Can it pick this up?

[KubotainNH]

You don't realize how useful they are until you have them. So much easier to put things on a flat pallet. Move firewood, load summer/winter stuff on pallets for easy storage, I even used mine to pop a small stump out with...amazing leverage. Have fun!

 

[JoeL4330]

So I went up to skidsteersolutions.com (their Bellingham, WA warehouse) yesterday and picked up a set of their 4400lb pallet forks. Had an interesting, lengthy conversation with Rob, the founder and owner. Anyway, brought the forks back home (under $650 including sales tax) and put them on this am. Here's the 4240 moving a pallet with 1000 lbs of snow melt (half a load).


I'm also glad I didn't get anything longer than 48". I was thinking they would be too short, but I hadn't considered that they stick out in front of the tractor makign it a LOT longer than it is with a bucket. With the 48s there were some moments where I really had to pay attention not to whack stuff with the tips.

Those are great forks, and I am a skidsteersolutions fan, but 4400 lbs. forks seem like overkill (as I said previously) ...I had the same situation as you but deliberately chose
Bradco 48" Compact Tractor Loader Pallet Forks, Model 108308, Universal Skid Steer Quick Attach because they are rated at 2300 lbs (the very max I might be able to lift) and they only weigh 265 lbs themselves ...yours are the cat's meow, but weigh 440 lbs so I would have lost nearly 200 lbs of payload capacity.

Glad you decided not to go with 60" forks ...

Interested in how you will operate: will you now load 2 1000 lb pallets? In front of each other in your bed? Let me know how you get them in and out.

 

[Johnbro]

Well here's an update for those interested in actual (vs published or rated) lifting capacity of the LA854 loader.

I tried picking up a full pallet and couldn't move it. Later as I was off loading some bags onto a different pallet the lights went on and I realized it was a load and half--3000 lbs. I pulled off 20 bags and picked up what remained with the pallet forks. They weigh 480 lbs so that means the loader lifted 2480 total. I only lifted it about 2 feet and then set it down again.

What I will PROBABLY do in light of this is to build shrink-wrapped pallets each one containing 30 bags or 1500 lbs and load those into the truck when we are called out on a job. That should allow us to spread a lot of ice melt and still have some left over in the back to ballast the weight of the plow on the front.

On a related note, I can't believe how nice it is to just a load of, say, steel T-posts on the ground and just scoop them up and put them somewhere else! NICE!!

 

[tmxj]

Should be able to split & set one 1500 lb pallet on another in your truck.

 

[kuboman]

Well here's an update for those interested in actual (vs published or rated) lifting capacity of the LA854 loader.

I tried picking up a full pallet and couldn't move it. Later as I was off loading some bags onto a different pallet the lights went on and I realized it was a load and half--3000 lbs. I pulled off 20 bags and picked up what remained with the pallet forks. They weigh 480 lbs so that means the loader lifted 2480 total. I only lifted it about 2 feet and then set it down again.

What I will PROBABLY do in light of this is to build shrink-wrapped pallets each one containing 30 bags or 1500 lbs and load those into the truck when we are called out on a job. That should allow us to spread a lot of ice melt and still have some left over in the back to ballast the weight of the plow on the front.

On a related note, I can't believe how nice it is to just a load of, say, steel T-posts on the ground and just scoop them up and put them somewhere else! NICE!!

So is this correct, your loader lifted about 600lbs more than it is rated to?
Did you check your relief pressure?

 

[Johnbro]

So is this correct, your loader lifted about 600lbs more than it is rated to?
Did you check your relief pressure?

Apparently this is correct. I can't count the actual number of bags I picked up without taking them off the pallet one at a time, but we paid for 40 and I can see at least 6 layers of 6 bags each so I have no reason to believe they shorted this load.

Tractor is brand new (26 hrs) so no, I haven't checked the relief pressure. I lifted it at about 2200 rpm, for whatever that's worth. If it had over 50 hrs on the meter, I would have used full throttle--not sure how much engine speed I need to reach max lift on the loader.

 

[Fxfymn]

Have to say, the pallet forks are amazing. I had a couple of VERY LARGE chunks from a big leaf maple that died and we took town--these were far too large to load into a bucket or roll. Picked them up with the forks and moved them, no problem! Moved some railroad ties, no problem! I can see where these will be super helpful until I get a grapple.

You can also add grapples to the pallet forks as I did. It makes it very easy to move brush, logs, etc. and it works great to secure loose loads on the pallets.

I welded mine up out of a couple of bush hog blades and box blade scarifiers. I use the rear remote to operate them.

They aren't pretty, but they work great. And one of these days I might actually get around to painting them.

 

[texasjohn]

Johnbro, engine speed is not the determining factor for lifting, your relief valve setting is. I typically run at about 2400 RPM just because it makes me feel better that I have good flow rate.

You are nearing my experience, being able to lift 2800 lbs using chains (very little subtraction from pay load) with just the QA and no attachment.

Be sure and maintain front tire inflation at very near max for such loads!

Yep, forks are dandy tools! Glad you have found a scheme that is working for you.