Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat pallets for habitat

Do pallets make good habitat? I work at a pallet factory and can get as many old pallets as I want. Just wondering if anyone has tried pallets before.

Thanks for all the info.

I dont know, but that is a great idea. I also have easy access to pallets. I dont know how good they would be for bigger fish, but I think they would work wonders for forage fish. I would think it would be just as good as the guts of a spring matress. But I donk know how fast wood decays underwater. I would not think they would have to be anchored either.

Maby a pro can help but I dont see a down side to them.

IF you had the time you could rip them apart and build a larger structure.

Turkeyfootnc :

Pallets make great habitat and the ones made of oak last a long time. There are a lot of different methods for using them . Fatheads use them for spawning. Three basic ways that are easy to use them are : 1 make a triangle out of three pallets place concrete or rocks on the one to set on bottom and sink it, 2 make a T by laying one on the ground and attach the other in the middle standing up add limbs and brush weight with rocks on bottom pallet and sink , 3 attach one or more pallets together standing up like a fence attach to a post and drive post into pond bottom . Many more ways with a little thought. I have many in our ponds some have been in use for 8 + years and are in good shape. ewest

Agree with ewest, with wood screws I use pallets to make four sided boxes then sunk them with a concrete block. Hint, tie the block to the pallet then let it float and anchor it with a cord and a weight(brick), it will take about a week for it to sink.

To add to Bill's comment, if your water level fluctuates, add enough slack to your line or rope to compensate.

I've had "new" pallets up and move during heavy rains (before they have become waterlogged)

I've also used pallets for several years. I take the simple approach...just put them in the water (with a rope/anchor if you want them in the same place or just free floating) and they will become water logged and sink within a few days making great structure.

turkeyfoot,

I recently started a thread titled, "Amount of structure?." In that thread dennisinponca wrote this about pallets, "Be sure to take three old oak pallets, cover them with chicken wire and weigh them down in the shallows, stagger them towards the deeper water. These will be needed to allow fathead minnows a place to live safely and lay their eggs in a secure spot. The chicken wire will help keep the egg eating fish away from the fathead nests. Smaller mesh would be better if available. You may want to tie some brush to the pallets."

If you use your pond for swimming as well as fishing I would not use pallets. They have a lot of nasty wire nails that will find there way into someones foot or worse as they decompose which they will.

B C F,
I don't doubt that their might be some treated pallets, but the vast majority are totaly untreated at least around here.

Thanks for the advice,

I just sunk 3 sets of pallets. I placed some large construction bricks on them and stacked the bricks above the pallet like a rock pile. Within 10 minutes of sinking it, I saw small bass and sunfish swarming around it, I then saw two larger bass come in from the deep, and did a drive by, They just cruised by it from left to right, it was like they were just checking it out.
I was on a hill about 15 feet back watching it.

It didn't take long at all for the fish to start using the cover.