Forks Comparison Test--Attachable Loader Forks

[jinman]

Sorry glenmac, I have been pretty preoccupied this week and failed to see your post until now. Here are the photos of my forks. I really don't have anything to add to your comments except to say that I wish my forks were 1' shorter or I could adjust the length. That would really be helpful.

Out of the box:

JimI

 

[jinman]

Mounted on tractor:

JimI

 

[glennmac]

Thanks, Jim. Mine work the same way except I have 24" load stops in front of the chains.

 

[jinman]

Now here is an interesting difference between my chain-on forks and your clamp-ons. The taper at the end of the forks is reversed. Yours is on the bottom and mine is on the top. I noticed Harv's is the same as yours. I wonder if glenmac's are like mine or if his taper is also on the bottom. Hmmm...wonder why?


JimI

 

[DFB]

Jinman,

Interesting point you got there./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Just some early mornin' speculating here.

Maybe the thought behind it is that for outdoor work the tips won't dig in so easily or to follow along the contour of the ground better, or just so it won't catch on the lower board on a pallet, riding up and over as you push under instead.

Standard forklift forks are usually tapered along the bottom edge too.


Bird, your loader forks are different yet, what do the tips on yours look like?

DFB

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>Bird, your loader forks are different yet, what do the tips on yours look like?</font color=blue>

DFB, mine are standard 4" wide 4' long fork lift forks on which I did some welding and modification to mount them on the front of the bucket. So they're tapered on bottom side, like you said.

Bird

 

[glennmac]

Just went out and measured mine.

Total length = 73"

Length protruding from bucket lip = 52"

Width of fork (and loadstops) = 6" (uniformly)

Height of load stops = 25 1/2"

Thickness of fork = tapers uniformly from 5" at rear to 1" at end. The bottom of the forks are completely flat, so all the taper is on the top surface.

Final taper at end = like Jim's, from top to bottom but slightly shorter, about 1 1/2", like a one-surface chisel

The forks are hollow. They are not painted. All surfaces covered by the baked on polyester urethane powder, which is a light grey in color and seems quite chip resistant.

 

[jinman]

Just so we know that not all forks are created equal, I went out and measured my forks.

Total length = 81"

Length from mounting bracket
(where binder attaches)
to the tip = 52"
Taper length = 4"
Flat portion (top) = 48"

Width of hollow fork = 4"
Thickness of fork = 2"

Those are the major dimensions and quite different from yours, glennmac (and everyone else's for that matter).
One thing I noticed while measuring mine. The attached chain is very rusty. I think they could have used nickel plated chain for the price I paid. It doesn't effect functionality, but it sure makes it nicer to handle if you don't get rust all over you./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

JimI

 

[jinman]

Good points, DFB. The engineer (or wannabee engineer) who designed my forks probably thought about sliding under something and lifting it. He was also avoiding the top boards on the pallet rather than the bottom. Oh well, some folks see a glass half empty, and..../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Do you think we will find someone with arrow shape like ===> before it's over?/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

JimI

 

[cowboydoc]

Interesting that so many of these are hollow steel. That may be why JD is more expensive. They are solid steel and heavy as heck.