How to take pallets apart

About 2.5 million pallets end up in land fills EVERY YEAR!
That is A LOT of free wood!

I found an ad on craigslist stating they had 14 free pallets. I had my SO go by and pick up as many as he could. Many places having them laying out by dumpsters. I have also found out big box companies (walmart, homedepot, lowes, Tractor Supply Co, etc) send theirs back to the warehouses for reuse.

I was reading around on the internet how to take them apart and came across a post saying use a crowbar. I tried this for a very long time and was not getting anywhere, I mean NO WHERE! My SO came out and simply took 2 hammers and showed me..

The pallets:

 

Step One:

Take the claw end of the hammer and fit is as best you can between the wood
(sorry for the poor pictures, my camera was acting up that day..)

Step Two:
Hit the head of the hammer that is fitted with a second hammer

Step Three:

Once the claw has wedged under there enough to raise the nails a little stop

 

Step 4:

Hammer the top of the board (not the nails) back down

This is what it should now look like

 

Step Five:

With the claw end of the hammer pry the nails out

You should end up with a nice pile of wood to do many things with! Im planning on making a goat shelter with the wood Im gathering now! Pieces I cant use I am using as a divider between the gardens and grass.

Have fun!