Heavy Duty Pallet Buster

I broke down 45 pallets with this tool in about 6 hours. It would have taken me forever to do this with a hammer and pry bar. Even with a sawzall, you still have to deal with all the cut off nails. I combined this tool with the purchase of the Air Locker AP 700 and was able to break down and de-nail 45 pallets in about 8 hours.With the pry bars set on edge, this tool is very strong and handled even the most difficult pallets. However, this strength advantage makes it difficult to get into narrow openings between slats, and generally breaks wide boards at the end of the pallet because the pry arms are not that long. But with these shortcomings noted, the tool works very well on the typical 3 to 4 inch slat, with very little board breakage.I also like the fact that the tool has a set screw, so no drilling required. I just inserted a 1 1/4 inch outside diameter pipe, tightened the screw and have had no problems.All in all a very good tool. Glad I bought it.

If you like doing wood working projects from up-cycled pallets, you need one of these in your arsenal of tools. Add a 4' steel pipe to this, and breaking down pallets has never been so easy. I can't even think about how long it took me to break down a pallet prior to having this Pallet Buster. It was brutal. Now, its like someone turned on a light switch. I broke down five pallets in no time at all the first time I used this. I hated breaking down pallets for my first few projects. Now, I just dislike it. LOL!!!!! I can now break down a bunch, remove the nails, and store the wood in my garage to dry out for use with my next project. I looked at a number of designs of pallets busters, and I like how the CTS version has the "forks" in a vertical position. I think it gives this Pallet Buster more strength w/ stubborn spiral nails, and probably will stay intact for quite some time.

Love this! I got a 4 ft 1 " thick threaded rod and was able to take down 5 pallets quicker than I would have if I were using a hammer and pry bar. Only thing is, with the extra weight from the threaded pipe it makes it a little tricky to keep lifting to break down the pallets, but it popped the boards up with ease. I waited until the morning after it rained all night to break down the pallets, I figured they'd crack less if the wood was soft from the moisture. One thing I noticed after one use was that the black coating had chipped off after one use. So that may not be black iron, but a galvanized pipe just spray painted on...

I was going to weld up something like this, and had enough scrap steel for it, but for under $40 figured this was worth the time savings. The welds were decent but I was disappointed to see this tool was just a hair too narrow to handle 4x4 stringers (actual width 3-1/2"). Why couldn't they have spaced the two prongs just 1/4" further apart?I used a hydraulic bender to spread the prongs apart just enough so it kinda sorta worked on the 4x4 stringers; I noticed the paint flaked off at the bends. Now I wish I'd just made one of these with the right dimensions.

The media could not be loaded.  The two legs could be a little longer when prying up wide boards so they don't split as often and the width could be a little wider but will fit around double stacked two bys. 1 1/4" black pipe works great for a handle, not a tight fit but not loose either. 1 1/2" pipe is too big.Overall, great product and use it all the time. I take it with me to work where I can get pallets for free and as many as I want. Takes a few minutes to deconstruct a pallet which means you can get more lumber home instead of 4-6 pallets in a truck and then break them down.

Like others have said, if it were a touch wider it would have more usefulness. But it worked great once you get the hang of it. I start by prying up the middle section a bit then go to an end - you need to make sure that the inside arm of the PB is tight on the stringer then pry up. It seemed to work better if I had my foot lightly on the wood. I used a 4' section of pipe for a better mechanical advantage.

I liked the sturdiness, but I have difficulty with pallets that the slates are close together. I solved that by removing a slat and then use the tool as it is supposed to be used. I like it!

This thing works great. I have some huge, oak pallets that destroyed a $90 Crescent pry bar. I bought a plumbing pipe and put it in this and it has really performed well. The pipe is starting to show some bending, but the pallet buster has not even strained at the pressure.