Can it pick this up?

[crazyal]

Even 42" would work fine. I think the set I have for my backhoe are only 42". I've never had an issue lifting a 48" pallet.

 

[JoeL4330]

Forget the 60" ones...especially now that I understand you want to load over the side ...mine are 48" so I could reach into the bed over the tailgate, but in your case 42" is the ticket ..."st'd" pallet is 42x48 and you will want to use the pallet "widthwise" (remember, you are reaching over it to load...reaching back 60" seems like a non-starter ...if you use the st'd pallet width-wise you'd have two foot and-a-half spits waiting to spear you in the...even the extra 6" of steel would get in the way.

So, get them to load in the pallet and leave it until exhausted (the plan you are likin' better and better) and get a set of forks, which it sounds like you want anyway (42")

Incidentally, if I understand the "over the side" operation and the hard-on-the-bags digging bar, I'd suggest you take a st'd pallet and cover it with a piece of hardboard...you'd be able to slide the bags w.o. damage

 

[Johnbro]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I think I will get these on Friday:

Skid Steer Forks 4400 lb.

I can pick them up by driving to Bellingham and save $125 freight charges. This price is significantly less than my Kubota dealer and they seem well built. Any feedback on this product from anyone?

 

[mike69440]

If you want to lift 2000 Lbs into a pickup with the 853 loader, the loader pressures need to be a the max or a bit above.

The big thing is not to use clamp on forks. Remove the bucket and use a quick release plate with forks. The extra overhang is eliminated and you loose a near 500 LB bucket.

PS. My L39 with clamp on bucket forks (80 Lbs) and 75 Lbs or reinforcement added to HD bucket can lift 1800 LBS evenly spread on a pallet into the back of a truck. My machine is ballasted to 8100Lbs with wheel weights, thumb on back Hoe, skid plates, etc. With an 1800 Lb pallet, the rears are getting really light and front tires are squashed at 45 PSI. 1800 lbs is pushing it. My pressures are set to max plus a tiny bit also.

2000 lbs with clamp on bucket forks is VERY doubtful for your loader, but the skid steer set-up should work nicely as long as the rear of tractor stays on ground.

 

[JoeL4330]

put them on and subtract 440 lbs from your effective load limit...I am guessing your load limit at the hinge pins is about 1800 lbs. ...so, forks with a capacity of only 2000 lbs would give you a considerable safety margin and only subtract, say 250 lbs, for a net increase in payload of 200 lbs. compared to the 4400 lb. forks

keep us informed

 

[Johnbro]

So I went up to skidsteersolutions.com (their Bellingham, WA warehouse) yesterday and picked up a set of their 4400lb pallet forks. Had an interesting, lengthy conversation with Rob, the founder and owner. Anyway, brought the forks back home (under $650 including sales tax) and put them on this am. Here's the 4240 moving a pallet with 1000 lbs of snow melt (half a load).

Have to say, the pallet forks are amazing. I had a couple of VERY LARGE chunks from a big leaf maple that died and we took town--these were far too large to load into a bucket or roll. Picked them up with the forks and moved them, no problem! Moved some railroad ties, no problem! I can see where these will be super helpful until I get a grapple.

I'm also glad I didn't get anything longer than 48". I was thinking they would be too short, but I hadn't considered that they stick out in front of the tractor makign it a LOT longer than it is with a bucket. With the 48s there were some moments where I really had to pay attention not to whack stuff with the tips.

 

[texasjohn]

Inquiring minds want to know exactly how many sacks you can pick up on the pallet to pickup height before relief valve opens. Remember to air up your tires to max pressure!

Have you had the hydraulic pressure tested and relief valve set to max pressure? And, for grins, how many sacks can you pick up if you drop QA forks, rig up a sling with a chain/strap thru the pallet and FEL crossmember?

I've been amazed at the difference in max weight lift capability between the "sling" approach and stuff all the way out in front either using forks or bucket. You are in a perfect situation, now with the forks, to demonstrate this using incremental sacks of snow melt.

Yes, forks are an extremely useful attachment with capabilities quite different from a bucket, even one with teeth. They DO stick WAY out there!

 

[Johnbro]

Hey TexasJohn, if you want to jet up here and do some experiments throwing 50lb sacks of snowmelt around feel free. I'll happily donate the diesel

I know it won't pick up a full pallet with the forks and it will pick up a half pallet. Haven't tested the pressure on the relief valve. We'll go with the plan to split a pallet order (2000 lb) into two 1000 lb pallets so we can comfortably load and unload into our pickups.

On a similar note, boy those forks are useful! I spent the day in the seat moving piles of construction lumber, dead mowers, implements, fence posts, you name it. Really is a game-changer.

 

[texasjohn]

Thanks for the offer, but I have enough fun tossing around 50 lb sacks of cattle cubes..and I can stay warm, even sweat while doing it

glad you got a way to get your job done, now. forks are good!

 

[dstig1]

Yeah they really are helpful. I used mine for moving brush until I got the grapple. They work pretty well for doing that, but you pretty much have to manually stack the brush on them. But you can haul a ton of brush that way in one load. 10x what you could get in a bucket.

