BX BH Thumb worth it?

   / BX BH Thumb worth it? #51  
I am still shocked by the prices being quoted for a set of forks and QA for a BX size tractor. You guys are getting nailed as those prices would buy you the same equipment for a 50hp tractor. If I owned a BX, I'd just put on a good quality set of bucket forks and then get a stabilizer bar. The bucket can only lift 500lbs or so at the pivot pins anyways so it is silly to invest in a set of forks engineered to lift 2000-4000lbs. Besides, those QA forks are heavy and would reduce your lift capacity even further. I once owned a Kioti CK20 which has a lift capacity of 1070lbs and then bought a set of standard QA forks that I had to sell because the remaining lift capacity just wasn't useful. Forks put the load out about 2ft from the pivot pins so your lift capacity is much less than listed.

Northern Tools sells a good quality tube based set of forks and they sell the matching stabilizer bar. That is how I'd do it. Total cost about $400 plus shipping. Easy to store and they would allow you to lift considerably more weight than going the QA forks route. I'd buy these: Load-Quip Steel Bucket Forks 1400-Lb. Capacity, Orange, Model# 29211776 | Bucket Accessories| Northern Tool + Equipment and then add this: Load-Quip Bucket Fork Stabilizer Bars — 1400 Lb. Capacity, Model# 29211775 | Bucket Accessories| Northern Tool + Equipment

The stabilizer is useful as a problem with bucket forks is that they get out of parallel but the stabilizer prevents that.
 
   / BX BH Thumb worth it? #52  
I know some one was asking about what the Bx pallet forks weigh. I have them, here's what they weigh. Fork carriage 90lbs.
Each 32" fork weight in at 80lbs. I was a little disappointed about how much they weigh, but I was able to lift close to 600lbs. 3 feet off the ground no problem. They cost me $1200. ( forks $300. Carriage $600, QA $300). You will notice the weight difference compared to the bucket.
 
   / BX BH Thumb worth it?
  • Thread Starter
#53  
I am still shocked by the prices being quoted for a set of forks and QA for a BX size tractor. You guys are getting nailed as those prices would buy you the same equipment for a 50hp tractor. If I owned a BX, I'd just put on a good quality set of bucket forks and then get a stabilizer bar. The bucket can only lift 500lbs or so at the pivot pins anyways so it is silly to invest in a set of forks engineered to lift 2000-4000lbs. Besides, those QA forks are heavy and would reduce your lift capacity even further. I once owned a Kioti CK20 which has a lift capacity of 1070lbs and then bought a set of standard QA forks that I had to sell because the remaining lift capacity just wasn't useful. Forks put the load out about 2ft from the pivot pins so your lift capacity is much less than listed.

Northern Tools sells a good quality tube based set of forks and they sell the matching stabilizer bar. That is how I'd do it. Total cost about $400 plus shipping. Easy to store and they would allow you to lift considerably more weight than going the QA forks route. I'd buy these: Load-Quip Steel Bucket Forks 1400-Lb. Capacity, Orange, Model# 29211776 | Bucket Accessories| Northern Tool + Equipment and then add this: Load-Quip Bucket Fork Stabilizer Bars 1400 Lb. Capacity, Model# 29211775 | Bucket Accessories| Northern Tool + Equipment

The stabilizer is useful as a problem with bucket forks is that they get out of parallel but the stabilizer prevents that.

I'm not totally following your logic. You don't think the forks are useful on a BX because they put the weight to far forward but you think we should get clamp on forks for the bucket? I just measured my bucket and my forks with the QA and got 11.5" from pivot point to forks and 24.5" from pivot point to bucket edge. So you want me to double the distance from my pivot point to the closest point the load could be carried because my bucket doesn't lift enough already?:confused3:
 
   / BX BH Thumb worth it? #54  
I'm not totally following your logic. You don't think the forks are useful on a BX because they put the weight to far forward but you think we should get clamp on forks for the bucket? I just measured my bucket and my forks with the QA and got 11.5" from pivot point to forks and 24.5" from pivot point to bucket edge. So you want me to double the distance from my pivot point to the closest point the load could be carried because my bucket doesn't lift enough already?:confused3:

So true not to mention those attachable bucket forks look like *****. But that's only my opinion :confused3:
 
   / BX BH Thumb worth it? #55  
I know some one was asking about what the Bx pallet forks weigh. I have them, here's what they weigh. Fork carriage 90lbs.
Each 32" fork weight in at 80lbs. I was a little disappointed about how much they weigh, but I was able to lift close to 600lbs. 3 feet off the ground no problem. They cost me $1200. ( forks $300. Carriage $600, QA $300). You will notice the weight difference compared to the bucket.

Super - thanks for the weight info. I too am surprised the total comes to 250 lbs. I don't know what the bucket weighs so I'm not sure what you mean by noticing the difference in weight vs the bucket - is the bucket lighter?

By the way, for Island Tractor, the BX is rated to lift 745 lbs at the pivot pins, so it's not that anemic and is a pretty good match to the size and weight of the machine in my opinion.
 
