FEL ForkLift Project

[Wayne County Hose]

Nice job. If you scour the scrap yards, you can find a whole forklift carriage set-up that would make the whole job much easier. Forklift manufacturers (and OSHA) say that a lift truck fork is no longer acceptable for use when the heel height measures 10% less than the back height. In otherwords, when the heel (horizontal part close to the bend) is 10% less than the thickness of the vertical part, they are to be discarder. 10% wear drops the rated capacity by 85%.

I was a forklift mechanic for 22 years, and I can tell you that you can't make anything close to forklift forks. I don't know exactly what they're made of, but they are springy enough not to break but as hard as anything around. Just try drilling thru one. Good luck.

Shipping weight on 42" x 4" forks are 100 lbs each. I know that they are rated for at least 2500 lbs each.

As a former road tech for a major forklift manufacturer, just keep an eye out for a service van somewhere. They are real easy to spot if you look for them. Locate the mechanic and offer him 50 bucks to find you a set. Hey, if you can offer something to trade, even better. I used to have at least 10 pairs of these things but I traded them to local dairy farmers for fresh milk. Yum.

 

[sandman2234]

I picked up an extra set of 42" forks, and am waiting on the arrival of a complete mast assembly rather than trying to build the backing plate. Finding a used one is just too easy, as you suggested. I have a forklift, but it is probably fixing to go on ebay, as I really don't need it. A tractor will do most of my moving, and a pallet jack the rest.
David from jax