Pallets:
Before we talk about “The most common species of wooden pallets.” Let’s talk about what pallets are in the first place.
Pallets are frames that are made to store and lift goods. They are hard and stable frames that can bear a lot of weight, as they are made to serve this particular purpose. You may have seen them in big stores, or warehouses. Where they are either stacked or loaded with goods. They are moved by fork lifters. They are made in a specific structure that allows fork lifters to lift them up easily.
Use of Pallets:
Pallets are used in storing and moving goods. This is the only purpose and use of pallets. The reason pallets are considered to be a good choice in serving this particular service is as of their structure and made-up.
Wooden or plastic pallets?
They are usually made up of wood. Wooden pallets are the most common one. But there is also another type which is also common, Plastic pallets.
The wooden pallets are considered to be much reliable when it comes to serving the purpose. As they are unbreakable, recyclable, and long lasting as well.
While, in the case of plastic pallets, these advantages are absent. They can be broken up easily and moreover, they are not recyclable. Which reduce their credibility and reliability.
The most common wood species for pallets:
Coming to the main point of discussion, the most common wood species are Hardwood and Softwood.
Why they are characterized so?
Hardwoods are the wood species that are categorized as the hardwoods not because they are hard. While in fact, as compared to soft woods, they are harder. But still it is not the reason for their characterization, this characterization is based on the type of tree they come from. Hardwoods are the woods that come from dicot tree.
While in case of softwoods, Softwoods are the woods that come from gymnosperm tree.
Hardwoods:
The most common wood species in this regard are Oak, Ash, and Hickory.
We will be discussing them one by one.
Oak:
Oak is a hardwood. It is strong, durable, and resistant to any unfavorable conditions. They are very much reliable. The pallets made up of Oak wood are hard and strong. This is best in businesses that deal with hard, bulky, and heavy items. These businesses need something that is hard enough to bear the most possible weight. These businesses cannot bear the breaking of any pallets while loading.
Oak woods are comparatively costly and also bit heavy in weight.
Ash:
Ash wood is also a type of hardwoods, yet they are still a little different from the Oak woods. In terms of characteristics both are much of different from each other. They are light colored. They usually come in beige or light brown color. Which gives them a very different look as compared to other types hardwood. They are aesthetically pleasing, for which it becomes a little sensible for them to be used in stores that are rich in aesthetics, which can be clothing brands etc. When businesses of these kind would have even pallets that are not off to the vibe, it would be much more pleasing to the eyes. It also absorbs stain and is considered as one of the most durable woods as it is a part of the hardwood family.
Hickory
In comparison with Ash, Hickory is not that much aesthetically pleasing but still it is one of the most common wood species for pallets.
It is the most durable wood. It is said to bear almost anything on this earth. Whether it is weather conditions or it is load or earthquakes. It can survive almost any hardships. It is Strong and rusty in look. Which makes it useful in extreme and tough kind of situations. It is in that sense, much favorable for the businesses that deals with heaviest of the items, that can be construction businesses.
Softwoods:
In case of softwood, the most common species are; Pine and Fir.
Pine:
Pine is the most popular example of softwood. They are stiffing and shock resistant. So, any businesses that would be dealing with light weight products can use them for pallets. But one may ask this question that if one can buy hardwoods that can bear almost any type of weight, why would anyone buy pine or any other softwood?
This question is purely legit but pine is less costly and hardwoods especially oak is very costly. So, if it is not a compulsion for a business to use hardwood pallets why not use softwood pallets that can perform similar tasks without spending more.
Pine is also light color which means it do not look rusty. It is flexible as compared to hardwood which makes it shock resistant and ultimately and good choice for pallets to lift more light weight items at a time.
Fir:
It is also a type of softwood. It resists natural elements such as; winds, storms, and earthquakes. It is shock resistant, flexible, and durable.
It is commonly used in construction projects.
How to decide as a business?
As it is mentioned with every type of wood that it has certain advantages and disadvantages as well. Which means a certain type of wood can be useful in certain business but at the same time not worthy enough in any other kind of businesses. So, any business while deciding should check their needs, demands, and circumstances as well. They should check which type of wood will suit their demands. In that sense, it would become much easier to decide.
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