Forks FEL bucket forks

[tc35dforme]

<font color="blue"> All in all, I think that I conducted this operation in a reasonable and cautious manner. The ability of the FEL to lift the load was carefully tested and established, as was tractor stability before there was any risk of losing control of the load or tipping the tractor. Unloading could have been safely abandoned with the crate fully on the trailer bed had any problem been encountered.
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Funny, you don't sound like a lawyer /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Glad it worked out for you. Be careful with that chipper !!! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> By chaining the crate to my bucket hooks I was able to carry most of its weight on the near end of the forks, just in front of my toothbar and there was minimal weight on the forward portions of the forks. </font>

MadDog...

I have to say not really!

Doesn't matter where you chain the load, the center of gravity of the load was out there somewhere, not at the chain hooks.

But I think you did prove that the LA402 loader can lift more than the spec says it is rated for. This doesn't sureprise me.

Since the bucket center lift rating is less than 800 lbs...you certainly exceeded that rating.

The rating of the forks is independent of the bucket they are attached to I believe. In other words, if they were attached to a loader with 10,000 lbs lift capacity, they would still only be rated for a load of 800 lbs.

So you sucessfully proved that the forks AND the loader can exceed their ratings! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I am glad all went well and that you put enough weight on the back to keep the back end down. Without weight on the rear, when the rear lifts the tractor will tilt to one side if the load on the front is not perfectly balanced with respect to the tractor's center line and whatever slope it may be on, however slight.

I think you did it about as good as any of us could and I commend you for keeping safety in the front of your mind.

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'm happy to report that my machinery unloading was accomplished without difficulty or incident. )</font>
And I'm happy that your able to report same. Good job. John

 

[OkieG]

Yea,... what Henro and John said. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

OkieG

 

[MadDog]

Bill, I agree with you that where the mass actually is determines where the COG is.

The chain wasn't to try to alter that; it was:

(1) to provide protection against the pallet sliding off of the forks and

(2) to reduce stress on the the forks by getting the weight as close as possible to the front of the FEL bucket where they are clamped on, rather than further out at the front of the forks, where the stress would be levering both the forks and the front of the bucket.

Even with sturdy and well-designed bucket forks, as these obviouisly are, and even if the load is well within their rated capacity, I think that it's probably a good idea to keep weight, to the extent possible (and without of course tipping the load backwards on yourself /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif ), off of the far end of the forks.

BTW, I'm going to assemble the chipper/shredder over the weekend and hopefully use it, and will report on it next week. This is the Wood-Pro AVP PTO-driven machine from
Vandermolen that no one seemed to have any experience with. I asked them for some references and checked them out before buying it. The price was pretty attractive, compared to the comparable Bearcat and Valby machines and it does both shredding and chipping through the same hopper. Crated, it sure looks like a "Moose." /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif