Bought pallet forks

[B58Hustler]

Well all the tree damage from the Northeast snow storm forced my hand. I got a set from Chris Perry at Artillian.com and I must tell you that the design, material quality, fabrication, welding, painting and packaging are excellent. The tolerances for the QA frame are perfect. Hopefully the pictures show you the details of fit and finish. The tines are 42" which for me are the right size. Another feature on the tines is an over-center lever instead of a pull-pin for locking the tine to the rail. Chris spends a lot of effort on packaging/product protection for the QA frame. It took more time removing the protection than putting the unit together on the loader frame.

Functionally, they work great with excellent visibilty. Also find the chain slots on the rails good for securing the load.

 

[grsthegreat]

They look nice. i love mine . i do more with them then i ever thought i would need to. I even moved my hot tub with them.

Mine have a kind of backing plate though to prevent things from coming over the top of the forks. I kind of like that safety feature, but it does add to the overall weight of the forks.

some people here say then never take their forks off, hehe. I dont see that happening, but its amazing how much stuff they can be used for.

 

[blueriver]

Looks good. Not much protection on the top. Be carefull not to roll one of the logs onto that goodlooking tractor ... not to mention right down the loader arms to the operators station.

 

[creekbend]

Congratulations. They will most definitely be a huge aid in helping you move the debris. Enjoy your Seat Time and be safe.:tractor:

 

[charleyfarmall]

Welcome to the Artillian Owners Club! ;-)

You have found out what the rest of us did and know now. They are an outstanding product.

 

[Glen Watkins]

The fit and finish of these forks look outstanding. I wish I could justify owning a pair of them but I can't think of enough uses for me to own a pair.

 

[beenthere]

I wouldn't be without my forks, now that I have them and find as many uses for the forks as I have found for the bucket. Maybe more.

So easy to put things on a pallet and use the forks to move the pallets around, dig out trees by the roots, pallets of wood, brush piles, logs as shown, etc.

 

[B58Hustler]

Thanks guys for the comments. One thing these light weight forks give is good feedback to a load imbalance when doing the initial pick. Set it down, and try again. It seems the 'sweet spot' for stability is when the heel of the forks is at the same level(+ -) as the center line of the front axle. The pix is a 35" dia 46" long sugar maple. As you have said I need a taller protection bar for sure.
There have been numerous times when guys comment about implements being designed to work in tension or compression. My question is what's your experience with using tines in the 'dump' position to back drag wood out of a hole so you can load from the front? Doesn't seem like a good idea, but what do I know.

 

[Glen Watkins]

Christmas is coming B58Hustler and you look like a good candidate for a grapple too! What are you taking these pictures with? They are very sharp!

 

[5030]

I believe I'd add a backgard above the upper rail. One time something comes over the top and you'll wish you had a backstop.

far as a tolerance on a Bobcat style QA plate, about 1/4" is acceptable.

 

[B58Hustler]

Christmas is coming B58Hustler and you look like a good candidate for a grapple too! What are you taking these pictures with? They are very sharp!

Glen, the camera is a Nikon Coolpix L120, set on auto.

 

[two_bit_score]

I believe I'd add a backgard above the upper rail. One time something comes over the top and you'll wish you had a backstop.

far as a tolerance on a Bobcat style QA plate, about 1/4" is acceptable.

Yeah. They may have fine fit and finish but without a backstop they look dangerous to me.

 

[C-Range]

Hi Dave and Everyone,

Dave, thanks for sharing your experience and impressions here on TBN. It looks like the forks must be a big help cleaning up after the recent storm and your 3320 sure makes them look nice!

With regard to a backrest on the forks, I fully understand these preferences. When these forks were conceived, the original intent was for use on a 2305 subcompact machine with little lifting capability. Every ounce of weight mattered (matters). The 18" of frame height was considered enough backrest protection. Still, for those who wanted to add something higher, the frame was offered in an unpainted state for folks to add further additions as desired. It has always been a plan to design and offer a backrest when time allowed.

As of now, we have prototyped a backrest and it is in use however it has since been redesigned for improved mounting, lighter weight, and higher capacity (1000 lb vertical load @ 23-25 lbs). At present, we are working diligently on optimizing the cost of the backrest and trying to get it offered asap.

This backrest is targetting the following novel characteristics, 1- It will be field installable, 2- It will be removable, and 3-It will be shipping friendly. The field installability is so that those who have already bought their set of forks can later add the backrest, if so desired. The removability is so that when you don't need the extra protection, you can store the frame aside and retain the lower weight and better visibility.

As for shipping, we are currently able to ship by less expensive and much more convenient ground parcel services over freight or truck shipping. By having the backrest be a separate component, we can continue to stay within the ground services constraints. If it were joined as one piece, this would no longer be possible.

For anyone interested, there is a section on the "coming soon" page of the Artillian website which discusses the progress of the backrest.

Thanks again for everyone's observations! They are greatly appreciated. And again, thanks to Dave.

 

[RRILEY]

My question is what's your experience with using tines in the 'dump' position to back drag wood out of a hole so you can load from the front? Doesn't seem like a good idea, but what do I know.
Attached Thumbnails



I have found my forks (not like yours) to be very useful for loading logs into my trailer and shifting the load around for more logs by dragging them back to one side or the other. Also when I drag them from the woods to a pile I drag some apart for loading. About 12' long.

 

[B58Hustler]

My question is what's your experience with using tines in the 'dump' position to back drag wood out of a hole so you can load from the front? Doesn't seem like a good idea, but what do I know.
Attached Thumbnails



I have found my forks (not like yours) to be very useful for loading logs into my trailer and shifting the load around for more logs by dragging them back to one side or the other. Also when I drag them from the woods to a pile I drag some apart for loading. About 12' long.

Great, that's the answer I was looking for. Thanks

 

[C-Range]

Dave,

Not sure if this helps, but would there be any benefit from removing the forks (or not) and using the chain hooks to attach the object (tree trunk?) to the frame with chains to get it out of the hole?

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

Yeah. They may have fine fit and finish but without a backstop they look dangerous to me.

Agreed, that is why I bought the Frontier forks instead of the Artillian set up. I see now they (Artillian) are going to offer a back stop but it wasn't available when I bought.

 

[two_bit_score]

Agreed, that is why I bought the Frontier forks instead of the Artillian set up. I see now they (Artillian) are going to offer a back stop but it wasn't available when I bought.

I suppose that there could be a purpose to not having a backstop. Just can't imagine what it could be.

 

[LHS Inc]

Agreed, that is why I bought the Frontier forks instead of the Artillian set up. I see now they (Artillian) are going to offer a back stop but it wasn't available when I bought.

Same for me. I looked at the Artillian but I wanted a backstop. Bought mine at Everything Attachments with a backstop and have been very pleased with them.

 

[Glen Watkins]

I don't see much of a need for a backstop!