 

[KubotainNH]

You don't realize how useful they are until you have them. So much easier to put things on a flat pallet. Move firewood, load summer/winter stuff on pallets for easy storage, I even used mine to pop a small stump out with...amazing leverage. Have fun!

 

[JoeL4330]

So I went up to skidsteersolutions.com (their Bellingham, WA warehouse) yesterday and picked up a set of their 4400lb pallet forks. Had an interesting, lengthy conversation with Rob, the founder and owner. Anyway, brought the forks back home (under $650 including sales tax) and put them on this am. Here's the 4240 moving a pallet with 1000 lbs of snow melt (half a load).


I'm also glad I didn't get anything longer than 48". I was thinking they would be too short, but I hadn't considered that they stick out in front of the tractor makign it a LOT longer than it is with a bucket. With the 48s there were some moments where I really had to pay attention not to whack stuff with the tips.

Those are great forks, and I am a skidsteersolutions fan, but 4400 lbs. forks seem like overkill (as I said previously) ...I had the same situation as you but deliberately chose
Bradco 48" Compact Tractor Loader Pallet Forks, Model 108308, Universal Skid Steer Quick Attach because they are rated at 2300 lbs (the very max I might be able to lift) and they only weigh 265 lbs themselves ...yours are the cat's meow, but weigh 440 lbs so I would have lost nearly 200 lbs of payload capacity.

Glad you decided not to go with 60" forks ...

Interested in how you will operate: will you now load 2 1000 lb pallets? In front of each other in your bed? Let me know how you get them in and out.

 

[Johnbro]

Well here's an update for those interested in actual (vs published or rated) lifting capacity of the LA854 loader.

I tried picking up a full pallet and couldn't move it. Later as I was off loading some bags onto a different pallet the lights went on and I realized it was a load and half--3000 lbs. I pulled off 20 bags and picked up what remained with the pallet forks. They weigh 480 lbs so that means the loader lifted 2480 total. I only lifted it about 2 feet and then set it down again.

What I will PROBABLY do in light of this is to build shrink-wrapped pallets each one containing 30 bags or 1500 lbs and load those into the truck when we are called out on a job. That should allow us to spread a lot of ice melt and still have some left over in the back to ballast the weight of the plow on the front.

On a related note, I can't believe how nice it is to just a load of, say, steel T-posts on the ground and just scoop them up and put them somewhere else! NICE!!

 

[tmxj]

Should be able to split & set one 1500 lb pallet on another in your truck.

 

[kuboman]

Well here's an update for those interested in actual (vs published or rated) lifting capacity of the LA854 loader.

I tried picking up a full pallet and couldn't move it. Later as I was off loading some bags onto a different pallet the lights went on and I realized it was a load and half--3000 lbs. I pulled off 20 bags and picked up what remained with the pallet forks. They weigh 480 lbs so that means the loader lifted 2480 total. I only lifted it about 2 feet and then set it down again.

What I will PROBABLY do in light of this is to build shrink-wrapped pallets each one containing 30 bags or 1500 lbs and load those into the truck when we are called out on a job. That should allow us to spread a lot of ice melt and still have some left over in the back to ballast the weight of the plow on the front.

On a related note, I can't believe how nice it is to just a load of, say, steel T-posts on the ground and just scoop them up and put them somewhere else! NICE!!

So is this correct, your loader lifted about 600lbs more than it is rated to?
Did you check your relief pressure?

 

[Johnbro]

So is this correct, your loader lifted about 600lbs more than it is rated to?
Did you check your relief pressure?

Apparently this is correct. I can't count the actual number of bags I picked up without taking them off the pallet one at a time, but we paid for 40 and I can see at least 6 layers of 6 bags each so I have no reason to believe they shorted this load.

Tractor is brand new (26 hrs) so no, I haven't checked the relief pressure. I lifted it at about 2200 rpm, for whatever that's worth. If it had over 50 hrs on the meter, I would have used full throttle--not sure how much engine speed I need to reach max lift on the loader.

 

[Fxfymn]

Have to say, the pallet forks are amazing. I had a couple of VERY LARGE chunks from a big leaf maple that died and we took town--these were far too large to load into a bucket or roll. Picked them up with the forks and moved them, no problem! Moved some railroad ties, no problem! I can see where these will be super helpful until I get a grapple.

You can also add grapples to the pallet forks as I did. It makes it very easy to move brush, logs, etc. and it works great to secure loose loads on the pallets.

I welded mine up out of a couple of bush hog blades and box blade scarifiers. I use the rear remote to operate them.

They aren't pretty, but they work great. And one of these days I might actually get around to painting them.

 

[texasjohn]

Johnbro, engine speed is not the determining factor for lifting, your relief valve setting is. I typically run at about 2400 RPM just because it makes me feel better that I have good flow rate.

You are nearing my experience, being able to lift 2800 lbs using chains (very little subtraction from pay load) with just the QA and no attachment.

Be sure and maintain front tire inflation at very near max for such loads!

Yep, forks are dandy tools! Glad you have found a scheme that is working for you.