Clamp On Pallet Forks

[pane056]

Hello;

Regarding the clamp on pallet forks. Are they good enough for the intended purpose? I like the idea only because they are much smaller and easier to store. I try to keep my equipment indoors out of the weather and am quickly running out of space.

thanks, nicholas

 

[samandmax]

I was going to get clamp on forks but was talked into going for forks with quick attach with the protective cage on rear. It was a smart move. I think the clamp on forks wont lift the weight that regular fork attachment will. Sitting outside doesnt seem to hurt them much, spray them down with a little oil or diesel fuel once in awhile.

 

[dusty3030]

I'm going to assume you mean to use them on your JD 3320 that is on your profile.
If so, since it is JD quick attach, I'd spring for the lighweight full set from Artillian or Everything attachements. You say space is an issue, they are light enough to manhandle or flip up on their back, but so much easier to attach and detach from your loader and so much easier to use since you can actually see what your lifting I think these positives outweight the storage part.

 

[JJZ 109]

A quick search of the forum will provide many, many posts of the pros & cons of these forks. Personally, they were one of the bigger mistakes I've made in the tractor world. QA with dedicated forks were definitely the way to go in the end.

 

[oldballs]

I'm going to assume you mean to use them on your JD 3320 that is on your profile.
If so, since it is JD quick attach, I'd spring for the lighweight full set from Artillian or Everything attachements. You say space is an issue, they are light enough to manhandle or flip up on their back, but so much easier to attach and detach from your loader and so much easier to use since you can actually see what your lifting I think these positives outweight the storage part.

I bought a pin on set of dedicated pallet forks for my Kubota BX. ..cost me quite a lot. They worked great but were a pain to attach and detach to remount the bucket. Since then I have a Kubota B2620 model and opted for clamp on forks from Bucket Solutions. They work great also and are quicker to mount and remove and yes they store more handily as well as cost less. I suppose the "real" pallet forks work better, but heck, the clamp on have done everything that I asked of them.

 

[brandoro]

I have Landpride clamp on forks and use them a fair bit. It would be nice to have better visibility at times but I can usually feel my way by going slow and easy. Don't have quick attach so clamp on was the better choice for me.

 

[cartod]

Save your money and get artillians. So much more useful than bucket forks. I use my forks on my 3320 more than my bucket.

 

[PhysAssist]

Save your money and get artillians. So much more useful than bucket forks. I use my forks on my 3320 more than my bucket.

Depends what you use your tractor and loader for..

Our chain-on forks from yankee warehouse have done all we asked, exceed the lift rating of our tractor and loder, AND store in about a 4X4 " square of floor space extended to their 42" tips...

We've not had any visibility issues 'cause the chains index the forks and I can easily guage the distance...

 

[Turbys_1700]

I faced the same situation last year and decided to purchase a set of clamp on forks for my bucket...
Are they as nice as dedicated skid steer QA type...
No...
Do they work...
Yes...
Plus I saved over $500...
The ones I got have receivers to accept 2x4's and attachment points for utilizing chains to help stabilize the fork...
This makes loading brush and rolling logs easy...
I really like mine and it was and still is one of the best additions I ever made to my FEL...
Overkill for my little tractor but very well made and I highly recommend them...

Clamp on Loader Bucket Skid Tractor Pallet Fork chain 793573164506 | eBay

 

[PhysAssist]

:thumbsup:

I faced the same situation last year and decided to purchase a set of clamp on forks for my bucket...
Are they as nice as dedicated skid steer QA type...
No...
Do they work...
Yes...
Plus I saved over $500...
The ones I got have receivers to accept 2x4's and attachment points for utilizing chains to help stabilize the fork...
This makes loading brush and rolling logs easy...
I really like mine and it was and still is one of the best additions I ever made to my FEL...
Overkill for my little tractor but very well made and I highly recommend them...

Clamp on Loader Bucket Skid Tractor Pallet Fork chain 793573164506 | eBay

:thumbsup:

Ditto to alll the above with my Yankee Warehouse Chain-ons, I used clevises to localize my optimum hook-up location on each chain and leave the load binders in the clevises, so they go on in less than 2 minutes.

