FEL bucket lip forks for BX24

[310-510]

I'm finally getting around to posting a little information about my FEL bucket lip forks. After looking at many posts about bucket forks, I molded several ideas into one product. Never having to get off the tractor to put the forks on the bucket and no falling over forks after removing them is nice.

After using the forks on rocks, stumps, pallets, and garbage, I determined that if the bucket can lift or curl the weight, the forks will hold. I even put 300 pounds (or more) on the end of just one fork, the bucket didn't bend and none of the welds broke.

The plans( View attachment 87527 )are drawn in Google Sketchup which is a free download at SketchUp Home. The material list in Sketchup is close, but as any project, as progress is made, minor changes happen without proper documentation.

 

[bx24]

What size are those fork tubes? 2x3? How thick are the walls?

Nice job on this project

 

[bx23barry]

I really like your set-up. Very simple to install and adjust and stronger than the clamp-on ones. Good job!

 

[310-510]

What size are those fork tubes? 2x3? How thick are the walls?

Nice job on this project

The materials are listed in the plans. The tubes are 2"x4"x3/16" and all metal is 3/16" thick. Way overkill for the lift capacity of the bucket.

Thanks for the question,
Carl

 

[310-510]

I really like your set-up. Very simple to install and adjust and stronger than the clamp-on ones. Good job!

Thank you for the compliment. This was my first welding project since I got certified 30 years ago!!! It's not like riding a bike. I did forget how to weld and even worse, what to look for. Had to dig out my 30+ year old books on welding.

 

[ultrarunner]

Nice, simple and functional... Great Job and thanks for posting pictures!

 

[Dascro]

carsce,

I really like your design!! Its' simplicity, practicality and ease of use caught my eye. I think it would serve me well for my intended use and am considering building one for my B7610 (352 loader). I especially like the way the bucket is positioned when the forks are initially level so that simply rotating the bucket back, with the bucket's cutting edge taking the load, makes the initial lift.

However, it appears that once the load is on the forks and the bucket has been rotated back, the majority of the downward forces generated by the load may be transfered to the bucket's upper lip via the two sections of tubing under the lip. I see this happening if additional lift height is needed via the loader arms and the load (forks) must be kept relatively level? Consequently I am considering adding a "foot" on the back side of the forks that rest on the inside of the bucket to help take some of the load off the bucket lip. Do you, or anyone else on this forum, think this is needed? Or am I missing something in my rough analysis of the force distribution.

Again, I really like your design and am just contemplating some things as I move forward with adapting this for my B7610 and loader.

As usual, comments, suggestions and input is appreciated from the knowledge base on TBN.

Dave

 

[310-510]

carsce,

I really like your design!! Its' simplicity, practicality and ease of use caught my eye. I think it would serve me well for my intended use and am considering building one for my B7610 (352 loader). I especially like the way the bucket is positioned when the forks are initially level so that simply rotating the bucket back, with the bucket's cutting edge taking the load, makes the initial lift.

However, it appears that once the load is on the forks and the bucket has been rotated back, the majority of the downward forces generated by the load may be transfered to the bucket's upper lip via the two sections of tubing under the lip. I see this happening if additional lift height is needed via the loader arms and the load (forks) must be kept relatively level? Consequently I am considering adding a "foot" on the back side of the forks that rest on the inside of the bucket to help take some of the load off the bucket lip. Do you, or anyone else on this forum, think this is needed? Or am I missing something in my rough analysis of the force distribution.

Again, I really like your design and am just contemplating some things as I move forward with adapting this for my B7610 and loader.

As usual, comments, suggestions and input is appreciated from the knowledge base on TBN.

Dave

Will the foot get in the way of the quick mount/unmount of the forks? My BX24 has a lift capacity of 518 pounds. Divide that by 2 forks and I end up with about 260 pounds per fork. Further reducing lift capacity is the fact that the fork is much farther out from the bucket lift point. After I figured each fork would be lifting less that 250 pounds, I evaluated the top lip structure of the bucket. I'm no engineer, but keeping the forks light, functional, and good enough for general lifting, it was determined the bucket structure would support whatever the bucket could lift.

 

[Dascro]

Carl,

Thanks for your response and insight into how you arrived at your design. It is helpful.

I most likely will use the design with some minor modifications to adapt it for the additional lift capacity of the B7610 (not that its that much!).

I continue to believe you have a very nice design that should serve you (and hopefully me too!) well.

I'll share any modifications I make to adapt it to the B7610 and my uses.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[LBrown59]

The materials are listed in the plans. The tubes are 2"x4"x3/16" and all metal is 3/16" thick. Way overkill for the lift capacity of the bucket.

Thanks for the question,
Carl

What is the pipe at the top for?
I can't see where it does anything.

== L B ==