TSO
Elite Member
My buddy picked up a pallet load of water softener salt tonight from TSC and had it loaded on the pallet in the back of his truck. We thought it might be fun to see how our tractors would handle it, especially because we could actually define the weight with the bags of salt.
1 pallet = 63 bags of salt
1 bag of salt = 40 lbs
total salt-load weight = 2520 lbs
pallet weight 48"x48" = 40 lbs (maybe ?)
So, we're talking roughly 2560 total lbs with the pallet included .... ?
NOTE: My pallet forks are 42"
THE TEST:
So, first I drove up and sunk the pallet forks right into the pallet and tried to lift it out of the back of his truck. His truck is a GMC 2500, so I would say the bed sits right around 42" high maybe? Well, I put the engine right at 2400 RPM (I figure PTO speed RPM's should have the hydraulic pump working at full capacity) and .... NO GO. The system went right into relief and wouldn't lift the pallet off the bed. We played with it awhile, adding & subtracting bags, finally getting the pallet off the truck and onto the ground, and played some more.
Here's what we found with my R4047 with the LL4101 loader: Once on the ground, using 42" forks, I can lift a pallet with 50 bags of salt (@ 40lbs/bag ... that equals 2000 lbs of salt) to a "working height of about 4' high. The salt bags were evenly stacked on the pallet so that the weight was evenly distributed (no cheating by putting the bags closer to the back). With each added bag of salt, the loader lift-height dropped a bit. I was able to lift more than 50 off the ground, but 50 was the number I could lift to a "working" height.
My buddies tractor is a Kub L3540. We were impressed with the performance of his tractor as well. His tractor is equipped with the LA724 loader, with a lift cap rating of 1792lbs @ full height (pins). He was able to lift 37 bags on the pallet (1480 lbs) to working height.
So, an interesting number here: My LS could lift (using pallet forks @ 42") about 75% of it's lift capacity (2638 @ the pins) to a working height of about 48" ... My buddies' Kubota could lift about 82% of it's lift cap to 48". I would say Kudos to Kubota for this scenario. Anyhow ... Thanks KenB2920 for the beers :dance1:
1 pallet = 63 bags of salt
1 bag of salt = 40 lbs
total salt-load weight = 2520 lbs
pallet weight 48"x48" = 40 lbs (maybe ?)
So, we're talking roughly 2560 total lbs with the pallet included .... ?
NOTE: My pallet forks are 42"
THE TEST:
So, first I drove up and sunk the pallet forks right into the pallet and tried to lift it out of the back of his truck. His truck is a GMC 2500, so I would say the bed sits right around 42" high maybe? Well, I put the engine right at 2400 RPM (I figure PTO speed RPM's should have the hydraulic pump working at full capacity) and .... NO GO. The system went right into relief and wouldn't lift the pallet off the bed. We played with it awhile, adding & subtracting bags, finally getting the pallet off the truck and onto the ground, and played some more.
Here's what we found with my R4047 with the LL4101 loader: Once on the ground, using 42" forks, I can lift a pallet with 50 bags of salt (@ 40lbs/bag ... that equals 2000 lbs of salt) to a "working height of about 4' high. The salt bags were evenly stacked on the pallet so that the weight was evenly distributed (no cheating by putting the bags closer to the back). With each added bag of salt, the loader lift-height dropped a bit. I was able to lift more than 50 off the ground, but 50 was the number I could lift to a "working" height.
My buddies tractor is a Kub L3540. We were impressed with the performance of his tractor as well. His tractor is equipped with the LA724 loader, with a lift cap rating of 1792lbs @ full height (pins). He was able to lift 37 bags on the pallet (1480 lbs) to working height.
So, an interesting number here: My LS could lift (using pallet forks @ 42") about 75% of it's lift capacity (2638 @ the pins) to a working height of about 48" ... My buddies' Kubota could lift about 82% of it's lift cap to 48". I would say Kudos to Kubota for this scenario. Anyhow ... Thanks KenB2920 for the beers :dance1: