I made a couple of 3 ft long forks, from 3” x 1/4” x 3’ long angle iron, which I bolt to the bottom of my tractor’s heavy duty bucket. Each attaches with (2) grade 5 bolts, a 1/2” thru existing 9/16” holes in the cutting edge aligned with the loader arms, and a second 3/8” bolt thru 7/16” holes that I drilled thru about a foot back on the bucket (about 2’ of the forks extend out front).
I made several different wood “fork extensions” which fit inside the angle iron sections and are held on with a single 1/2” carriage bolt. I use the medium length ones (4 ft long) for moving portable hunting blinds:
The longer wood extensions (6 ft long) work great for lifting the 8 ft long fiberglass truck cap on and off of my pickup truck. Way less hassle, and easier on my back, than finding someone to help and lifting it manually. It takes me less than (5) minutes to install the forks (which are often on the tractor anyhow because I use them for moving logs and stuff), and under a minute to install the wood extensions.
When the cap is not on the pickup, it is clamped on a 4 ft high 3-sided wall “wood splitter shed” made from wood framing and aluminum garage door sections. I move the splitter into my pole barn when “the roof” is on my pickup. The cap usually stays on the truck all winter.
To get that cap onto the truck, I just open up the back door, remove the clamps, drive the fork extensions in the back, and lift it onto the truck with the tractor. The whole operation is nearly effortless and takes less than 15 minutes.
