Forks General advice for buying tractor forks

[fried1765]

I'm seeking general advice on buying forks for my tractor Kubota L4060 w/ quick attach loader. I would be using occasionally to move pallets (1/2 cord firewood max) , firewoood logs, occasional grubbing and possibly as a scaffold platform to paint. I used to have a tractor with the flip over forks which seemed to work fine for the occasional use. Now with the quick-attach set up I don't know what is best direction to go. My questions are (and i'm sure you have others I should be considering):

Specs. such as length of forks and maximum lift capacity.

Buying used vs. new?

Flip over or quick attach?

Fixed forks vs. floating?

Fixed vs. Non-fixed (adjustable width)

Best value i.e. quality vs. price

Quality manufacturers that offer good price value

Things to stay away from.

Thanks in advance

Check the Agri Supply website for Titan 3pt. forks.
They have two styles of three point hitch forks that are rated for 2000# (they will lift much more).
Sounds like 3pt forks might work for you (except for scaffolding use), and they will be able to lift way more than front forks for your tractor.
I have the Agri Supply #72511 (Titan) 3 pt. forks , that sell for $179.95 (the #70272 is $229.95).
These are obviously made in China (how could they be so inexpensive otherwise?), but they are a QUALITY product, and beautifully powder coated too.
If 3pt forks can meet your needs, they are a fantastic deal.
I put everything on pallets! I am just too old to manually pick heavy stuff up.

 

[Bootjack]

Thanks all for your input. I feel I have enough now to make a reasonably good choice. Definitely going with a QA w/ 48' forks. Ishiboo, I came up with the 1000 lbs.from the warning sticker on the loader "Rated Capacity 1000 lbs." I guess that is an average or conservative number.

 

[4570Man]

I would get 42" forks. Here is what a little L3800 can do with 1000 pounds. My LA724 loader which is rated almost identical to yours can lift quite a bit more.

 

[Xfaxman]

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Something one of the ad setups offered was an angled QA to allow you to tip a load backwards. I don't really understand this since the loader has the capability to tip backwards.

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The main reason for the extra rollback is for working on uneven ground. If the front axle is in a small depression, the forks can curl back far enough to be level.

Also going downhill stuff won't slide off of the forks. :thumbsup:

 

[Fallon]

Extra roll back is nice, but probably adds weight & pushes things further out resulting in less lift capacity.

My L3200 lifts 1k lbs, would expect a 4000 to be noticeably more.

I got my SSQA forks from Tytan, advertiser on here. The SSQA sizing was off, but they gave me the option to replace or give me cash (austancibly to pay a welder to fix em). Welded the shim myself & pocketed the cash. Would do business with them again). I use my forks more than my bucket.

 

[ishiboo]

Thanks all for your input. I feel I have enough now to make a reasonably good choice. Definitely going with a QA w/ 48' forks. Ishiboo, I came up with the 1000 lbs.from the warning sticker on the loader "Rated Capacity 1000 lbs." I guess that is an average or conservative number.

Odd. I've never seen a loader with a sticker on it like that, I wish they would all have the specs on a spec plate riveted to them.

Kubota for some reason likes to make it difficult to find specs for stuff, but when I looked up the numbers I found the following PDF:

http://www.kubota.com/assets/product/comps/l60/grandl60seriesimplementscomppdf.pdf

Either way, I think going with light forks and planning on about 1000lbs of lift capability with the forks on is your best bet.

 

[4570Man]

His loader can lift more than 1000 pounds. See my post above which was using a series smaller loader

 

[hawkeye08]

I bought set of used QA forks for $500, remember you might need some ballast on the 3pt when lifting heavy items.

 

[Xfaxman]

I'm seeking general advice on buying forks for my tractor Kubota L4060 w/ quick attach loader. I would be using occasionally to move pallets (1/2 cord firewood max) , firewoood logs, occasional grubbing and possibly as a scaffold platform to paint. I used to have a tractor with the flip over forks which seemed to work fine for the occasional use. Now with the quick-attach set up I don't know what is best direction to go. My questions are:
----------------------

Fixed forks vs. floating?

Fixed vs. Non-fixed (adjustable width)

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Thanks in advance

I have both types and prefer the "Pin Top" floating adjustable width style.

These are 2"x2", 48" long, "Block" or "Brick" Forks that I found on eBay. I put a short chain on them if I need them to do a max dump.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Any forks I ever bought and a carrier were bought used from Fork Truck outfits. They were the cheapest and of the highest industrial quality. Most were condemmed because someone went and burned a hole in the ends. Suited me just fine.

Smaller forks tend to be harder to get, used. Sometimes you have to wait. I have a small set here that I wanted for my Steiner that cost me $100.00 CDN for the pair.