Ball mount on pallet forks

[horticattleman]

I welded a small reciever on the top of my box blade and just insert a receiver hitch from my truck. The welded part is basically a piece of square tubing with a hole in it.

 

[toy]

I am considering drilling a hole in the pallet forks and installing a hitch ball. How far back from the tip should I drill? I don't want to drill too close because the tips are tapered and I don't want to weaken them too much, but can't go too far back or the tip of fork could catch on the trailer hitch when turning. Is there a rule of thumb of how much strength is lost when drilling holes in steel?

I just got a 2" receiver hitch mounted on a quick attach plate, and then made inserts for it according to what I wanted to do. I have one insert with a ball on it for my larger trailers and I have one with just a hole drilled in it for those small garden tractor dump trailers, and I have a long insert that I guess some would call a boom pole but I have a 5 gal bucket tied on the end of it with about four feet length of rope, works great for reaching down into the creek infront of my place to get water to water my very small garden, that way I don't have to climb up and down the creek bank to get water. I fill up a mucket bucket [that is about the size of a #2 or #3 wash tub] and haul that to the garden. Another thing that I do with the long insert is I have a small trailer that hauls about 1 1/2 tons of coal and it sits high off the ground so instead of driving up a steep ramp to unload the coal I use the long insert and have one of the dozer blades like sears sells for their tractors that I mount on it so I can drag the coal back to the back of the buggie as I unload it works great. What I think I am trying to say is it is worth making a dedicated quick attach 2" insert plate there is just so much you can do with it, and it will stretch your imagination. I know someone is already thinking of using it as a jousting pole as a gladiator.

 

[BobRip]

I just got a 2" receiver hitch mounted on a quick attach plate, and then made inserts for it according to what I wanted to do. I have one insert with a ball on it for my larger trailers and I have one with just a hole drilled in it for those small garden tractor dump trailers, and I have a long insert that I guess some would call a boom pole but I have a 5 gal bucket tied on the end of it with about four feet length of rope, works great for reaching down into the creek infront of my place to get water to water my very small garden, that way I don't have to climb up and down the creek bank to get water. I fill up a mucket bucket [that is about the size of a #2 or #3 wash tub] and haul that to the garden. Another thing that I do with the long insert is I have a small trailer that hauls about 1 1/2 tons of coal and it sits high off the ground so instead of driving up a steep ramp to unload the coal I use the long insert and have one of the dozer blades like sears sells for their tractors that I mount on it so I can drag the coal back to the back of the buggie as I unload it works great. What I think I am trying to say is it is worth making a dedicated quick attach 2" insert plate there is just so much you can do with it, and it will stretch your imagination. I know someone is already thinking of using it as a jousting pole as a gladiator.

I do some of the same stuff. I made a small fork lift to fit on the end of a boom pole and use this to move stuff around in the fire. I actually have two 2 inch receiver plates and leave one on my small trailer. That one has a light weight home made quick attach plate.

 

[toy]

I do some of the same stuff. I made a small fork lift to fit on the end of a boom pole and use this to move stuff around in the fire. I actually have two 2 inch receiver plates and leave one on my small trailer. That one has a light weight home made quick attach plate.

There isn't anything more satisfying than to throw something together and it working out and making a job a lot easier.