What is a pallet straightener?

How a pallet straightener works

A pallet straightener is a free-standing steel frame. It is not racking and it does not carry goods. The frame has one job: in it, you press a crooked stack of empty pallets straight with your forklift.

Using it is simple. The forklift driver picks up a crooked stack of empty pallets, places it in the frame and pushes it in with the forklift. That presses the stack straight. The lead-in funnel at the entry side centres the pallets as they go in. Then the driver takes the straight stack out and puts it where it is needed: in the warehouse, directly onto the lorry, at the palletiser or on the conveyor into the automated warehouse.

Why is that needed? A stack of empty pallets soon ends up crooked: every pallet that is set down slightly off line makes the stack more crooked, until pallets stick out on the left and right. A stack like that is unstable and can topple over, and it does not fit on a lorry, in an automated warehouse or in a palletiser. In the frame, one push with the forklift presses the pallets back into line, so the precision no longer has to come from whoever built the stack.

What a pallet straightener does in practice:

• it turns a crooked stack into a straight, stable stack that is safer;
• the straight stack can go on directly: into storage, onto the lorry or into the palletiser;
• if you leave the stack in the frame for a while, the frame gives empty pallets a fixed place; several frames side by side give each type of pallet its own place.

A pallet straightener needs no motor, no controls and no power supply: the forklift does the work. That makes it something quite different from an empty pallet stacker, which is really a pallet dispenser: the operator takes a pallet out or puts one back. You can read how the two compare in Pallet straightener or empty pallet stacker.

Pallet straightener, pallet frame or pallet collar: the difference

Several names are used for products around stacks of pallets. Some mean the same as a pallet straightener; others describe a completely different product. These are the terms you will come across most often.

Pallet frame and pallet stacking frame

“Pallet frame” is a broader name. Palletframe uses it for the same product, a frame for stacks of empty pallets, but the term is also used for frames that sit on or around a loaded pallet. That is why we always add “for empty pallets”.

The same goes for “pallet stacking frame”. In the UK, pallet stacking frames are often steel frames that let you stack loaded pallets on top of each other. A Palletframe is not one of those: it carries no goods and is meant only for stacks of empty pallets.

Pallet aligner and pallet stack straightener

Pallet aligner and pallet stack straightener are other names for a frame in which you press a stack of empty pallets straight. The names describe what you do with the frame. At Palletframe, they are used most for Palletframe Auto: that model has a deeper lead-in funnel, which makes the stack straighter. In Palletframe Basic, too, you press the stack straight with your forklift.

Pallet collar

A pallet collar is a different product. It is a rim, usually made of wood, that you place on top of a pallet so that the pallet becomes a kind of open box for loose goods. Pallet collars belong with loaded pallets.

A pallet straightener has nothing to do with that. It is a free-standing frame, no goods go in it and it is meant only for stacks of empty pallets. If you are looking for a way to keep goods together on a pallet, a pallet straightener is not the answer.

The models: Basic, Auto and Specials

Palletframe comes in three lines. Basic and Auto are made for a pallet width of 800, 1,000 or 1,200 mm and are 2,350 mm high. The Specials are two special models for a pallet width of 1,200 mm: the low Store and the Flat, a flat frame. The number in the model code is the pallet width in millimetres.

Model	Line	Pallet width	Height	Article number
B800	Basic	800 mm	2,350 mm	13022002
B1000	Basic	1,000 mm	2,350 mm	13022004
B1200	Basic	1,200 mm	2,350 mm	13022001
A800	Auto	800 mm	2,350 mm	13002028
A1000	Auto	1,000 mm	2,350 mm	13002027
A1200	Auto	1,200 mm	2,350 mm	13002030
Store S1200	Specials	1,200 mm	1,300 mm	13022025
Flat F1200	Specials	1,200 mm	2,600 mm (stack of boxes)	13002015

Every frame is blue as standard. As an option, it is available in another colour or galvanised. If your pallet size is different, or you need another height, every line is also available made to measure.

Palletframe Basic

Palletframe Basic is the standard model: a free-standing frame in which you press a stack of empty pallets straight. You place the stack in the frame with a forklift and push it in with the forklift.

Palletframe Auto

Palletframe Auto has a deeper lead-in funnel, which makes the stack straighter. The Auto also works without any drive: it is a steel frame, not a machine.

Palletframe Specials

The Specials are two special models. The Store S1200 is the low version, with a height of 1,300 mm. The Flat F1200 is a flat frame with a different application: against it, you press a crooked stack of boxes on a pallet straight.

How to choose a model

You choose a pallet straightener in three steps:

• choose the pallet width that matches your pallets: 800, 1,000 or 1,200 mm, or made to measure;
• choose the height: the standard height of 2,350 mm or the lower Store;
• choose the finish: blue as standard, another colour or galvanised.

To find the right width for your pallets, see Pallet sizes. You can see all models side by side in the product overview.

When do you use a pallet straightener?

A pallet straightener is useful wherever stacks of empty pallets have to be straight before they go on: into storage, onto a lorry or into a palletiser. A few examples:

• in the warehouse and the distribution centre, where empty pallets are left over after unpacking or order picking;
• in production, where a supply of empty pallets has to be ready for the line;
• at the loading bay, where empty pallets come back or are made ready for transport.

The same thing happens in all of these places: empty pallets are a by-product of the work. Their stacks soon end up crooked. A pallet straightener turns that around: the forklift presses each stack straight in the frame. And because the frame stands in a fixed, designated place, everyone knows where empty pallets go.

Sound familiar? Crooked stacks that lean, pallets that stick out or slide off, stacks that do not fit on the lorry: a pallet straightener is the logical next step. You will find examples for each situation under Applications.

Not sure which model suits your pallets and your space? Request a no-obligation quote and we will help you choose.