Off is even quicker, and we've used them for everything from putting our Snow Bear snowplow onto the mounts on the front of our truck to picking up old brush piles [without needing a grapple, though I really would love to have one of those :cool2:], to lifting a 30" diameter [trunk] x 8 foot ash log [as well as pallets full of cut up logs].

I'll admit that I sometimes have to make sure that the heaviest loads are located on the fork area nearest the bucket, but even with my usual propensity to overload/exceed the load ratings of any and all equipment I own, they have never yet failed or faltered- even when the loader needed a little manual help lifting the load [:wink: don't tell the safety police]

The price is still $149- and only $29 for ground shipping from their PA location to my upstate NY location- that's really hard to beat for the great quality.

Yankeewarehouse.net

BTW, the finish/paint on the forks pictured is way poorer than the actual quality we rec'd, and despite over a year of heavy use, it's still only minimally marred by scratches.

YMMV,
Thomas
:twocents: :wave:

Oops- forgot, they have 41" useable space, and are rated at 3500#- well more than my loader can think of lifting.....

View attachment Chain on manual.pdf

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I agree take a look at chain on forks. We picked up the second set for moving brush so we can get short cuts to catch on at least two forks.

These are out of oil field pipe and very strong and even with abuse have not bent one yet. Going with quick attach forks is not an option on our 1983 JD 310B

Loader Forks Bucket Forks Skid Tractor Pallet Fork | eBay

 

[PhysAssist]

I agree take a look at chain on forks. We picked up the second set for moving brush so we can get short cuts to catch on at least two forks.

These are out of oil field pipe and very strong and even with abuse have not bent one yet. Going with quick attach forks is not an option on our 1983 JD 310B

Loader Forks Bucket Forks Skid Tractor Pallet Fork | eBay

Hey Gale,

Those look very good, and not having to pay a shipping fee is always good.

You stated that they are made out of oil field pipe, but I couldn't tell from the pictures on the ebay page- are they round/circular in profile?

Thomas

 

[PhysAssist]

Did you happen to see their R-R "clone"?

Skidsteer loader Bucket Teeth Tooth Bar Toothbar Debris | eBay

If they'd given me enough of a price cut for a 46" model [their standard size is 52"] I'd have thought more about getting one of their "Loader Bucket Toothbar Debris Tool" instead of the Piranha toothbar I just ordered from BXpanded...

BTW, Mr. Harry from BXpanded seems pretty sure that my chain-on forks will fit just fine over the Piranha toothbar, where the teeth are purposely left off at each end. [Thread tie-in comment].

Thomas

 

[ironpen]

I have chain on forks from GC Manufacturing in Oklahoma and they are $149 (includes shipping) and they are the best value I have ever bought. Solid as a rock and they have really taken a lot of abuse from me. Highly recommend. They have never worked loose and are extremely strong. They sell them on ebay or you can buy direct from them.

 

[94BULLITT]

If you have clamp on forks you may bend your bucket. There is no visibility with clamp on forks. I would go with a set of quick attach forks. Depending on what you need to a set of 3 point hitch forks may work. I have both a set for the loader and 3 point hitch. They both have their uses.

 

[PhysAssist]

If you have clamp on forks you may bend your bucket. There is no visibility with clamp on forks. I would go with a set of quick attach forks. Depending on what you need to a set of 3 point hitch forks may work. I have both a set for the loader and 3 point hitch. They both have their uses.

Yeah and we could all get hit by meteorites too!

No, sorry, one of my instructors said that so often in response to "could be's" that I can never resist it when I hear or read could be statements.

As I already said, there IS visibility with CHAIN-ON forks- you know where your forks are by where the chains are located on your beucket, and then you can easily learn to gauge where the tips are from that.

I agree it's not like driving a forklift, but most of us AREN'T going to be doing that kind of fork intensive work, or we'd already have a forklift.

The occasional pallet lift is not difficult with chain-on forks, with a little common sense and practice.

Just my opinion- as a guy who HAS chain-on forks,
Thomas

 

[Gale Hawkins]

PhysAssist the forks we have from GC Manufacturing in OK are from 2 3/8" OD used pipe from oil fields and the thickest that I just checked by flashlight is 3/16". Like ironpen states they are solid as a rock.

