A method for dismantling pallets includes hanging a pallet on the upstream end of a cantilevered support having a substantially horizontal top surface with the bottom surfaces of the upper deck boards of the pallet resting on the top surface of the cantilevered support and with the stringer boards and lower deck boards extending downwardly from the top surface, advancing the hanging pallet in a downstream direction along the cantilevered support toward a band saw blade which lies directly on the top surface of the cantilevered support and defines a cutting plane aligned with the top surface of the cantilevered support, thereby automatically aligning the band saw blade with the pallet joints between the upper deck boards and the stringer boards; and advancing the pallet past the band saw blade to separate the upper deck boards from the stringer boards at the pallet joints.