Forklift Attachment (NOT Bucket Forks)

[MDNick]

All,
After casually mentioning my forklift attachment in another thread (see remote couplers) I was asked for some pics and a description. Here you go.

Time to shout. I KNOW. I KNOW. IT'S DANGEROUS. GO SLOW. BE CAREFUL. My C of G is somewhere above the hood. Don't try this at home. Keep the kids and wife away (I only have a dog and some occasional help). Etc. I am an engineer, majored in physics. I do appreciate the hazards involved. I only use it up in the air straight forward and back, on almost level terrain.

This pic shows the forklift in use picking up the studs for the 2nd floor of my garage. I think there are 42, the stack used to have 56 on it, the wall is only a 6' wall (vaulted ceiling trusses). The shot is staged. The studs were up there once already. The second floor is at about 12' from the ground.

 

[MDNick]

The next pic is with the tractor and load in the same position. Provides some scale. Yes, the load is up there a ways. I usually use my boxblade as ballast, but for light loads, the scraper blade works ok. And it was one for snow removal.

 

[MDNick]

Next shot is a view from the rear of the tractor looking at the load up in the air.

 

[MDNick]

The next shot is over the hood. Note the long hydraulic hose to the top of the cylinder.

 

[DUMBDOG]

Re: Forklift Attachemnt (NOT Bucket Forks)

Nice forklift for a tractor.

 

[MDNick]

This pic shows the bottom of the chains where they connect to the carriage, and the forks. The carriage rolls in a welded up mast on cam follower rollers. The mast is 7'-5" tall. I do not have a quick tach, so it and the bucket go on and off the hard way. I can switch from one to the other in about 20 minutes. Not as handy, but cheap.

 

[hazmat]

Re: Forklift Attachemnt (NOT Bucket Forks)

Nick, thanks for the pics. Looks pretty cool. Thanks for the safety disclaimer.

For those who do want to try it at home (or if Nick wants more weight capacity) I came accross a company that builds a forklift attachment for Front End Loaders that had its own wheels that project out in front. It looked like the setups you see hanging off the back of a lumber truck. Of course I can't find the website now/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Basically you pushed it around with the tractor & used the tractor's hydraulics to power it. Maybe somebody else has seen this and can post the website.

 

[RobS]

Re: Forklift Attachemnt (NOT Bucket Forks)

That's a pretty slick set up Nick! I'm impressed with your fabrication skills /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MDNick]

This shot shows the cam follow rollers in the left mast track. They have a 2,750 lb load limit. Yes, I did all the welding with 7018 rod and a lincoln electric AC/DC 225/125 stick machine, almost exclusively using DC. I ground weld chamfers on the big stuff.

 

[MDNick]

By special request, here is my hideous hydraulic connection. Far and away the worst part of the entire system. I am sharing the hydraulics for the boom lift. The way I did it is to put a ball valve shut off in both circuits. Only one. Both circuits stay connected, but since it is a circuit, one valve keeps the circuit (mostly) from moving. I close one and open the other, never having both valves open at the same time. It works, poorly. I want the tractor remotes, but at $1457 for all 3, that is coming at some point down the road. I do not recommend anyone use this method. Especially for something like my application. It's dangerous. I burst one hose somewhere and the whole thing is coming down. Having said that, I've done it. Not real bright, I know. I called them diverter valves. Well, they do that, sorta. I wanted real solenoid valves that would seperate the system, but again, they are expensive. And wouldn't be useful to me once I installed the tractor remotes.