Pallet Fence: How Many Posts and Pallets It Takes
A pallet fence stands wood shipping pallets on end between posts. A standard 48 × 40 in pallet is 40 in wide, so with 4×4s the posts sit 43.5 in apart center to center, and a straight run takes one more post than pallets. A 29-ft run of 8 pallets, 4 ft tall, takes 9 posts, each an 8-ft 4×4 with 2 ft in the ground.
Updated
No gates added.
4x4 posts (3.5" actual), 2 ft bury depth.
The post counter above opens at 3.625 ft spacing, which is 43.5 in, on a 29-ft straight run with no gate. It shows 9 posts, and on a straight run there is one pallet fewer than posts: 8. Other low garden builds, such as the hog wire fence, are on the fence styles hub.
Stringers, deck boards and the 43.5-in spacing
A wood pallet is two layers. The stringers are the heavy runners a forklift slides under, and the deck boards are the thin slats nailed across them. Premier Handling Solutions, a pallet equipment maker, describes the standard North American pallet as having "stringers of 48 inches and deck boards of 40 inches" and three or four stringers under the deck (December 6, 2024). Stand it on end with the stringers upright and the deck boards run sideways, 40 in wide and 48 in tall: a 4-ft garden fence.
In the close-up the deck boards butt against the post and the screws go through their ends into its face, with the stringers standing behind. Because the pallet fills the space between two posts, the post spacing is the pallet width plus one post width. A 4×4 is 3.5 in across, so 40 + 3.5 = 43.5 in, or 3.625 ft. Pallets from other trades come in other footprints, so measure the ones you have before you dig.
How many posts does a pallet fence need?
One more than the pallets, because both ends of a straight run get a post. Four pallets take five posts, as in the diagram, and the 8 pallets of the 29-ft run take 9: 7 line posts and 2 end posts.
The 29 ft is not a round number by accident. Eight bays of 43.5 in come to 348 in, exactly 29 ft from the first post center to the last, so no pallet has to be cut. A gate breaks the pattern: hang a 4-ft gate in the line and the run grows to 33 ft with the same 8 pallets, on 11 posts, since the gate brings 2 of its own.
The posts are cut from 8-ft stock even though the fence needs only 6 ft of post: 4 ft above ground and 2 ft below, by the calculator's rule for a 4-ft fence. You can saw the top 2 ft off or, where frost goes deeper, bury the extra; fence post depth and frost line by state gives the depth by state. In 10-in holes the 9 posts take 18 bags of 80-lb mix, and the concrete per fence post calculator handles other holes.
How to build a pallet fence, post by post
Because the pallets set the spacing, the posts are easier to place one bay at a time than to mark out all at once.
- Measure several of your pallets. Where the widths differ, sort them and keep same-width pallets together in one stretch.
- Set the first end post plumb in concrete and let it firm up.
- Stand the first pallet against it, set the next post against the far edge of that pallet, and plumb it. The pallet is your spacer, so each post lands at 43.5 in on center without a tape.
- Screw through the ends of the deck boards into the post face, as in the close-up, then repeat down the line.
- Center the pallet on the post. Interlake Mecalux, a storage-systems company, gives a GMA pallet's height as 5.5 to 6 in (July 2, 2026). Stood on end, that becomes the fence's thickness, so the pallet stands 1 to 1.25 in proud of each face of a 3.5-in post.
Stood up or laid down
The same pallet can go in either way, and the choice changes the count:
| Pallet orientation | Fence height | Pallet width | Post spacing | Pallets for 29 ft | Posts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stood on end | 48 in | 40 in | 43.5 in | 8 | 9 |
| Laid on its long side | 40 in | 48 in | 51.5 in | 7 | 8 |
Laid down, the fence is 8 in lower and needs one pallet and one post fewer, but 7 bays of 51.5 in run 30 ft, a foot past the 29-ft line. Either the last pallet gets trimmed or the end post moves out a foot. Stood on end, the 48-in fence sits right at the 4-ft front yard limit that Sioux Falls and Orlando set, as listed in fence height rules and permits.
Paint leaves every count alone. In the photo, sage green pallets with their stringer blocks showing sit between unpainted posts, which keeps the posts looking like posts and the pallets like panels.
In this photo a short run screens a compost bin and a wheelbarrow from the lawn. Bent into an L of two 14.5-ft sides, 4 pallets each, the same 8 pallets still take 9 posts, with one of them the corner.
Are pallets safe for a garden fence?
The stamp tells you how a pallet was treated, and not much more. The Elisabeth C. Miller Library at the University of Washington notes that "Heat-treated pallets bear the initials HT (or sometimes KD for kiln dried) near the IPPC logo" and that "Pallets treated with methyl bromide bear the initials MB." It adds that older pallets could have been pressure treated with chromated copper arsenate, and that "color is not a reliable indicator, especially with older wood." The library's own advice is that it is "wise not to use wooden pallets for growing food."
That advice is about beds and planters, and the library says nothing about fences. Our reading is narrower than a safety verdict. A fence around a vegetable garden still stands in the same soil the beds do, so where a pallet carries no stamp or an MB stamp, we would keep it out of a fence that borders food plants. An HT stamp says only how the wood was treated for shipping, not what was spilled on it since.
Key Takeaways
- A 92.5-in opening between posts 8 ft apart holds two 40-in pallets with 12.5 in left empty, which is why the default spacings do not suit pallets.
- In 60-lb bags, the 9 posts take 27 bags.
- Closed all the way around, a 14.5-ft square garden takes 16 pallets and 16 posts, 4 of them corners: on a closed loop the extra post disappears.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many pallets for 100 ft of pallet fence?
28 pallets stood on end and 29 posts on a straight run. At 43.5 in a bay, 100 ft is 27.6 bays, and the part bay still needs a pallet, cut down.
Can I use pallets with no stamp?
The Miller Library says raw, untreated wood is not compliant with ISPM 15, the shipping standard the stamp belongs to. An unstamped pallet therefore has no record of treatment at all, good or bad.
Is a corner post an extra post?
Not an extra one. Entered as Multiple Runs, two 14.5-ft sides come to 9 posts, the same as a straight 29 ft, because the corner post takes the place of a line post.
What does a pallet fence cost?
There is no pallet row in the national cost data, and the pallets cost whatever your source charges. The posts and concrete are ordinary materials, which the fence cost calculator prices as part of a wood fence.
Sources
- Premier Handling Solutions, "What Are The Standard Wooden Pallet Sizes & Dimensions?", manufacturer blog, December 6, 2024, accessed November 1, 2026: phsinc.com/news/what-is-the-standard-pallet-size
- Interlake Mecalux, "GMA pallet: Sizes and types", company blog, July 2, 2026, accessed November 1, 2026: interlakemecalux.com/blog/gma-pallet
- Elisabeth C. Miller Library, University of Washington, "safety of wooden pallets for vegetable gardens", no date, accessed November 1, 2026: depts.washington.edu/hortlib/pal/safety-of-wooden-pallets-for-vegetable-gardens
