Lifting a thing of bricks

   / Lifting a thing of bricks #21  
We had two pallets of bricks left over from my house. When my daughter decided to drive threw the house they came in handy.
 
   / Lifting a thing of bricks #22  
I had a home project using about 14 cubes of bricks. I tried my forks and they were wider than the brick holes on the cubes. And would damage some of the bricks as I drove into the cube. Instead, I used two hard wood 1 by 3 inch boards that extended thru the cude by 6 inches on either side. I made a 4 leg chain harness that went around each protruding board and up and over to the center on the cude. All joined there. I added 2x6s joined into an L shape to protect the top edge of the cube where the chained rounded over the top edge of the cube. I took my forks off and used the frame to grab the chain. My L39tlb handled the weight although I needed my front tire pressure maxed out. My loaded is a LA1000.
 
   / Lifting a thing of bricks #23  
The specs on your tractors FEL says 2500 pounds lift at the pivot pins. There is normally around 800 - 1000 pound drop in lift capacity at a point 24" forward of the pivot pins. So it would be safe to say with adequate rear ballast your FEL will lift around 1500 lbs.

1500 lbs to full height. I'm sure he is not going to pick them up to max height. Just high enough to move them.
 
   / Lifting a thing of bricks #24  
Get the forks. Let the MIL chip in. If you can't lift them get a couple pallets from somewhere and split them up. Win, win.

This is your plan.
Further, if you want to try without the forks, you can drop the FEL bucket, get a chain and rig it to the pallet, run length of chain over BOTH arms of FEL and try lift. This gets load at pivot point and it's all payload weight...no fork or bucket weight to lift...BUT, make SURE you have a LOT of weight on your 3 point hitch! Lift inches off ground to move, not attempting multi foot lift. As noted, you will be able to lift more with your 3ph, than loader, but more limited in movement/lift options.
 
   / Lifting a thing of bricks
  • Thread Starter
#25  
Didnt get a chance to go verify the bricks last night but we going over tonight. I think I may get them any way. I know of to many usages around my house for a set. I know you once you get a tractor you all of a sudden want all kinda of stuff to go with it, even if I don't feel like I will use it but two or three times I still want it.
 
   / Lifting a thing of bricks #26  
The only way you are going to move that load is with the three point,no way with the loader.
 
   / Lifting a thing of bricks #27  
The only way you are going to move that load is with the three point,no way with the loader.

Agreed I'm guessing a cube of bricks does weighs similar to a pallet of paver bricks which are at least 2500 lbs but probably closer to 3000 lbs
 
   / Lifting a thing of bricks #28  
That loader should be able to lift 2,500lbs or more, even on the forks, down low, but it will take plenty of counterweight to do so.

This was over 2,000lbs that stuck out 4ft in front of the forks (same loader). Each form was made of a sheet of 3/4" plywood (60lbs) and six 8' long 2x4s (five ribs, and two 4' ends) at 13lbs each....so each form weighed 138lbs or so. There were 15 of them for 2,070lbs....loader had no problem with it at all, and the truck I was unloading them from was pretty tall, so it lifted them much higher than what you see here. The counterweight runs 1,400lbs.

 
   / Lifting a thing of bricks #29  
I would think ahead and do this job like a pro would.

There are actually two parts of the job. (1) Move the bricks from where they are to an out-of-the-way place so the patio can be poured, and (2) pick up the bricks from the intermediate location and move them to the place where they are going to be used for the patio and steps.

I would split each cube of bricks onto two pallets. You may be able to pick them all up and move them to the intermediate location as cubes, but positioning them for minimum labor in the second part of the job is going to require a lot more finesse than just picking them up and moving them with the 3 PT hitch. This gets the weight of each pallet down to the point where it can easily be picked up with your new forks. And easily placed.

I don't think it is possible to put 1/2 of a cube on a pallet and then pick up the remainder of the cube with forks. The cube is held together with the steel bands, usually with a row of bricks below the holes the forks go into. When you try to move the collection of loosely stacked bricks and steel bands, it is going to fall apart and you will look like a doofus in front of your MIL. This is the stuff of domestic disharmony.

Re-stacking 3000+ pounds of bricks on two pallets is not a fast and easy job, especially when you do it four times. Get a couple of day laborers to do this for you while you watch and then move the pallets with the tractor.

When you plan the patio and the steps, plan a route for your tractor to carry the pallets of bricks to their final staging points. Don't drive on the patio, and don't put the bricks on the patio. Cracking the patio is not an acceptable outcome. Plan a route to get your tractor back to the driveway for its trip back home.
 
   / Lifting a thing of bricks
  • Thread Starter
#30  
Finally had a chance to go over last night. The tag was still on the thing of bricks. Count was 530. So depend on what each one weight I figure in the ball park of 2,200 pound or a tad more.
 
 
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