don't forget:

-compost bins,
-animal coop,
-garden beds

In Austin we have a "no leash" law which says if you have a yard and a dog, you need to have a fence, and not keep the dog on the leash while outside, unsupervised. A friend of mine, who is broke, decided to make a small fenced-in (like 12'x12') area to keep his two small dogs in. He made the fence out of pallets and metal stakes. It works well.

Apologize in advance for the embedded link to this project, Unit Load_Redux, but I've seen some good work using pallets. It's a great idea and demonstrates the ability to reuse objects in different ways going forward.

If the pallets were used on overseas shipments from China than they have been treated with a pesticide (methyl bromide) and you won't want to use those.
The pesticide is used to prevent any damaging insects from killing our crops, trees and native plants.

The Asian long-horned beetle and the emerald ash borer have destroyed thousands of trees in Chicago and New York.

We got this HUGE pallet from the shipment of our Ikea cabinets. We decided we are going to use it to make a work table in the garage.

I love the idea for the chair though - which I have a smaller pallet.

One of the best uses for pallets is to reuse them as pallets! Here in Atlanta I see lots of guys going around to collect used pallets and taking them to a pallet recycling center. Plus, I think you get paid for each pallet you bring in.

please can you tell me where you can get these free pallets?

are there any in NYC?

My hardware store puts them out on the corner. Sometimes you'll see them laying around garbage/recycling containers.

Oh wow, that picture of pallets brings back distant memories.

Four the first 7 years of my life I grew up near the headlands to the Palouse, in eastern Washington. Otherwise known as the country, the sticks or the boondocks. We shared our property with another family who owned many horses; along with our pigs, goat, chickens, turkey and sheep these horses needed a place to roam.

Lets just say that my family had a tight budget. My papa (don't I sound like little house on the prairie!) decided to make use of the many free pallets in the back of grocery stores, hardware stores and lumber yards and make a variety of fences within our property lines.

While I'd say it wasn't the prettiest set of fences (the current owners put in a beautiful set fencing) it worked. The animals were safe and free to roam. We also had left over pallets that were stacked behind one of the large barns that I remember playing on, in and around as a child.

Needless to say. After the pallet fences were put in, our farm was known as Pallentan Acres.

(Pallets were also our only source of firewood- oak is the best- better than cutting down more trees).

I don't have the plans anymore but I once made an awsome contemporary coffee table from a used pallet. Sand, paint, then affix wooden fence finials (tops) for legs. only real expense was the glass top. No one ever guessed it was from a pallet.

Hey Ronzorelli - that law in Austin is fantastic. I agree, fencing is expensive, but I think this law is an excellent idea. We live in the mountains in CA and there are many dogs just tied up full time outside, its horrible to see. Good on your friend for getting creative and using alternatives. We are fencing our front road access and trying to tear down an old shed and use that wood, but if we run out, pallets are a great idea.

I have to reiterate happyfamily. Having worked with many shipping, trucking, and warehouse companies, I've learned that pallets are in very high demand. Companies are constantly trying to find recycled ones but the availability is very limited. As such there is no choice buy new ones, which of course leads to cutting down more trees.

I made a compost bin out of shipping pallets! Looks great and it was super easy. http://www.eatniks.com/2010/06/shipping-pallet-compost-bin/

I'm looking forward to making a pig pen. Just finished design for steel plate to bolt pallets together with.