Fun with the loader tonight - pallet fork test

[TSO]

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:

 

[KenB2920]

More exciting tests to follow. Weight and real world applications should be in store. If anyone has suggestions, please feel free to let us know. Hopefully this can be an ongoing trial / error with several implements and attachments. This will not be brand "A" vs brand "B". It will simply be results of what we try. If just by chance there are two competitive pieces involved, this will be for factual purposes only and not to sell or belittle. Happy Tractoring.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[dragoneggs]

Good stuff... like seeing/hearing real world tests and results. :thumbsup:

 

[bandaidmd]

This is just like consumer reports! btw, i would love to work there.

it would be good to throw a hyd gauge on both to make sure they were at spec.

by restacking the salt onto just half the pallet closest to the tractor your numbers would have gone up.

I have always wondered when the mfg list the lift capacitys if they included the bucket, if you add in the forks and ssqa it would be close to dead on as advertised. thanks for sharing

 

[TSO]

we both ran our tractors at different RPM's during use, to make sure that we were operating at maximum hydraulic pressure. when I found the maximum lift of 50 bags, it did not appear to make any difference whether I was at 2000 rpm, or any number higher than that.

 

[k0ua]

Is there any way you could get a DK 40 to see how much of that 2760 lbs. Would work out to in salt bags on the forks.?

 

[TSO]

Is there any way you could get a DK 40 to see how much of that 2760 lbs. Would work out to in salt bags on the forks.?

I think anybody with any tractor would be welcome to come by and do the testing with us. if anyone is interested, contact me or Ken and we can try to setup a date.

What we also need to find is a scale large enough to weigh the pallet forks and the pallet itself, to make sure we account for those variables. I'm going to guess that the pallet forks weigh 200 pounds, and another guess that the pallet weighed 40.

those weights need to be considered in the overall lift capacity rating of our test.

 

[Deerherd]

What might be interesting/enlightening is how much you could safely lift without any rear ballast. Not sure if you guys had loaded tires or something on the 3 pt hitch for your test.

 

[cartod]

Does not look like you used a counter ballast for this test? Did the rear end get light?

 

[TSO]

The kubota has loaded tires. his did get a little light in the rear while moving with that weight, and he would benefit from something on the three point.

For mine, I had my HD 8 ft back blade mounted. that seemed to be enough weight. It weighs somewhere north of 750lbs, and hangs about 5ft or more off the back, so it's a really good counter balance because the weight is moved so far to the rear.

Either way, we both had enough ballast to reach the maximum weight capacity.