Loader getting the most out of your fel

[spitter]

I was wondering if any one ever lifted with their fel with no bucket or forks on it .I have a ssqa was thinking to get a flat plate and weld some hooks on it.This way I can increase my lifting capacity by lifting closer to pins and not adding the weight of the bucket or forks.My loader is a 7308 and is pretty weak.:drink:

 

[Wolfy]

That sounds like it would work, other than you may lose a little height.

 

[kennyd]

I regularly take the forks off my frame to help with lifting. My Artillian frame has chain slots in the upper and lower rails in addition to the built in receiver hitch.

 

[flingwing1969]

I was wondering if any one ever lifted with their fel with no bucket or forks on it .I have a ssqa was thinking to get a flat plate and weld some hooks on it.This way I can increase my lifting capacity by lifting closer to pins and not adding the weight of the bucket or forks.My loader is a 7308 and is pretty weak.:drink:

Yes. It does work well. Depending on what you want to lift and how, I think that one could even make a lifting plate that would put the lifting point even with or aft of the pins maybe one of our mechanical engineer friends could tell us if putting the weight close to the cylinder lift points on the boom might increase lift even more?

 

[ovrszd]

Yep, will work mathematically just like you'd expect.

Another trick to gaining lift capacity with the bucket is weld a hook to the back side of the bucket so you are lifting at or behind the SSQA.

 

[flingwing1969]

Yep, will work mathematically just like you'd expect.

Another trick to gaining lift capacity with the bucket is weld a hook to the back side of the bucket so you are lifting at or behind the SSQA.

What I thought. If height is an issue the lifting plate could be made higher than the SSQA top plates and open at the bottom to permit load swing aft during the lift.

 

[ovrszd]

What I thought. If height is an issue the lifting plate could be made higher than the SSQA top plates and open at the bottom to permit load swing aft during the lift.

Yep. I've never saw anyone build one. Anxious to see how it turns out!!!

 

[flingwing1969]

Yep. I've never saw anyone build one. Anxious to see how it turns out!!!

Got me thinking on that - I have another 20x40x9'-walled workshop to build so I will be using my 1 hour cobbled together gin-pole to lift the trusses into position. Maybe I'll work something like this up instead and make a permanent gin-pole to use for whatever as the needs arise. Use 2-2" receivers to connect a double arm square tubing gin-pole to the plate so it can be removed later and then could use the receiver(s) for hooks for straight lifts with the same plate. etc.

I don't have any issues lifting the trusses with what I cobbled together for the project, they are plenty light even with the added arm out there, but another implement is always nice to have - especially on that is pretty easy and fun to build.

 

[ovrszd]

Oh man, you should see my cobbled up jib........ OSHA would have a screaming fit......

 

[bdog]

The only downside to a bare SSQA plate is it won’t stand on its own so you will likely need to wrestle it to attach. This could easily be remedied by welding on some lightweight legs to hold it upright when not attached.

 

[spitter]

Thanks for all replies and help.:thumbsup: My forks are bradco hd ss forks that are way more than I need .Because of that it already cuts my lifting capabilities about 200 lbs. But I got them for free and I want to buy a bigger tractor so I not going to buy a smaller set. I want to use a set of log tongs and mostly build some sort of rock jaw for building rock walls. So I'm thinking a lightweight 1/4 " plate weld on some hooks ,d rings, receiver hitch and wal la. The 1/4 " plate only weights 76 lbs better than the 450 for the forks.Thanks again.:drink:

 

[AxleHub]

I was wondering if any one ever lifted with their fel with no bucket or forks on it .I have a ssqa was thinking to get a flat plate and weld some hooks on it.This way I can increase my lifting capacity by lifting closer to pins and not adding the weight of the bucket or forks.My loader is a 7308 and is pretty weak.:drink:

The advantages of your idea are several . . . . the only limitation I could see is the following: you are bringing the payload closer to the tractor front grill and hood etc.. If the payload is fair sized in dimension you could have some clearance issues or risk in hitting the grill etc..

 

[Oldoak]

The advantages of your idea are several . . . . the only limitation I could see is the following: you are bringing the payload closer to the tractor front grill and hood etc.. If the payload is fair sized in dimension you could have some clearance issues or risk in hitting the grill etc..

Very good point. One little jar on uneven ground while the tractor is moving or hitting the brakes will start the load swinging.

 

[spitter]

Good point with that setup I probably would have one of my sons rigging with a tag line. :drink:

 

[check]

Yep, will work mathematically just like you'd expect. Another trick to gaining lift capacity with the bucket is weld a hook to the back side of the bucket so you are lifting at or behind the SSQA.

Hey, that gives me an idea! I have a receiver hitch welded inside the bucket of my little BX25, and I usually just took chain on to that. But I never thought of running the chain over the back of the bucket instead of over the front. Wiill have to try it out.

 

[AxleHub]

Hey, that gives me an idea! I have a receiver hitch welded inside the bucket of my little BX25, and I usually just took chain on to that. But I never thought of running the chain over the back of the bucket instead of over the front. Wiill have to try it out.

Its one of the reasons I like my type of forks so well - they attach directly to my quick attach so all the fork weight is directly next to the pins. I couldn't use the clamp on forks with all the leveraged issues - as my payload with my forks is so much higher too.

I also have a 2 inch receiver hitch built into my quick attach, so I've used that for some chain lifting situations with a 2 inch trailer drawbar. Gives a great positioning for the chain and again very close to the pins.