thinking of hydraulic sliding tines on forks?

footer200 · Nov 7, 2013

Has anybody added hydraulic sliding tines to there forks? I remember seeing a post (can't locate it now) of someone trying to control there bucket attaching pins for a quick attach? I have seen the common body 2 piston cylinders but price wise and to get the travel I require I am thinking of 2 separate cylinders. Any experience or ideas are welcome?

94BULLITT · Nov 7, 2013

Here are some on ebay. It does not look like it would be hard to do.

48 inch Skid Steer Hydraulic Pallet Forks 48" Adjustable | eBay

Fallon · Nov 8, 2013

If you use 2 cylinders on 2 circuits you can slide forks left & right as well as width. If everything is on 1 circuit I'd expect that a sticky fork or what not could make the whole thing slide one way or the other on its own when you adjusted width.

CJONE · Nov 8, 2013

footer200 said:
Has anybody added hydraulic sliding tines to there forks? I remember seeing a post (can't locate it now) of someone trying to control there bucket attaching pins for a quick attach? I have seen the common body 2 piston cylinders but price wise and to get the travel I require I am thinking of 2 separate cylinders. Any experience or ideas are welcome?

We did it on a BIG forklift that you could not slide the forks, forks are 20' long for a marina so moving them had to be done hydraulicly. 2 cylinders and 2 control valves. 4' stroke cylinders we attached opposing one another then attached to the top of the fork loop. Works great. biggest problem was getting the hoses reeved through pullys to extend the 30' mast height. CJ

footer200 · Nov 8, 2013

94BULLITT thanks for that link I see they have used 2 cylinders on that set up. Looks like that is what I am going to do just to get the travel I need on my Horst Welding forks. thanks

94BULLITT · Nov 8, 2013

footer200 said:
94BULLITT thanks for that link I see they have used 2 cylinders on that set up. Looks like that is what I am going to do just to get the travel I need on my Horst Welding forks. thanks

No problem. Post some pictures when you get them done. I think is called a side shift. Next time you are at a place like Lowes or Home depot you could sneak a peek at one of their fork lifts so you could see how it is done in person.

footer200 · Nov 29, 2013

Well I bought a couple cylinders out of the sale bin with a 10" stroke 60 bucks each. I have the brackets made up and tack welded on, everything works and lines up good so I will try to get all plumbed up Sat. morning. Yes I welded directly to the tines, no safety police please.:confused2:

94BULLITT · Nov 30, 2013

Cool, I'll be interested to see how it works out.

TomSeller · Nov 30, 2013

CJONE said:
We did it on a BIG forklift that you could not slide the forks, forks are 20' long for a marina so moving them had to be done hydraulicly. 2 cylinders and 2 control valves. 4' stroke cylinders we attached opposing one another then attached to the top of the fork loop. Works great. biggest problem was getting the hoses reeved through pullys to extend the 30' mast height. CJ

That would be an interesting setup to see. Sounds huge.

Xfaxman · Nov 30, 2013

footer200 said:
Well I bought a couple cylinders out of the sale bin with a 10" stroke 60 bucks each. I have the brackets made up and tack welded on, everything works and lines up good so I will try to get all plumbed up Sat. morning. Yes I welded directly to the tines, no safety police please.:confused2:

Looks good. :thumbsup:

What is this on the left fork?