DIY forks

stick welder · Nov 27, 2011

I looked at the price of attachments for my machine and decided to build a few of my own. I have built a receiver plate, mini backhoe and am working on forks.

relaqbr · Nov 27, 2011

stick welder said:
I looked at the price of attachments for my machine and decided to build a few of my own. I have built a receiver plate, mini backhoe and am working on forks.

Nice
I have a toro dingo. Very similar in general style and I really like it. I had used it at a community garden and knew its capabilities. So when I started looking for a tractor of my own. I had a couple of wheeled tractors come out 4 trials. Even at 10 horsepower more they could not compete. The little track guys are more maneuverable and had a better hydraulics the only thing I don't have for mine is a mower. Are you using anything?

Again nice.

Bob

stick welder · Nov 27, 2011

I have never used a mower with one. The Ditch Witch has realy large lugs on the tracks and tends to tear up the ground in a few passes, the skid turning doesn't help either.

Short Game · Nov 27, 2011

I built some bucket forks for my last tractor and modified them to fit my nerw one. Made of channel iron, I used them mostly for lifting logs and I found I could bend them. I stiffened them near the short end by welding in more channel, upside down, into the bottoms. With that lesson learned, I built my new log forks to not bend, using lots of reinforcement where it matters, at the start of them. I posted picks of my log fork build on this thread: (I didn't get the pics up until four pages in.)

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/213676-log-forks.html#post2441799

Stick welder? Yup.

stick welder · Nov 27, 2011

The channel forks are just gusseted right now but, I plan on reinforcing them similar to the idea mentioned above by boxing them in. So far they seem to hold quite a bit of weight without too much flex. I have been using my old lincon electric ac/ dc arc for my projects, it takes a little more time than a mig but has produced reasonable results.

NormL · Nov 27, 2011

stick welder said:
The channel forks are just gusseted right now but, I plan on reinforcing them similar to the idea mentioned above by boxing them in. So far they seem to hold quite a bit of weight without too much flex. I have been using my old lincon electric ac/ dc arc for my projects, it takes a little more time than a mig but has produced reasonable results.

You, sir, are too modest.:thumbsup:

brewdog · Nov 27, 2011

stick welder said:
I looked at the price of attachments for my machine and decided to build a few of my own. I have built a receiver plate, mini backhoe and am working on forks.

Stick Welder,

You did a nice job making your forks. Here's a set I made for my old tractor, and they held 1000 lbs of logs with no problem. I'm sure yours will serve you well.

Short Game · Nov 28, 2011

brewdog said:
Stick Welder,

You did a nice job making your forks. Here's a set I made for my old tractor, and they held 1000 lbs of logs with no problem. I'm sure yours will serve you well.

Yes, both sets are nicely engineered. I will be eventually making some moveable forks and will be looking at these again. I bent my first set because I found I would try to move anything that got in the way. I don't think I've gotten over that inclination.

MJPetersen · Dec 1, 2011

I made my forks from channel and though I use them on the 3 pt. for now, they have proven more than strong enough. I lifted my lathe in the crate and that was over 1000 lbs. I had a hard time keeping the front of the tractor on the ground for steerage. My point being that the channel will work very well. I hot bent the channel, reinforced, and boxed, but no gussets. Love it. Build thread is in signature.

Mike