DIY Pallet and Chainsaw Mulching Rack - for Easy Vegetation Shredding and Firewood Log Cutting

Two pallets and a chainsaw will help you deal with mulching vegetation that cannot go through a garden shredder, and will make cutting firewood much easier!

Sometimes we gardeners get piles of branches, vines, prunings, and so on that simply cannot be put through a home-sized garden shredder/mulcher without a lot of tedious preparation work - if at all.

This DIY Pallet and Chainsaw Mulching Rack allows you to cut vegetation into pieces about 10-15cm (4-6 inches) long. While this is not as small as a shredder would do, it is smaller than not doing it at all because you can't get it through a shredder! It is quick, easy, compacts the volume considerably, and encourages faster decomposition. The results could also be used as rough mulch.

The catalyst for designing this project was a large pile of grapevine prunings, gnarly branches, a large old spring onion clump, some old potted plants, and a cloud of tough jasmine vines. I couldn't face trying to make this go through our shredder, so bounced ideas off my ingenious wife and eventually concocted this simple, cheap, and effective solution.

The other task I had was to cut a pile of larger branches into firewood lengths. I always find this hard on my back, and keeping the branches stable while cutting is often awkward. There are many firewood rack designs on the Internet, but this one will give you much more control and efficiency, while you're also standing upright.

Some of those other DIY rack designs (sawbuck, sawhorse, trestles, etc) are truly innovative for sure, but any design that allows you to get body parts near a running chainsaw chain or that involve unproperly supported logs are, frankly, frightening! The Chainsaw Rack not only prevents this, it also restrains the moving chain in a "sheath" of boards and vegetation.

You will see that this is a prototype and I've been developing it, so have a look at all the steps. The whole device is the "Rack" and the upper part that holds the vegetation is the "Cradle". The Cradle boards are "Fingers".

If you make this project, click on the "I Made It!" button at the bottom of this page and show us how it came out!

NOTA BENE (NB)! I expect you to know how to use your tools correctly, especially the chainsaw, and to use proper safety precautions if you make this device. I will not be held responsible, especially if you are not. Your chainsaw needs to be properly sharpened and tensioned, especially before cutting logs.

Supplies

Two same-sized pallets, preferably identical. The boards should preferably run the long length of the pallets, but it doesn't have to - especially if you're not tall - but the boards must run the same way on each pallet. My pallets are 1m x 1.2m (3.3 x 4 feet).

100mm (4 inch) galvanised bugle-head screws, or similar.

Electric drill with screw driver bit.

A chainsaw with a long enough bar to span the Rack; mine is 36cm (14 inches). The chainsaw can be petrol, electric, or battery. You could possibly even use a reciprocating saw with a long blade (?).

Reciprocating saw with a metal-cutting blade (or you can do the wood cutting with your chainsaw and knock the spacer blocks off with a hammer or crowbar).

Scrap "sacrificial" wood for the cradle base (pallet boards, old plywood, chipboard, etc - how about the two boards connecting the top of the "fingers"?). I ripped down an old cupboard door; you can use your chainsaw or run the board through some other type of saw.

A small rake, etc to pull the cut vegetation out of the Rack - or a garden hoe, even your hands (but see Step 7 for the "ladder frame").

Step 1: Find Pallets and Prepare Them for Assembly

A good place to find free pallets is the local mega-hardware store, but other places give them away too.
You'll preferably want two identical ones, but at least they must be the same size. A common size is 1m x 1.2m (3.3 x 4 feet), which I found to be ideal.
You can see that my prototype pallets are not identical, but the Rack still works fine, so don't worry if yours are also not identical.
If possible get ones that are Heat Treated (they'll have "HT" stamped on them); this means that you can use them for firewood if you need to replace the Rack.
If you only have pallets with wide boards, that's no problem: just cut off the connecting board and chainsaw down the middle of the fingers (see photo 5).
Pallets often have three boards on the bottom parallel with the ones on top. Stand your pallets on end and cut away the upper ends of all these boards.
Cut away the top three spacer blocks, or remove them with a hammer.
The upper part of the top boards (the "fingers") should now stand free, but connected by a cross board - I've subsequently removed mine (Step 7), but most of the photos still show them. Cut or pry them off.

Ken Ogilvy from Facebook group GridFree NZ, wrote, "If you ran a chainsaw cut down the pallet boards you could cut even shorter lengths".

That's a good point. In Step 1.d above, I wrote "If you only have pallets with wide boards, that's no problem: just cut off the connecting board and chainsaw down the middle of the fingers (see photo 5)", but I hadn't taken that as far as Ken has. He's quite right of course, and it'd be safe enough if your boards were thick enough. You'd have to use more precise alignment while cutting vegetation though!

I did, in fact, do just that to line up one of my gaps with a rear finger and the two half-fingers are still holding (see the photo above); note that the back fingers are thicker than the front ones - I probably wouldn't risk it with the latter.

For a great look at preparing your pallets with just a chainsaw, see this video from Bau - Er: DIY - How to make a sawbuck in 3 min. Just leave on all the fingers and connect your pallets back to back instead.

Step 2: Assemble the Rack

Join the pallets back to back using some of the wood you just cut off the pallets. This will form a "cradle".
If you like, you can have the lower joining pieces longer than mine for extra stability, but I've had no problem in all the times I've used my Rack.
Fit your "sacrificial" board(s). It doesn't need more than a couple of screws, but make sure they don't go where the chainsaw teeth will go!
You will need this to stop stuff falling into the bottom of the Rack.

Moving your Rack:

If you want to move your Rack often and/or easily, you may like to add wheels. Small bicycle wheels, or the ones you get on wheelybins, perhaps?

