put up some sticks and stapled chicken wire to the fence, it does look a little like a prison, and I feel a little bad, but honestly they have a much better life then most so don't hate.

This building cost nothing to build. Well, nearly nothing. It is built of mostly pallets. Used pallets. Pallets that would have been thrown in the garbage. Karen Biondo of La Biondo Farm and Kitchen tells us the story and shows us around.

It's a sturdy shed that is used for an honor system farm stand in the front and the "No Trash Bash Stash" in the back.

The "No Trash Bash Stash" is where folks in the Vashon Island community can come and borrow plates, forks, cups and all the fixins for a party without having to resort to plastic forks and the like.