Sfrankland
Silver Member
Started out with a set of clamp on forks that I built but wanted a proper set. Sold my clamp on ones and bought a set of used forks that came off an electric forklift.
First thing I had to do was weld a tube to the back of the forks so they could pivot and slide on the support rail. The forks are 1 1/2" thick and needed to be preheated on the wood stove with the draft open to get them plenty hot. Not sure how hot they got but after 6 hours with the draft wide open I couldn't pick them up with heavy welding gloves on.
Next job was to lay out the frame and clamp it down to the what will soon be the new top to my welding table. The two ends and center support were drill on the mill and machined to 1.28" in diameter.
Frame all welded up.
Picture of a few of the welds on the frame.
Another picture of the welds.
Start of the guard. I ran out of steel so I will have to finish it up latter.
SSQA plates welded on to the frame. Getting ready to add the forks.
Some more welds
Frontal shot. My son still hasn't stacked up the wood yet. It Christmas so I have given him a few days to get it done.
Forks installed.
Lifting the table and 1/2" steel plate. Total weight is around 375Lbs. Lots of capacity left in it yet.
Need to machine up some end caps to keep the rod from sliding. There will be 4 altogether, one on each side of he end supports. Also you can see the gap between the top of the forks and the frame. This will allow the forks to be able move a bit in case they are not positioned right entering or exiting a load.
Mounted on the tractor.
Decided to add some D-rings one each end and will add two more on the bottom tube so I can wrap a chain around a load if need be.
That is all for now. Will post a few more pictures once I get it all done.
First thing I had to do was weld a tube to the back of the forks so they could pivot and slide on the support rail. The forks are 1 1/2" thick and needed to be preheated on the wood stove with the draft open to get them plenty hot. Not sure how hot they got but after 6 hours with the draft wide open I couldn't pick them up with heavy welding gloves on.
Next job was to lay out the frame and clamp it down to the what will soon be the new top to my welding table. The two ends and center support were drill on the mill and machined to 1.28" in diameter.
Frame all welded up.
Picture of a few of the welds on the frame.
Another picture of the welds.
Start of the guard. I ran out of steel so I will have to finish it up latter.
SSQA plates welded on to the frame. Getting ready to add the forks.
Some more welds
Frontal shot. My son still hasn't stacked up the wood yet. It Christmas so I have given him a few days to get it done.
Forks installed.
Lifting the table and 1/2" steel plate. Total weight is around 375Lbs. Lots of capacity left in it yet.
Need to machine up some end caps to keep the rod from sliding. There will be 4 altogether, one on each side of he end supports. Also you can see the gap between the top of the forks and the frame. This will allow the forks to be able move a bit in case they are not positioned right entering or exiting a load.
Mounted on the tractor.
Decided to add some D-rings one each end and will add two more on the bottom tube so I can wrap a chain around a load if need be.
That is all for now. Will post a few more pictures once I get it all done.
