Debris Fork?

[petebert]

I need some sort of fork on the front of my bucket for bedding. For example, over the course of the winter straw and wasted hay built up in front of the barn door and became a wet matted mess. I went to scrape it with the bucket but the bucket won't scoop it, it just rolls it over onto itself. so I have a roll of wet waste that easily weighs 500lbs and that's only from a portion of the entrance area. I'm thinking if I had some sort of forks on my bucket I could get under the pile and scoop.

Online I found a clamp on "debris fork", is that the way to go? Clamp on Debris Fork, 6 In. Bucket | Agri Supply, 87637 I'm wondering if those forks are too thick for what I'm wanting and if a spear style fork would be better. Any idea where to find what I'm looking for?

 

[kevin37b]

Get a grapple and be done with it . You will be the (WHY I DID NOT DO THIS EARLIER ) guy .

 

[kwanwon]

I agree with Kevin on the grapple but if you don't have the valving for it you will have the added expense to add and a grapple is not cheap either.
I bought a debris fork because at the time my tractor didn't have the valving or the weight to handle a grapple, it worked very well for me, I used it to move large rocks and brush and I still use it on my Kubota B26 that I currently have. The biggest downside is not being able to see the ends of the forks over the bucket while pushing into a pile.
My B26 has a quick realise bucket and more appropriate weight to handle a grapple and I see one in the very near future.

 

[boggen]

manure forks = google search. = pitch fork for tractor

many farmers weld directly to the FEL bucket some round or square shaped pipe to it. due to that is all the bucket/tractor is used for beyond pulling stuff.

if ya deal with the "pea soup" of urine, poo, and straw. a generic FEL bucket, with tines on it can be nice to help sort scoop up some of the pea soup. otherwise, you can get manure forks that run clear across.

have seen tines any were from 6" to 24" up to 36" long.

if you are DIY tines for bucket. take into account bottom of bucket will rarely be scraping against the floor but always at an angle. and in that shape your end points on your tines to that effect. to help ya get up and under the crud.

 

[boggen]

grapple for manure (poo, urine, straw), huh? not seeing how a grapple would be able to get under the compacted manure and pick it up. more so with soft poo is there. granted been 20 plus year since dealing with cattle and having some in barn as needed. but a grapple? just not seeing it happen.

EDIT: ignore above. little bit more searching, showed grapple plus manure forks (tine forks). and now remembering the slop that ends up falling off and wanting a grapple + tines. due to taking longer to go back and remove the slop that fell off every time. and not really able to get a full bucket per say on each run.

 

[jeff9366]

Steel Debris Forks are heavy, reducing your lift capacity.

Aluminum Debris Forks are light but expensive.

"Wondering if those forks are too thick for what I want, and if a spear style fork would be better?"
While my Payne's aluminum Debris Forks have been indestructible, they pick up considerable dirt with the debris.

Here is a LINK to several firms producing manure/silage forks for tractor FELs.
LINK: tractor manure forks - Google Search

 

[PaulWS]

I recently bought this fork. I use it to remove old hay and manure from my pastures. The fork works good on hay, limbs and large debris. I also have a grapple for larger jobs. The 87637 is well worth the investment.

 

[petebert]

A manure fork looks like what I need. I'm not dealing with pea soup. More so matted, urine soaked straw and hay waste. The outside pile I'm trying to deal with right now has also been getting rained on. I have seen a few in my area welded on. That would work best for me if I had two separate buckets. I use my bucket for a lot of stuff and wouldn't want the forks on there all the time.

The grapple looks amazing but I don't have remotes right now. It is on my to do list since I want to do my own hay someday.

 

[PaulWS]

I have a box blade on the back of my tractor. I use it to push the hay/manure into piles; the box blade also provides ballast for the weight of the loaded fork.

 

[petebert]

I decided to try debris forks because they were a decent price and seemed more dual purpose. I'm giving them a 5 out of 10 for muck cleanup. I'm getting the area cleaned up with them but they still have a tendency to just shove the pile. It takes some effort on my part, I have to get the angle just right and try not to tear the ground up as the back tires start to slip. I'm guessing if I had gone with manure forks I could just stab into the pile and pick it up.

 

[jeff9366]

Yes, that looks like the "business" end of the cattle and cow business.

 

[petebert]

It's usually not that bad, this is spring cleanup around the entrance to the barn. Next year I need to move the hay feeder around more. So this is a few months of matted hay, manure, piss and rain. So this stuff is heavy and wet. When I finish this up I'll see how it does at picking up matted hay/straw that isn't as mucky.

 

[boggen]

sounds about right of what i remember of dealing with manure. you not going to keep on plowing through the manure to get a full bucket. but slide the tines in a bit, then backup and retry again and attempt to flipping chunks into bucket per say. in order to get a full bucket. hopefully ya not pushing the chunks around to much now that ya got some forks. and/or you bucket is no longer sliding across everything vs digging in.

looking at pictures.... 3pt hitch PHD (post hole digger). no were enough weight for counter balance for FEL.

and the side walls of rear tires looks to tight. i am guessing high pressure in rear tires with no fluid in the rear tires. drop the pressure in rear tires to say 12 to 15 PSI keep them on the rim. but reduce the pressure so the rear tires squash a little bit to gain traction. filling rear tires up with a fluid to gain weight but also help with some traction.

you might want to invest in some chains for rear tires.

 

[petebert]

Problem is sometimes the tines won't slide in, a lot of times they just shove the whole pile. I've been working on getting the right tine angle to get it to stab in better. That's why I was thinking the pointy manure tines would probably be way easier. I have been doing multiple stabs and tipping the bucket back to load the bucket and get as much as possible on each trip.

I haven't purposely tried any counter weight. I just put stuff on the back as a I need it, right now I need to dig holes. I'll check the tire pressure.

I definitely need some chains. It's amazing how easily this tractor slips in the snow.