Forks 3-point forks double as bucket forks

[johnnyk]

Santa Claus brought me some 3-pt forks for Christmas. I came up with a way to make them double as light duty bucket forks. I mounted a step bumper receiver hitch onto the bucket and inserted an eight inch receiver tube with a slot and a clevis pin for a quick-link. I used a ½” turnbuckle (2200 lb. working load) to connect to the top link pin. The forks are clamped to the bucket lip using (4) 3/8” grade 80 bolts and (2) ¼” x1-½” steel fabricated brackets. It takes less than 5 minutes to install or remove the forks and no modification to the forks is required. A static test using 150 lbs. at the tip of the forks was no problem. I’ll try them out on a real load as soon as I get a chance. The major use will be moving brush for my burn pile this spring. The forks weigh 90 lbs. and I don’t expect to try and lift more than 200 lbs. that far out on the bucket. That would make a max. load of about 300 lbs vs. a 460 lb. capacity for my BX22. I plan to build a 4’x4’x32”’ carryall to use on the rear of the tractor this summer. If it works, I’ll post some pictures.

 

[RayBee]

johnnk: It's another home run. /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif I have a similar hook-up and as long as you know the limitations of your unit this will work very well. I caution you to check closely the deflection at the top of the bucket where the reciever is bolted when you lift progressively heavier loads./w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif An adjustment might be waranted. ( mine was) /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Also be careful of applying too much down pressure on the tips of the forks this will probably show up the inherent weaknesses of this system. You can probably sacrifies the bolts on the lip ( like shear pins) in favor of not breaking anything important or expensive. /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gifI like the way you think. Keep them coming. ....RayBee /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[cchoate]

Man do I love this sight. Great idea and very nice set-up. I'm going to be getting a pallet carrier this spring but the only one I've seen is from TSC. Where did santa get it and what did it cost him?

 

[grainger12002]

Real neat there Johnny K ! where did santa get the 3-point forks,I would like that for my tractor.Might be cheaper to buy than build,let me know ,Thanks,Lloyd from CT

 

[johnnyk]

The 3-pt. forks came from <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.abcgroff.com/>http://www.abcgroff.com/</A> . The forks are rated for 1200 lbs. which is more than either end of my BX22 can lift. I've attached some pictures of my trip to the wood pile this weekend. Using the forks, I can carry about 3 times more wood than I can load in the bucket. I'm not sure how much weight was on the forks. I think I can probably carry as much as the bucket will lift, but I don't want to over-stress the bucket. Any tips for safe operation and stress areas to watch?

 

[RayBee]

johnnyk:Looks like you can get more work done faster now./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Just take it slow on rough terrain, and always lookout for depressions /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif that could find your front wheels and put lots more stress on FEL, especially when overloaded. Good luck ...RayBee /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Mosey]

Nice job! I had something in mind myselft, but it was more complicated. Your solution is simpler and just as good!