Pallet forks - operational issue

[watkincm]

I use pallet forks, skid steer attached to my loader, to move pallets of firewood to my OWF.
The operational issue is that the hood of my tractor and the loader arms obscure any view of the forks when they are low to the ground, making positioning of the forks essentially guess work.

The main problem is I cannot tell when the forks are parallel to the ground which means I can easily destroy a pallet.
Each pallet holds a quarter cord of firewood making them HEAVY... and a pain to rebuild/restack.

Tried painting the tips of the forks "dayglo" orange but didn't help much. The loader levelling rod is not much use either since the forks "float" off the back frame and while the frame may be vertical, the forks may not be ground parallel. Considered several notions involving spirit levels attached to various points but couldn't figure out how to see them clearly either

Anyone out there have any bright ideas about how I can more accurately gauge the position/angle of my forks ?

 

[mopardude318]

I sorta have the same issue on my M7060. I have to stand up and lean forward a little. Some guys on here get real slick and install a camera system!

I wonder how the visibility is compared to the TLB's where front loader work is their specialty, I think they have a more slanted hood, etc for better view of the loader bucket.

 

[bcp]

Rear forks and a hydraulic top link.

Bruce

 

[PILOON]

I mounted a camera to guide me when snow blowing.
Bought it from a Chinese web site for a little over $50.00 and it has the capacity of a second camer which mounted on the FEL provides a perfect view of what your forks are about to do.

 

[Z-Michigan]

On the lower tech side - do your forks (the actual forgings) have a portion that is vertical (typical of designs I've seen)? Could you attach a long rod to that vertical portion so you can see from the seat whether the rod is vertical, indicating that the fork itself is horizontal?

 

[tungularafishcamp]

Both my tractors are hst so it's real easy if I just stand up, I do use a bright headlamp if I am loading after dark. And yes my seat switch is disabled

 

[Creamer]

With my Versatile 150 I can see the front edge of the scoop or the forks or whatever else I have on. It is not a problem.

 

[Aquamoose]

I’m just thinking out loud...

How about putting two rods on the assembly, one on the loader front arms tipped forward and another on the skid steer QA mounted vertical. The way I figure, the rods would cross at the right place (put white tape at the right location) when the forks are perfectly level and flat on the ground. Then it’s just a matter of pulling back on the joystick a touch to float them inches above ground.

 

[sixdogs]

I mounted a camera to guide me when snow blowing.
Bought it from a Chinese web site for a little over $50.00 and it has the capacity of a second camer which mounted on the FEL provides a perfect view of what your forks are about to do.

This is pretty smart and sounds like the only answer. Can you tell more about this? Is it just temporarily sticking a camera up front and running wires to a monitor on the dash? How effective is this and does it eliminate fork disasters or just prevent some of them? Where did you get the camera and monitor?




EDIT---PILOON--Cancel above request. I just did a search on remote cameras and the posts were so overwhelming and convincing that I just ordered the $50 camera and monitor from Amazon. This will solve any loader problems. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Texasmark]

I use pallet forks, skid steer attached to my loader, to move pallets of firewood to my OWF.
The operational issue is that the hood of my tractor and the loader arms obscure any view of the forks when they are low to the ground, making positioning of the forks essentially guess work.

The main problem is I cannot tell when the forks are parallel to the ground which means I can easily destroy a pallet.
Each pallet holds a quarter cord of firewood making them HEAVY... and a pain to rebuild/restack.

Tried painting the tips of the forks "dayglo" orange but didn't help much. The loader levelling rod is not much use either since the forks "float" off the back frame and while the frame may be vertical, the forks may not be ground parallel. Considered several notions involving spirit levels attached to various points but couldn't figure out how to see them clearly either

Anyone out there have any bright ideas about how I can more accurately gauge the position/angle of my forks ?

My FELS have an indicator on the right side made from 2 parts basically: A fixed part attached to the arm and a movable part attached to the attachment. There are visible marks on the movable part (a rod inside a tube) that shows when the load is level which can be seen from the cab. If you don't have any ideas, stop by a tractor dealer and see how the OEMs do it. You can position yours exactly as you need with the forks and loader arms right where you need to have them to slide into a skid/pallet.