Pallet fork trailer mover

[Johndeere3720]

I have been wanting to weld lately and came up with a little project for moving uhaul trailers with the CT322 and all the trailers at home. I saw one one one of the forklifts at united rentals so i figured why not make one? I started with one long piece of 3"x5" steel square stock and cut them at 2 1/2'. I wire brushed the ends and got two chains which are also 2 1/2' in length and welded them to the square stock ends. I have had very little welding time lately so my welds aren't to pretty.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Next step was to weld caps to the ends of my trailer mover to prevent dirt from getting packed inside it and off of the fork. After welding on the 5"x3"x1/4" piece to the ends I grinded off the edges and smoothed out the corners a bit. Made it sure look nice. :laughing: Once I had got this done I decided that I might as well put skid plates on the bottom to help keep the paint on these since i know they will be skidded across pavement when attaching to trailers.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Here are a few pictures on the grinding process. The nut represents the nut I will be using for attaching the trailer ball.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Next thing was I went down to Harbor freight and got some trailer balls, saved $20 vs. buying them at napa and I got a new pipe wrench too. To attach the trailer ball to the trailer mover i had to cut out some holes so the thread can go though the square stock. My next problem was if left When the fork would be put in it would destroy the trhreads and make it impossible to remove the ball so I cut two pieces of steel tubing that set in the hole and protect the thread. Next I welded the tube to the square stock and welded the nut to the end of the tube. Seems like a perfect fit, the ball fits just right.

 

[Johndeere3720]

And the final step, paint. I had some of my favorite paint, the stuff that dries in 15 minutes. So I painted them blue.:thumbsup: enjoy!

 

[Runner]

Looks good. Very simple, elegant solution. I've been meaning to make one of those myself, but haven't gotten around to it. Yours looks like the best design I've seen yet.

May have to steal it...

Thanks for posting.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Looks good. Very simple, elegant solution. I've been meaning to make one of those myself, but haven't gotten around to it. Yours looks like the best design I've seen yet.

May have to steal it...

Thanks for posting.

Your welcome, go right ahead, I just plan to put one right to work and the other on craigslist. :thumbsup:

 

[Johndeere3720]

Well Today I got the chain painted up. I also screwed in the trailer balls and for the one I am keeping put a protective sleeve on it to protect the thread and keep it up a little higher since It will be used in many ways, I know for a fact not only trailers and I will probably have to swap different size trailer balls for different trailers since we have some smaller trailers as well as larger ones. For the one i am selling, i screwed it all the way in. Runner, one other idea for it i almost did was weld a receiver to the trailer mover so i could swap the trailer balls a little easier but then I would have had to have the ball on the hitch so you could see it when hooking up to a trailer. Thats why I went this route.:thumbsup:

 

[Johndeere3720]

Well today I think i got a buyer for the trailer mover I have for sale. Crossing my fingers to sell it, then I can start my next project. Wish me luck guys!:thumbsup:

 

[mjncad]

Jacob:

You could have used those convert-a-balls I've seen to save the hassle of changing balls.

That blue looks like a color that Cardinal offers in its powder coating line.