Bolt On Pallet Forks

mcnitt · Feb 14, 2008

I bought a set of Gearmore bolt-on pallet forks for my GL3430 FEL #723. They're probably a little heavier duty than I need, and I have a problem keeping them to stay straight when I use them. I bought them to pick up limbs and piles of slash. They work well enough, but no matter how hard I clamp them on, they tend to swing out of paralell making it difficult to pick up consistant sizes of piles.

I have since bought a set of 72" trash forks, which is what I should have done in the first place, but I still would like to know what I should do to keep the pallet forks paralell when using them. Any ideas?

PitbullMidwest · Feb 14, 2008

How about a spreader bar bolted to the forks close to bucket?

BTW what are "trash forks"?

mcnitt · Feb 14, 2008

I like the idea of a bolt-on spreader bar...I think I could figure out how to do that. Thanks.

A trash fork looks like a big bolt-on comb sticking out from the bottom of the FEL. Mine is about 72", and has about 7 or 8 "teeth" which stick out about 20". It lets you get under a pile of brush, limbs or whatever to pick up the pile. It works great! Mine are made by Gearmore and cost around $800. I have 40 acres of pines, oak, and madrones so there's always lots to pick up. I also help my neighbor take care of their 49 acres of trees. The trash fork is not as efficient as a set of grapples, but overall I am very pleased with them. I also have a single cylinder graple on the top of the bucket which holds the pile and prevents logs from rolling back on top of me.

Here's an address where you can view a .pdf of the forks:

http://www.gearmore.com/pdf/Cat_P30.pdf