Retractable manure forks / brush spikes for FEL bucket

[tatra805]

Retractable manure forks.

I figured that long spikes can get in the way and i will abuse them so they will bend. Therefore, thinking about for what i need spikes on my bucket i thought that a retractable system would be nice.

Short position the pins extend 40cm and are great for manure, raking, breaking up non to hard compacted ground and lifting whatever is just a size too big for the bucket (or a bit too wider than the bucket).

In long position they are 80cm long and perfect for bale moving and as brush grapple. (the mounting hole in the bucket i did not drill yet and all is mounted in try-out so ignore the mismatched bolt sizes)

Spikes are fixed mounted to a back beam and run through a front beam. I used 4x4 pieces instead of drilling holes, I figured that a round hole has less tolerance and might jam quite easily and fast (By dirt buildup eg) The whole construction weighs about 30kg.

Mounting holes for the side plates and also in the bucket get a reinforcement washer welded (5mm thick ones) to avoid wearing out the holes.


Pictures are clear i guess.

Just one note, i made the front bar from 4x4 reinforced on the bottom with a 5mm flat. 4 Holes drilled in the reinforced part of the bucket. Plan is still to fix weld the bolts on the bottom, should make mounting easier. I took a 6x6 for the back beam so that when the bucket is put on the ground in rest position the spikes are resting on the ground with their tips. I would hate to walk by in the dark and kick a spike which hangs 3cm above the ground.

For welding the pins (made out of 30mm rod) we left a small pin on the welding end of 9mm by 1cm, You can then easily and aligned drill the holes in the 6x6 beam and position the spikes before welding, saves a lot of alignment hassle during welding. ( AND hereby a BIG thank you to Zoro for the work on the lathe jumping on it and making the spikes the same day i got the material in, diki!)

How i did it: 6x6 with the 9mm holes on the top on ground 40cm from wall, place the spikes in the 9mm holes and tip the whole thing against the wall. (so the whole assembly stands against the wall under an angle)Spikes are aligned! Then just check with a caliper to make sure they are at 90 degrees over the length of the 6x6.


Let me know what you think as i have no idea if this construction will stress the FELL.

 

[actionaj]

Nice Job again, I don't think it would stress the loader at all. The bar under the cutting edge looks to be plenty heavy enough. I wouldn't think you would have any problems with it bending. Good looking welds too. I have been thinking of making brush forks for my loader for a long time. This gives me some new ideas on the design. You can extend the forks for lighter brush and then retract them for say picking up a log. I like the light mounted on the loader arm did this come with the loader or did you install it? Again good job and thanks for the pictures.

 

[bobodu]

How do you guys get the animals to crap on the forks?

 

[tatra805]

thanks

the lights i mounted, you know when lifting the normal tractor lights are blocked by the bucket and once you go higher you simply dont see the bucket anymore. (Still have to finish the wiring a bit, first wanted to see if the position was ok, which it is)


to Bobody; just plug in and wait....

 

[milkman]

How do you guys get the animals to crap on the forks?

The same way we get the deer to cross at the deer crossing signs.

 

[RedDirt]

tatra,
I like the idea of retractable forks, nice job.

In the forward position how far are the forks cantilevered (dist forward vs. distance back of front edge of bucket)? A typical (safe) cantilever is 2/3 supported vs 1/3 cantilevered. Substantially less than this, as your design appears, will put a lot of force on the front and rear fork supports. Not that they will bend; your construction seems plenty stout.

Also, before you drill your front mount holes (extended position) you might do a test lift to see if your loader has sufficient power. See what it will lift with weight on the end of the retracted forks then clamp on temporary boom to the 80cm length and see the weight capacity. Lift capacity will get significantly less the further out the weight is placed. The long length may work fine for brush but may not lift your bales.

Let us know how your 30mm forks take the weight. I'm thinking of using some 1 1/8 " (28.5mm) rebar for mine.

 

[tatra805]

RedDirt,

You are absolutely right. When in the front position i am on the thin side of 1/3rd so that could pose a problem, we will see what it brings in reality.

The reason i go as much as possible to the front is the brush collection, maybe i should make a third middle position and label them manure-bale-brush.

I was lifting a pallet with small hay bales tonight, 10pcs at 30kg on a pallet with the pallet forks, so all the weight in front of the bucket. I could not tilt the bucket up but could lift without problem.

(first time 2 wheel driving also, front wheels you know. bucket low down and all under conrol. better to try it out in a controled manner than having it happen unexpected)

Theoreticaly the FEL lifts 500kg a straw bale is 200kg (max 250). Maybe it will be a close call. should try it out and let you know.

A counterweight is on the list but i dont really want to rush this and prefer to get to know the limits of the standard tractor first.

BTW, would you advise to put the back wheels in the extended wide position (they are made for it in any case) when handling a 200kg, 2meter wide bale?
I am afraid to stress the axle/bearings but even more about tipping the thing.

The 1 1/8 should be fine, pressure/force is devided over 5 pieces. Theoretical 1 should be able to hold the 500kg without problem. Its only when grabbing something and getting 1 pin stuck while push-driving i see a danger of bending them.

 

[RedDirt]

Your tipping potential is going to increase the higher you lift. If you are just going to move your bales poit A to point B and can keep your load low you may find the narrow stance is fine and allows more maneuverability. On the other hand, if you need to either pull or deliver the bales to a high stack you may find the wide track is more stable.

I think your long forks will be fine for brush. Usually there is a lot of air space in a brush heap and the weight may be manageable. Better to leave them long and try them out and have to shorten them rather than wish you'd made them longer. And with your design it would only take another couple of holes in the bucket sides to easily make them shorter. I like that design.

 

[PineRidge]

I like your project, but I also like the fact that a bucket can lay flat on the ground and used to scrape.

I'm wondering if your mounts might better serve if they were mounted inside the bucket, instead of under it, so your bucket could still scrape manure, what do you think?

 

[tatra805]

Pineridge,

The reason why i put the spikes under the bucket and not in the bucket has several reasons.

Mind, i still have to find out if my decision is actually better.

- If you put the spikes in the bucket you will be able to scrape but the dirt pile will not load into the bucket as at the front the 4x4 bar is in the way

(but in this concept the pieces between the guiding blocks might be skipped as forces are working oposite so having a ____O_____O____O______ bar form instead of a ====o====o====o==== now.)

I was afraid of bending the bottom plate of the bucket when lifting with this lighter construction, but might be wrong.


- Second point are th forces. If the spikes are in the bucket when lifting the back part (the 6x6) will try to come up. The supports will need to be designed differently. Not a big issue.

When pushing you will put strain on the 4x4 in the front which will try to lift. In case of the 4x4 as it is now i am sure it would resist but in case of the lighter construction to allow scraping is see a potential of bending the bar or at least deforming the guiding blocks.

Now,as far as scraping goes in my situation, you can never get closer to a wall than the length of the spikes, 40 or 80 cm anyway. If i want to scrape by back-dragging i can mount a scraping edge on the 6x6.

The areas i want/have to scrape are big enough not to care about the spike lenght loss and for scraping inside the horseboxes the boxes are too small anyway for a lot of maneuvring.

My box cleaning sequence looks as follows: take out the big part with the pins. remove pins (4 bolts = 2 minutes) and the take the small crut (which falls between the forks anyway) with the bucket.


I am not saying the pins-in-bucket is a bad idea but the advantage it would give me is minimal for the size of operation we have here at home.