Unlike new China steel this pipe I expect is USA made to oil field specs and is more like 40-60 years old I am sure. Like most of us would for the same $$$ would prefer a rust colored log chain that is 50 years old vs most any new chain of the same size from TSC or HF. :thumbsup:

I was ticked when I got the first set and they were not flat until I gave it some thought. Trying to lift a tall stack of ply wood I thought I broke one from the sound of it. Turned out just one link in the chain deformed enough to slip though the binder hook but the next link caught the load. The chain did not break but the pressure deformed one link then the link that caught the load.

Keeping the pressure at min on the cutting edge is the main reason I went with chain on forks because at 60 HP some real break out pressure can form. Your photos shows this feature where pressure points are at the rear end of the fork pressing up on the bottom of the buck and on the leading edge to the top of the as well as the cuttting edge.

Unlike with clamp on forks this style of chain on forks can NOT put a twisting torque force on the cutting edge by design. Our forks stock is 61" with 40" working fork, 3" for the standard loop (for a 2"x4") / catch edge and 18.5" of support under the bucket. Without the binders they weight about 30 pounds per each fork.

As has be posted in each of many treads on this subject the bucket does block ones vision and moves the load out vs forks only. Since I seldom do dangerous work without the kids around with cell phones they can serve as my eyes on the forks but by putting 3' 2x4's in the standard loops I can judge the fork angle to the ground and if they are all in the same relative position from the tractor see.

Other pluses of chain on over clamp on besides damaging the buck potential is they work for those of us with NOT quick hitch options. Our bucket is 90" wide and the forks are on 61" end to end so I can toss all four (for brush fork set-up) and head to the burn pile. If I want to bunch the fire first I just dump them out of the way and when finished we chain them on and add to the fire. The cost per fork is $100 ($75 for fork/$25 for binder) so the brush fork set up is $400. Spacing is easy to adjust and when in heavy pallet lifting I can put two to the side to spread the pressure point load. Loading hay one could do it with the set up at worked best.

As with everything there are pros and cons. For the poor man or one who only needs forks once every blue moon especially without a quick hitch option the chain on option is as about as good as it gets for us.:thumbsup:

 

[cartod]

Meteorites? :laughing:

Bolt on forks take the weight out past the pivot point by at least a foot! Anyone that wants to use there forks to pick up weight knows what that means. Weight further away is not good.

The forks need to be as close to the pivot as they can get for safety and for capacity period!!!!

 

[k0ua]

My 2 cents.. I have owned clamp on forks.. Had trouble keeping them clamped on they wanted to pivot with side pressure etc.. converted them to chain on forks.. much better option as then they stayed on. They work OK and are useful. They have downsides, as others have pointed out. I sold them and got some SSQA forks.. much better visibility, much more lift ability as you are closer to the pins etc.. just as everyone says. Bottom line: If you have no quick attach capability, then by all means get some chain on forks. They are useful, and easy to store etc. If you have SSQA, then by all means get some SSQA forks.. Oh by the way I never bent the bucket with the clamp on configuration or the chain on configuration
.. Not saying it is not possible, but I don't think it is a big likelihood in normal usage.

James K0UA

 

[94BULLITT]

Try checking at the rental companies. Sunbelt and RSC have a used section on their website and have seen forks for $300 on there before but nothing local for me.

Yeah and we could all get hit by meteorites too!

No, sorry, one of my instructors said that so often in response to "could be's" that I can never resist it when I hear or read could be statements.

As I already said, there IS visibility with CHAIN-ON forks- you know where your forks are by where the chains are located on your beucket, and then you can easily learn to gauge where the tips are from that.

I agree it's not like driving a forklift, but most of us AREN'T going to be doing that kind of fork intensive work, or we'd already have a forklift.

The occasional pallet lift is not difficult with chain-on forks, with a little common sense and practice.

Just my opinion- as a guy who HAS chain-on forks,
Thomas

You can tell where the forks are but it is hard to see the skid and how the forks are going into it. It would be harder to tell if you need to curl the bucket. They would be okay for level ground. I live on uneven terrain they would be hard to use. It would be good option if you do not have a quick attach and are lifting light stuff.

Oh by the way I never bent the bucket with the clamp on configuration or the chain on configuration
.. Not saying it is not possible, but I don't think it is a big likelihood in normal usage.

James K0UA

I think the bigger the tractor and the larger the load the more likely you would be to bend the bucket.