BigDogues
Gold Member
Just be careful, your top plate may end up with an unintentional bend in it. You can generate a tremendous amount of force with a screw, especially if you add some leverage to it.
FEL Clamp-on Forks
- Thread starter RichT
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HomeBrew2
Banned
Yep, especially when proding under brush and logs. My 1/2" x 2" clamp bars bent just enough to loosen tightly clamped bolts after rooting brush and shaking it off in the burn pile. I have since bolted my brush forks on via the trailer ball hole in my bucket cutting edge.
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MadReferee
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If your forks are twisting side to side then you have other issues. Based on what my customers have told me, there is no need to torque those clamp screws down to the point of bending the 3/8" steel top plate. The feet plus the fact that the front bottom pad edge should be as close as possible to the cutting edge lip should be enough to eliminate almost all twisting.
If your application is causing the forks to twist while clamped then I suggest you take a hard look at what you are doing with the forks and re-evaluate if you really need forks and not something else. My design is not intended to be a digger/mover, only a lifter/holder of items.
Like someone once said, "get the right tool for the job".
If your application is causing the forks to twist while clamped then I suggest you take a hard look at what you are doing with the forks and re-evaluate if you really need forks and not something else. My design is not intended to be a digger/mover, only a lifter/holder of items.
Like someone once said, "get the right tool for the job".
drmiller100
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those don't look very stable to me.
if you pick something up, and get on an uneven surface to where one side of the rear of the tractor is not level wiht the other, the whole thing will go sliding off sideways.
A simple, easy solution to weld a plate to the bottom of the forks under the bucket. this will keep the forks parallel AND straight.
When welding, pay a LOT of attention to where the top plate welds to the spacer, and the spacer to teh fork steel. Pretty good tension loads right there, and if you welds are not VERY good, you will have problems.
if you pick something up, and get on an uneven surface to where one side of the rear of the tractor is not level wiht the other, the whole thing will go sliding off sideways.
A simple, easy solution to weld a plate to the bottom of the forks under the bucket. this will keep the forks parallel AND straight.
When welding, pay a LOT of attention to where the top plate welds to the spacer, and the spacer to teh fork steel. Pretty good tension loads right there, and if you welds are not VERY good, you will have problems.
MadReferee
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( those don't look very stable to me.
if you pick something up, and get on an uneven surface to where one side of the rear of the tractor is not level wiht the other, the whole thing will go sliding off sideways.
A simple, easy solution to weld a plate to the bottom of the forks under the bucket. this will keep the forks parallel AND straight. )</font>
I have yet to hear a complaint regarding this. Commercially available forks, Payne's for example, mount identical to my design.
Welding a plate to the bottom of the forks to hold them parallel will not keep them from sliding around in the bucket. It will just keep them parallel. It also limits the distance between the forks which may or may not decrease the flexibility of the forks to pickup certain things, like different width pallets.
if you pick something up, and get on an uneven surface to where one side of the rear of the tractor is not level wiht the other, the whole thing will go sliding off sideways.
A simple, easy solution to weld a plate to the bottom of the forks under the bucket. this will keep the forks parallel AND straight. )</font>
I have yet to hear a complaint regarding this. Commercially available forks, Payne's for example, mount identical to my design.
Welding a plate to the bottom of the forks to hold them parallel will not keep them from sliding around in the bucket. It will just keep them parallel. It also limits the distance between the forks which may or may not decrease the flexibility of the forks to pickup certain things, like different width pallets.
OP
RichT
Silver Member
MadReferee
Elite Member, Rest in Peace
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Now that's a good idea. It's amazing how much a small 3/8" piece of flat bar that's only about a foot long will bend even when it is welded up for the first 3 inches. In your modification, it's the webbing effect that gives it strength.
Jagmandave
Veteran Member
Why not just use an upside down piece of channel for the top plate, that would be really strong...........
htiek126
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George2615
Super Member
The first set I made many years ago had thick flat steel on the top like yours. I remembered they bowed or bent with a lot of weight on the forks. I gave them away as scrap when I sold a previous tractor I had. When I saw Madref's pics I remembered my first set bending, so I used channel top and bottom. I've had a lot of weight on this set. The attached (pic of my forks only) picked up the front and rear of a datsun 280z (with no engine) to jockey it around to load onto a trailer. When it lined up with the trailer I picked up the rear end of the car off the ground and pushed it up onto the trailer (estimate 1500#). I've also used them to pick up the back of my 20' trailer so the wheels are off the ground for brake service / inspection (trailer weighs 2500#). Thats more than my tractor is supposed to lift. Oops!!
