Anyone heard of forks with a push-off feature?

[dstig1]

Like the title said. I was using forks to build a natural stone retaining wall last week and they worked quite well. What would have been nice was a feature to push the rock off the forks at times. It got my creative juices flowing. I was thinking a scissors type mechanism with a hydraulic cylinder to push out/retract to home. It doesn't need to be too massive or full length, just something to give a bit of a push off the end when needed.

Just curious if anyone has seen something like that. A web search did not turn up too much. A couple things for warehouse use, etc.

Thanks,
Dave

[DeereRack]

Sounds like that would be a good feature!

[Scooby074]

Ive seen it in agriculture.. For moving silage. Not a traditional palette fork though. Might give you some ideas

Silage 2011 - Pitwork with Ford and New Holland. - YouTube

[dstig1]

Interesting silage forks. That is more complex than I am thinking, but the same principle. I was thinking along the lines of a unit I could bolt on to my pallet forks when needed. Probably sitting no more than 12" high or so. You could use whatever size plate you might want to change that size. I might have to draw something up. Not sure I would ever have a need for it again, but it could be a fun project to build...and you never know where things may lead...

[LD1]

At a previous job, we had them on forklifts. The worked very well. But you only wanting a 12" height might not give enough room for a scissor mechanism that will give acceptable distance of push.

These http://www.desiccant-solutions.com/i...s_cargo_P5.pdf are similar to what we had only without the slipsheet gripper. Might give you some ideas.

But you might have to get creative with mounting it in a "quick-attach" fashion whatever you choose.

[niemeyjt]

A friend uses one, with round bale forks not pallet forks, to push the bales off into his outdoor straw burner. It works well - just dont bend the forks.

J

[Artillian]

Like the title said. I was using forks to build a natural stone retaining wall last week and they worked quite well. What would have been nice was a feature to push the rock off the forks at times. It got my creative juices flowing. I was thinking a scissors type mechanism with a hydraulic cylinder to push out/retract to home. It doesn't need to be too massive or full length, just something to give a bit of a push off the end when needed.

Just curious if anyone has seen something like that. A web search did not turn up too much. A couple things for warehouse use, etc.

Thanks,
Dave

Dave,

Just as an economical alternative, check out the Landscaping Forks on Artillian.com. Stone walls are their genesis. This assumes you are referring to loader mounted forks more than 3pt forks.

These landscaping tines fit any 16" fixed fork frame.

[dstig1]

LD1 - that's the principle, but on a smaller scale. I was thinking the scissors mechanism could be mounted horizontally instead of vertically as your link shows. Or the plate could be larger, though you don't want to interfere with visibility.

Chris, I'm not sure I get the deal with the landscape forks. Are they just short? If so, that doesn't really help me much here as the goal is to gain a little extra push to place things more easily. I also think I really need the length to reach better.

Thanks guys.

[LD1]

I never thought of horizontal, that is an option.

But I got to ask, since I cant really pictrure why you are wanting, but wouldnt it be easier to just use pallats?

[dstig1]

I used forks to place individual rocks on the wall. I want to be able to push the rock off the forks to set it in place faster and more easily/accurately. As it was I had to tilt the forks down a lot and shake/wiggle the rock off the forks and hope it landed close enough to be able to get it in position.