clamp on forks

[chuck172]

Has anyone ever bent a fel by using clamp on pallet forks?

 

[amaxwell]

Has anyone ever bent a fel by using clamp on pallet forks?

Yep ! I was dumping limbs in a ditch and let the tractor roll forward . The fork tips caught in the dirt and bent the front of the bucket in a smile.
However I didn't smile at all.A local shop got the edge back straight, but there are still some small dents in the bucket bottom.

 

[chuck172]

thanks for the info amaxwell. I think I'll pass on the clamp on style.

 

[Raspy]

I have a heavy duty front bucket and I did bend it some with a stupid move. However, I was able to bend it back with some chain and a hydraulic jack. Bucket forks are the most useful attachment I have. Use them all the time and would never give them up. An instant forklift. You will not bend the bucket with normal use.

 

[chuck172]

I picked up used forks in a scrap yard, ordered a blank ssqa plate. I'll be building my own. Aprox. $200.00 in material.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I picked up used forks in a scrap yard, ordered a blank ssqa plate. I'll be building my own. Aprox. $200.00 in material.

Best idea if you can find used forks. Personally I wouldn't mess with bolt on to the bucket forks. First the lift capacity is significantly reduced, risk of damage to bucket and they tend to spread apart if not welded together. A QA plate is not that expensive, so if one can find the forks with the mast then it is a simple welding job to attach them to the QA plate thus allowing the load to be much closer to the tractors FEL pivot point and you don't have to lift the weight of the bucket along with the load.
The only reason I could ever justify clamp on forks is if you don't have a QA bucket on the FEL.

 

[mguitas]

I took my backhoe off of my truck with clamp on forks, an did not bend a thing. Not even the bucket.

 

[mitchash]

I built a set of forks for my skid steer from an old set of fork lift forks and a quick attach plate, they worked very well. I have since sold the Bobcat and now have a tractor with a pin on bucket. I would like to build my forks to pin on my tractor loader and also be able to mount them to the three point hitch. I have seen this for sale, I just need some measurements for the three point hitch. What is the standard measurements for CAT 1 three point hitch?

 

[s219]

I have a set of clamp on forks, which seemed like a reasonable shortcut since I rarely use forks. I wanted something easy to stow out of the way and not too expensive since they sit around 99.9% of the time.

For light stable loads they are fine. For heavier or larger loads that might rock sideways, they suck. They can turn easily, wiggle loose, and will sometimes slip off when I back out (bottom of the forks sticks down 2" or so and catches on ground). If I cared enough, I might try to build a cross link that ties the two forks together in an attempt to stabilize them. But in reality, if I ever start using forks more, I'd upgrade to a QA setup and get some real forks.

I think I paid about $150 for my clamp on forks. You get what you pay for! In retrospect, that would have been $150 better put towards a proper setup.

As far as wrecking the bucket, I did put little dents in the bucket on my B2920 where the clamps attached (nothing major, but it did show that it can happen). On my L3200, the loader hydraulics cut off long before the bucket metal even begins to get springy. I doubt they'd ever dent the bucket unless I ran into something with a good head of steam.

 

[hhsco]

I've got a 2600lb pair of forks from northern tool- never had a problem bending the bucket. I briefly had them on my brother-in-laws case 580 sk loader and put 'em into the ground a little too hard and broke the welds on the fork itself. Bent it several degrees. Bent it back and rewelded and haven't had a problem since.....but I'm also a lot more careful!

I'd rather have an actual adjustable quick attach forklift deal for the loader....but these clamp-ons are extremely handy and nice and long as well.