Care of Plywood Pallets
Pallets are subjected to a very harsh environment, frequent handling and exposure to weather. During the manufacture of concrete blocks, bricks and pavers the pallet surfaces are in contact with fresh concrete which is accompanied by intensive vibrations during the process.
Apart from direct contact with concrete, severe abrasive rubbing under pressure takes place caused by sand and stones in the concrete mixes. Concrete can get embedded if the surfaces develop cracks, fissure or other openings. This may result in further wood fibre tear outs during de-stacking of the products from the pallets. If the wood surfaces are not treated with suitable release products, cement can also bond to them resulting in mechanical damage when products are removed.
In the process the pallets are exposed to frequent repetitive wetting and drying which can also be detrimental to the surfaces.
All these factors may result in fairly rapid wear and tear of the pallet surfaces unless effective care is taken to minimize the consequences of this harsh environment.
Our WAXPAL dipping process ensures that all our Pallets are treated before leaving the factory to provide maximum initial protection to both the surfaces and edges. The treatment which we developed with Messrs DGN Manufacturing provides the following benefits:
- Water repellent properties reducing ingress of moisture and water into the pallet surfaces and edges. Thus the consequences of repetitive wetting and drying are minimized.
- Release properties preventing sticking of concrete to the wood surfaces and facilitating de-stacking of products and reducing possible damage.
- Lubricating action which minimizes wear of the surfaces due to vibrations.
- The combined effect is in achieving long service life of the pallets provided that the treatment with WAXPAL is re-applied at recommended intervals and the pallets are regularly and carefully cleaned.
Treatment of Solid Pine ‘Wet off Saw’ and Plywood Pallets
Our basic pallet care recommendations are as follows:
- Apply WAXPAL treatment after first three months from commencing the use of the new pallets;
- Repeat the WAXPAL treatment every seven or eighht months or whenever tendency to concrete sticking and/or wood fibre tear-outs is observed;
- Turn pallets regularly and clean by brushing, preferably on a mechanical conveyor system – to minimize potential damage due to manual handling;
- Inspect the pallets regularly for any signs of damage and take any suitable corrective actions – repairs or more intensive surface treatment. This is to prevent further damage to the pallets and/or to eliminate possible consequent quality defects to your products;
- Handling of pallets should be done with due care to prevent damage. For example, when the pallets need to be moved around the plant, we recommend they be stacked carefully on appropriate handling pallets so they can be transported by forklifts. Stacking or dragging pallets on rough concrete surfaces should be avoided.
The benefits of due care for the pallets are:
- Significantly increased service life of the pallets – with regular WAXPAL treatment seven to eight years or longer. Without regular WAXPAL – three to four years;
- Minimizing of wear and tear of the pallets results in more consistent product height, particularly that of paving stones. Product quality defects are generally minimized.