   / BX BH Thumb worth it? #56  
I'm not totally following your logic. You don't think the forks are useful on a BX because they put the weight to far forward but you think we should get clamp on forks for the bucket? I just measured my bucket and my forks with the QA and got 11.5" from pivot point to forks and 24.5" from pivot point to bucket edge. So you want me to double the distance from my pivot point to the closest point the load could be carried because my bucket doesn't lift enough already?:confused3:

I understand your point but to me the calculus includes the fact that the QA adapter, fork carriage and solid forks weigh probably 300+lbs which is considerably more than the 48" standard pin on bucket plus the tubing based clamp on forks. Add to that the fact that one solution costs about $400 while the other costs ?$1000+ and you'd need to convince me that whatever marginal benefit of the solid forks approach was worth it. Actual lift with either set up is going to be limited to about 400lbs to full height, more obviously at lower lift heights, and that is not going to be a useful set up for moving pallets of stone or cement or fertilizer or frankly more than a very partial pallet of anything. Forks are very useful but on a small SCUT they are more for convenience and useful for moving the occasional object than for serious work moving pallets. Consider for example the task of moving 20 fifty pound bags of cement that are delivered on a pallet to your driveway or in the back of a pickup. The load is at least 1000lbs so you clearly cannot just lift it with either set of forks. If you removed half the cement bags you would probably be able to lift and move the pallet with either set of forks but then you'd have the other half of the bags sitting in your driveway. Probably would be faster to simply off load the pallet directly into the standard bucket a few times and move the load that way. At least with the clamp on forks you wouldn't need to change implements mid task.

I simply don't see that the benefit of separate carriage and forks and QA can be justified as cost or work efficient with a SCUT. If moving pallets of material type of work task is a common one then it is time to upgrade tractors rather than invest in high priced mini versions of QA implements. For the occasional lifting task that requires forks, the clamp on variety would seem an economical and effective choice.
 
   / BX BH Thumb worth it? #57  
So true not to mention those attachable bucket forks look like *****. But that's only my opinion :confused3:

I agree that clamp on forks lack the cool factor of QA implements but on the other hand it doesn't look like your cute little tractor has a cute little mini set of implements to go with it. Functionally I just don't see the benefit and nobody who is worried about looking cool is driving around on a BX anyways.
 
   / BX BH Thumb worth it? #58  
I agree that clamp on forks lack the cool factor of QA implements but on the other hand it doesn't look like your cute little tractor has a cute little mini set of implements to go with it. Functionally I just don't see the benefit and nobody who is worried about looking cool is driving around on a BX anyways.

I'm really not worried about looking cool at this stage of my life but I don't want to look ridiculous either. Those clamp on bucket forks are a band aid approach to a real set of forks IMHO. I have the chipper for my cute little tractor and now I'll have the forks that were designed for the BX's QC system and If I need another attachment I'll get it.

The issue I have personally with needing forks is the 5740 got forks but it's to big to get where I need to go with it. I have a Toyota rough terrain forklift that's to heavy to go over loose ground so the little BX will look after that. Are they worth the cost, NO way but I'll loose to much shop time right now to fabricate a set.
 
   / BX BH Thumb worth it? #59  
I'm really not worried about looking cool at this stage of my life but I don't want to look ridiculous either. Those clamp on bucket forks are a band aid approach to a real set of forks IMHO. I have the chipper for my cute little tractor and now I'll have the forks that were designed for the BX's QC system and If I need another attachment I'll get it.

The issue I have personally with needing forks is the 5740 got forks but it's to big to get where I need to go with it. I have a Toyota rough terrain forklift that's to heavy to go over loose ground so the little BX will look after that. Are they worth the cost, NO way but I'll loose to much shop time right now to fabricate a set.

Again, I understand your point and don't want to sound like I think only a spendthrift nerd would add QC forks to a BX. I do think however that for most people, the limited number of times you would actually use forks on a BX suggests that they would be happy with clamp ons. I just looked at the Northern Tool site again and see that they now carry a 1400lb rated pair of Aluminum forks that weigh only 50lbs a pair. That would certainly satisfy me if I were using them half a dozen times a year. If I were using forks to do real work more often than that I think I'd get a bigger tractor. Load-Quip Aluminum Bucket Forks — 1400-Lb. Capacity, Unfinished Aluminum, Model# 29211795 | Bucket Accessories| Northern Tool + Equipment
 
   / BX BH Thumb worth it? #60  
Again, I understand your point and don't want to sound like I think only a spendthrift nerd would add QC forks to a BX. I do think however that for most people, the limited number of times you would actually use forks on a BX suggests that they would be happy with clamp ons. I just looked at the Northern Tool site again and see that they now carry a 1400lb rated pair of Aluminum forks that weigh only 50lbs a pair. That would certainly satisfy me if I were using them half a dozen times a year. If I were using forks to do real work more often than that I think I'd get a bigger tractor. Load-Quip Aluminum Bucket Forks 1400-Lb. Capacity, Unfinished Aluminum, Model# 29211795 | Bucket Accessories| Northern Tool + Equipment

Oh I see your point as well but I have a lot of stuff I don't use every day that I still enjoy having around just for the convenience. By the way. Those forks are dropped shipped by Northern and they will not ship them to Canada. They are shipped via factory direct. Northern takes no prisoners when it comes to shipping prices across the border. Something else for Canadian customers to consider.
 
 
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