Buying Advice Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed.

   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed. #1  

kootenai

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2013
Messages
37
Location
North Idaho
Tractor
'07 Kubota L3400. Woods: Tiller, Back Blade, Box Blade, Backhoe
I am looking at both implements to add to the collection. It is for a 60" LA463. Who loves their's and what is a good price? What else do I need to know? It looks like Yankee warehouse has good prices and free shipping. Thanks in advance, the information on here has been priceless.
 
   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed. #2  
We've had a toothbar since the tractor was new. Don't know the make, but it's plenty sturdy and has held up well since 2002. Added a set of Payne's forks several years ago. What I liked about the Payne product was the forks fit over the toothbar, so it could stay on the bucket as reinforcement. We've lifted some really heavy logs, stumps, etc. and have not done any damage to the bucket because of the toothbar staying in place.
 
   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed. #3  
Forks: Pallet forks or Debris forks? Most people buy steel which is less expensive but heavy, (120 lbs.) reducing your lift capacity on every load. Personally, I have spent more for Payne's aluminum forks (55 lbs) to retain lift capacity. I have the Kubota standard LA504 on the Kubota B3300SU. Often enough I want every pound of lift capacity available.

Before lifting a heavy load with forks be sure to have ballast on the 3-Pt. I use an implement. Weight BEHIND the rear axle reduces strain on the front axle. With CUTS you always want to consider how to reduce strain on the tractor components. Loaded tires do NOT reduce front axle strain.

Also, you do not want your rear wheels to lift off the ground when you try to raise your bucket. This can happen on only a minor slope when your intended load is down hill from your bucket. Safety, think safety!

Tooth Bar: Are you going to dig tractor width with your FEL? If so, a tooth bar is the way to go. I have no experience with tooth bars.

A Ratchet Rake is a more versatile bucket attachment, in my opinion. Your can scrape out dirt with it to a limited extent but not really dig. For tearing out vegetation, above and below ground, then piling it up for your forks RR is the greatest. It does well at minor grading chores too. RR is easy on/off. For this type of work steel is an advantage.

Buy quality in your attachments.
 

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   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed.
  • Thread Starter
#4  
I am happy with my improvements. Both were purchased through Ebay, free shipping and more economical than I could source locally or elsewhere online. I have played around with them and they do the job and the forks fit over the toothbar. Time will tell but, I give my endorsement.
 

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   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed. #5  
Cant say much about pallet forks, other than they wont lift much with the LA463 in a clamp on fashion. The load moves too far out. I have a set that I made. But I dont really use them as "pallet" forks cause of the very limited capacity. But If I have to move things like lumber, rail road ties, culvert, etc...they are great.

As to the forks...I dodnt want to spend the money on a toothbar. So for about a quarter of the cost, I just bought bolt on teeth for the bucket. They work well, and you can still back-drag with the heel of the bucket to smooth things since they dont remove easily. But it is just another option for you if you dont think you would ever remove the toothbar. 8 teeth were about $70 or so delivered.
 
   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed. #6  
If you have the SS quick attach I would suggest you get a set of SSQA forks. You'll be much happier.
 
   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed. #7  
I had a set of chain on forks for a mf 255 I had and when I make a set of forks for my GC2400 they will be chain on. It puts the load on the whole bucket instead of just the lip.
 
   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed. #8  
I just went through this same search for the same two implements. I am really happy with my purchases.

Here's a thread I made with my own concerns.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/271331-help-me-pick-toothbar.html

The titan forks from palletforks . com are great, free shipping, can't complain. My loader is nowhere near strong enough to lift a fully loaded pallet of good with them, though. As LD1 pointed out. They are great for brush, smaller logs, lumber, etc.

And for a toothbar, I went with an iowa farms one from ebay.

As an owner of a ratchet rake, let me give you the direct comparison with a tooth bar: yes, the ratchet rake is a little better at clearing virgin brush. But that's it. I see a lot of people on this site exclaiming about how amazing their ratchet rake is, and saying that people should get one over a tooth bar. They simply don't compare. A ratchet rake PREVENTS you from being able to dig dirt. The only thing it can do is scrape along the ground. And if you get a bunch of brush cleared with it and try to push it around, you're going to damage the ratchet mechanism and the straps that hold it on. Ask me how I know this.

With a tooth bar, you can get brush and roots out of the ground almost as easily (in some ways even better, as you can DIG underneath things), but you can also still smoothly backdrag, and of course still USE your bucket for scooping and carrying stuff around (which you can't do with a ratchet rake, since the straps are in the way).

The digging power of your FEL more than doubles with a good tooth bar. Almost dangerous... you can get too aggressive and over work your loader and tractor. Be careful!
 
   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed. #9  
I got a set of used Forklift Forks for about $100.
With a few mods, I bolted them to my bucket.



They are tapered & solid steel, and should take more abuse that I can throw at them. Right now I have it set up with 6 bolts per fork. I like the idea of top & bottom attachments, rather than just bottom attachments, as I think it gives better torque distribution & smooth on top. Although, since they are set forward in the bucket, I do loose some bucket capacity. One could, of course, modify them to match the bucket contour (if they were longer). As I was finishing attaching them, I considered whether it would have been good to tap & drill to mount, rather than using "wings mounts", but it was late in the project and I didn't want to risk weakening the forks at a critical point.

I set mine narrow for my project at the time of digging and moving a tree. I don't move many pallets. If needed, I may redrill the bucket for wider mounts later.

If one was using them to move pallets a lot, another option would be to make a quick mount/dismount forklift grill that replaced the bucket. The advantages would be a see-through mount to facilitate viewing your pallet & load, lifting closer to the tractor, and less weight.

More info & thread here

My other tractor has a self levelling bucket which would be nice if one was using it as a forklift.
 
   / Clamp on forks and tooth bar advice needed. #10  
I am happy with my improvements. Both were purchased through Ebay, free shipping and more economical than I could source locally or elsewhere online. I have played around with them and they do the job and the forks fit over the toothbar. Time will tell but, I give my endorsement.

What brand of pallet forks are ours and how long are they?

Thanks,

Joe
 
 
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