Love my Pallet Forks

[FTG-05]

Ok, great, thanks!

Question(s):

- How do you get up there? Raise it then climb up via ladder or have someone lift you up with the tractor from ground floor?

- Do you have any way of making sure the platform doesn't slide off or is it just weight that holds it to the forks?

If you haven't figured it out yet: I hate heights! Belt, suspenders, rope around the waist, I don't wanna be falling off anything! The downside, there's things I've got to get done +14 feet in the air. Sucks to be me........

 

[mddorange]

- How do you get up there? Raise it then climb up via ladder or have someone lift you up with the tractor from ground floor?

Normally have wife or son-in-law raise me up or raise him up.
One time I used a ladder to get up and then pulled it up to use on the platform.

- Do you have any way of making sure the platform doesn't slide off or is it just weight that holds it to the forks?

I use a small link chain to attach it to the back of the forks.
The platform is fairly heavy as I used 2X6s" with 5/4" planks and 2x4" rails.

I hate heights also.
The area light I was putting up is 16' high.
In the 100' x 36' barn in the picture the metal rafters are 16' high and the peak, where the lights are is 25' high.
I still do not like getting up there.

 

[kco]

Ok, great, thanks!

Question(s):

- How do you get up there? Raise it then climb up via ladder or have someone lift you up with the tractor from ground floor?

- Do you have any way of making sure the platform doesn't slide off or is it just weight that holds it to the forks?

If you haven't figured it out yet: I hate heights! Belt, suspenders, rope around the waist, I don't wanna be falling off anything! The downside, there's things I've got to get done +14 feet in the air. Sucks to be me........

I recently got 42" forks and last week used them to hang the outdoor lights on the lilacs much like mddorange's photo but without the guard rail. I may make a real platform later. But the pallet and forks are a HUGE improvement over previously hanging them from the bucket, which was better than doing it from a ladder. To prevent the pallet sliding off I just sloped it slightly to the rear.

As to getting on to it; the method I use is to step from the platform onto the tractor's dirtshield bracket, then the loader vertical mount, the hydraulic fitting bracket on the opposite loader arm, the tubular cross piece between the loader arms, and onto the pallet(previously it was into the bucket). To get down I find it easier to hang onto the loader arm cross piece, stabilize my feet on the top grill guard bar, hang from my arms and drop down. From the photos and lack of a ladder I'm guessing mddorange does something similar. It is easier than it sounds(I've always liked heights) and safer than balancing on a ladder.

However, I am planning to build a proper platform, and likely a used, light ladder with brackets to hook on it.

 

[brokenknee]

here some links on man lifts http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/270444-building-man-lift-work-platform.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/139274-my-manlift-2.html

 

[Deere Dude]

- How do you get up there? Raise it then climb up via ladder or have someone lift you up with the tractor from ground floor?

Normally have wife or son-in-law raise me up or raise him up.
.

If I let my wife raise me, she would catapult me right out of it.:laughing::laughing:

 

[mddorange]

here some links on man lifts http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/270444-building-man-lift-work-platform.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/139274-my-manlift-2.html

Mine was very cheap to build since it was part of an old deck. Just added the rails.

 

[mddorange]

If I let my wife raise me, she would catapult me right out of it.:laughing::laughing:

I could see that as being a big problem. :laughing::laughing:

 

[Xfaxman]

Here are my 4' long Pallet Forks, made with 2" square "Block Forks" that I found on eBay.

 

[Zockel]

Do you leave the engine running while you are up there or turn it off? Does it make a difference with respect to the risk of a sudden hydrolic failure causing the FEL to crash down. I am new to tractors and have wondered how safe it is to use the bucket instead of a ladder. Of course the tractor manufacturer tells you that hydrolic can fail at any time, but how often does this happen in reality and in a fashion that the FEL comes crashing down?

 

[wmonroe]

Do you leave the engine running while you are up there or turn it off? Does it make a difference with respect to the risk of a sudden hydrolic failure causing the FEL to crash down. I am new to tractors and have wondered how safe it is to use the bucket instead of a ladder. Of course the tractor manufacturer tells you that hydrolic can fail at any time, but how often does this happen in reality and in a fashion that the FEL comes crashing down?

The times I've worked out of my bucket or the forks I left the engine running because we were moving around quite a bit. My loader doesn't leak down though so it wouldn't bother me to shut off the engine either if the machine didn't need to move frequently. There is always a chance of hydraulic failure but the times I'm in the bucket it is the safer of my options for doing the job. Just have to weigh the risks.