By Lara Buck
The timber pallets are widely used in manufacturing industries, where huge loads of machineries or other heavy items need to be lifted up by the cranes or forklifts.
Those heavy objects are placed over the flat and sturdy wooden pallets, during the transportation or storage. But it is necessary to ensure the strength of these pallets and thus, it is best to use only new timber pallets for carrying expensive and heavier items in the factories.
At the least, the high quality wooden pallets should be used to lift heavy industrial materials for storage in warehouses or to the factories for further modifications.
Factors that determine the quality of timber pallets
- Size of the pallet – The size of the pallet must match the size of the kind of objects that are supposed to be lifted on it. If the sizes of both mismatch, it is possible that the objects may be displaced and crash down, while being lifted up.
- Proper design of the pallet – In some cases, the pallet should be specially designed to hold a specific kind of object. If it is wrongly designed by its manufacturer, then it is not possible to carry the required objects safely on it.
- Quality of the timber used – The quality of the wood used in making the pallet should be very good; else the heaviness of the objects placed on it are likely to break the wooden base. Usually, high quality timber is preferred to be used in creating these pallets.
- Low quality construction process – The construction procedures of the pallets should be perfect, as any mistake or wrong construction can have destructive results for the clients buying those pallets. It should be noted that no fastener is used to bind the wooden boards that can loosen under heavy weight and cause damage to the lifted objects.
- Choice of the right weight – The pallet should be chosen or constructed according to the weight of the objects it should be carrying, to ensure the safety of the objects and the pallet while loading and lifting process. Normally, the standard industrial pallets are designed to carry moderate to quite heavy loads, according to the variation in their dimensions.
- Check for any sign of damage – If used pallets are purchased at lower prices, it is better to check whether there is any crack or other kinds of damage visible on the wooden boards. But it is best to buy new timber pallets, as the security of the carried objects are better ensured on the newly built ones.
- Buy pallets from renowned manufacturer – The experienced and well reputed manufacturing companies are always more reliable in matters of building the best quality timber pallets. These companies can be relied for using only high quality wood and the industrial standards for making these pallets.
- Treatment against bacteria and moisture – The wood used in making the pallets should be first treated with certain degree of heat and suitable chemicals, to prevent any future formation of the bacteria or accumulation of moisture that may damage or weaken the wooden boards of the pallet. So it is better to check whether the pallets have undergone these types of essential treatments, at the time of manufacturing.
It is better to check the timber pallets by any experienced engineer, who has prior knowledge about the proper quality of these wooden pallets.
There are also a few training services that provide sufficient expertise in distinguishing the best quality timber pallets from the weaker ones.
Moreover, the employees handling these wooden pallets should be adequately trained for safe loading, lifting and unloading of heavy objects on these strong pallets.