Bucket Fork Builders???

[hotiron01]

I built a set of bucket forks for my JD 3038e. I was very satisfied with the way they turned out. Now the problem. When I put them on the bucket and push down on them, I can see the bottom of the bucket twist. My thought to fix the issue is to butt a piece of 10" x 38" x 3/8 plate up to the cutting edge and weld the plate solid to the bottom of the bucket. Any thoughts on a better way to do this? The forks are made out of 4" channel that is boxed in with 1/4 flat iron. There is 42" of usable fork, and they extend 12" under the bucket. I will be standing by for ideas!!

David

 

[Chain Bender]

Here's a set I made for my L3200 w/LA524. They weren't made for pallet forks, but for picking up pine logs. There is 21" of usable length in front of the riser that goes up to the top lip of the bucket and pins in. There are two 5/8" grade V bolt that bolt each fork into the top/inside of the bucket. The bucket is 60" wide so I'd guess the forks are about 50" +/- an inch or two when on the FEL. They are made of 2X2X.250" square stock. There is a hinge pin where the riser meets the actual fork. I can tell you that one fork hung under a pine root will put that little tractor on one front tire and not bend the 2X2 tubing. They are simple to make and only take about 5 minutes to put on with an air wrench or 5.5 minutes with a socket set and box end wrench.

21" might sound a bit short, but they will pick up a 40" diameter butt. I had to build a 900# ballast bucket to help hold the rear wheels on the ground with just some 8 foot stuff I was loading Gonna give her a real test next week with some 16-18 foot cuts. I built a nice boom for the back of the tractor but at 7 feet it won;t even pick up my KK disc.

CB

 

[teg]

I built a set of bucket forks for my JD 3038e....

Got any Photos of them? Are the forks together or individual?

 

[rjmack]

kind of hard to see what the problem is without pictures.

this might help

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/193825-easy-forks.html

 

[hotiron01]

Thanks, I will try to get pictures. Just to be sure everyone understands, there is no issue with the forks. I don't have any concerns with their strength at all. My concern is with the bottom of the bucket. That is what I need to reinforce.

David

 

[hotiron01]

Got any Photos of them? Are the forks together or individual?

I will have 2 seperate forks.

David

 

[hotiron01]

This is basically the same concept I am using.

Paynes Forks Light-Duty Forks 1200-Lb. Capacity, John Deere Green, Model# PFG1200 | Bucket Accessories | Northern Tool + Equipment

David

 

[rjmack]

This is basically the same concept I am using.

Paynes Forks Light-Duty Forks 1200-Lb. Capacity, John Deere Green, Model# PFG1200 | Bucket Accessories | Northern Tool + Equipment

it looks like the problem there is that you focus the load on the bucket, rather than distributing it for maximum effect. obviously, you would have much more strength with those two forks at the outside edge of the bucket. if you want to lift heavy loads from the center area, you need a way of distributing the load.

the good news is that it can certainly be done.

 

[hotiron01]

it looks like the problem there is that you focus the load on the bucket, rather than distributing it for maximum effect. obviously, you would have much more strength with those two forks at the outside edge of the bucket. if you want to lift heavy loads from the center area, you need a way of distributing the load.

the good news is that it can certainly be done.

So if I was to plate the area with the 38" x 10" x 3/8 plate, would that be sufficient? That is the dimensions of the area between the loader arms and the flat area under the bucket. I could even plug weld it in a few places.

David

 

[rjmack]

So if I was to plate the area with the 38" x 10" x 3/8 plate, would that be sufficient? That is the dimensions of the area between the loader arms and the flat area under the bucket.

everything you add to the bucket permanently increases the weight of the bucket permanently.

what size is the machine? what is the capacity of the bucket? what is the lifting force at the bucket pins?

is adjustable fork width the issue? can you beef up the forks instead of adding permanent weight to the bucket?

if you take another look at those drawings/pics i provided, you can see how the design of the forks adds to the strength of the bucket, but only when that added strength is needed.

if you have a small machine, then you don't have a lot of lifting power to spare.