Attach the wheels in such a way that they touch the ground at the same time as the bottom of the Rack, thus adding stability, but stick out beyond the end of the Rack. To move the Rack, place one foot against the wheel axle and pull the Rack towards you; you can then grab two of the fingers and move the Rack like a wheelbarrow.

You could move it on a wheelbarrow, but I found it very difficult to load single-handedly.

Step 3: Techniques for Vegetation Mulching - General Garden Waste

This is the stuff that's hard to easily put though a shredder.

Make sure the Rack is stable.
Place a wheelbarrow or tarpaulin at one end
Shove as much as you can into the cradle. Pack it in!
Cut off anything hanging over the cradle ends. This third part is important. I call it the "Trim Step".
By cutting the overhangs first, they won't drag stuff out while you're cutting inside the cradle.
The offcuts can be piled back on the top of the cradle and cut with the rest.
Now cut down with your chainsaw between each of the finger boards all the way to the sacrificial board.
Do a couple of cuts at either end of the cradle, then make all the other cuts in between.
This helps prevent long bits falling off one end.
You may nick the sacrificial board, but that's OK - just don't cut too deep!
You should see the original mass of vegetation reduced by half or more. Rake it out into the wheelbarrow, or onto a tarpaulin, or even just onto the ground.
Repeat these steps until you're finished.
Pile it all into your pallet-made compost bin.

Instead of composting the results, you can cut bulk material down to the point you can use it as rough mulch. At the very least it would enable you to cut the brush into smaller, straighter lengths (say 300 mm) for feeding into John Pedersen's shredder (https://www.instructables.com/Leaf-Mulcher/)!

Step 4: Techniques for Vegetation Mulching - Leafy Branches

This is much the same as Step 3, but the branches will probably overhang more at both ends.

I was surprised at how much the large pile of shrubs was reduced!

Pile the branches into the cradle and pack them down.
Try to reduce the overhang at the wheelbarrow/tarpaulin end.
Trim Step 1. As shown in the photo, the leafy overhang is tightly packed and can be sliced into 100mm pieces where they protrude over the wheelbarrow/tarpaulin.
Place any long pieces back in the cradle.
Trim Step 2. Cut off the thicker branches at the other end of the cradle.
Place them back in the cradle.
Cut the stack between each of the fingers.
Do a couple of cuts at either end of the cradle, then make all the other cuts in between.
This helps prevent long bits falling off one end.
Pile it all into your pallet-made compost bin.

Step 5: Firewood Cutting

I've done a lot of this, usually bent over while steadying each log with my steel-capped boot. One then has to bend over again to pick up the cut wood and load it into a barrow if one is not within reach of the firewood stack.

The Chainsaw Rack solves all this. As you'll see in the Step 7 video, I can cut a wheelbarrow-full in less than three minutes!

Position the Rack so it is stable and easily loadable from the branch pile.
I placed mine at 90 degrees so it was only a very few steps from the pile to the Rack. Allow enough room for wheelbarrows.
Place wheelbarrow(s) at the end(s) of the cradle.
Load the cradle.
The logs can hang over both ends of the cradle if they are long. This is a variation of the Trim Step that takes into account the weight and length of the logs.
Trim step: cut off both overhangs.
This can be done in suitably-lengthed pieces or cut them long and add them to the top of the cradle.
If you cut gashes into your wheelbarrow, don't blame me!
Cut the logs into firewood lengths.
In my case this is three cradle fingers wide (so two cuts)
You may occasionally have a pause if an unsupported branch pinches the chainsaw bar. This should not happen if you keep the saw at full speed, and is easy to release anyway.
A small log may skip if it's at the top of the cradle, but as you'll see in the video, the cradle catches it for the rest of the cut.
Throw all the pieces into the wheelbarrow(s).
All without bending over!

Sometimes a firewood log is too knotty to split and needs to be chain-sawed into manageable chunks. The Chainsaw Rack is perfect for this as it holds the log safely and at an efficient working height.

If you want, the firewood can be any multiple of about 10-15cm instead of fireplace lengths.

Step 6: Firewood Video

In this video, debuting my wife's successful foray into cinematography, I show that a wheelbarrow load of firewood can be cut in less than three minutes with no bending other than picking up the uncut logs and the chainsaw.

You can see a small, unweighted log skip briefly before the cradle's fingers stop it - as they are designed to do.

Step 7: Accessories

Ladder frame:

When you make a cut, you risk cutting right through your sacrificial board. You can reduce that risk by slotting short boards in every slot except those you'll cut in.

A cutting "ladder" frame is worth building though. This has cross bars screwed to runners and is a loose fit inside the fingers. The cross bars line up inside each finger. This cutting frame can lift in and out on top of the sacrificial board and can therefore also be used for both logs and garden waste.

It is simple to make, but remember to fit a cleat at the end opposite the wheels: when you move the Rack, you really don't want it sliding onto your shin!

As you can see from the photos, you can easily tip out the cut vegetation by simply tilting the ladder from the wheel end of the Rack. I've not tried this tilt technique with logs yet, and they may end up going everywhere

You will have to remove the wooden "fingernail" boards at the top of the fingers though: best to do that in Step 1.

Cutting limit stripe:

To know when you're getting close to the ladder frame runners, paint a broad line just above the ladder runners. When your chainsaw is in this zone - stop cutting!

Step 8: Addendum

Here's a selection of similar sawhorse (aka "sawbuck") ideas online, but consider how much they'll cost, how easy, efficient and safe they are to use, and if they can deal with garden prunings ... :

"Just how fast the Truncator chainsaw saw horse is"

"Saw buck i made for my boys over the weekend"

"Cutting Kindling and Garden Work"

"Chainsaw support for cutting firewood" (this is truly scary - and that's not just the loose chain!)