Forks for my FEL

[EddieWalker]

5 tines seems a bit excessive to me. I'd have thought that 4 would be plenty but you know your task better than me. One thing you should think about is the tine spacing so you can pick up common size pallets. If you've got 5 'wrongly' spaced tines you may find it very hard to get the tines through a pallet.

I wasn't clear. The forks are not for pallets. I want to pick up trees and either carry them to the burn pile, or load a dozen or so into my dump truck and drive them to the burn pile. I also use my rake to pile up branches into piles. Getting those piles of sticks and twigs to the burn pile has proven to be quite the challenge.

If this works out, it will become my new favorite toy!!!!!!

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[mjncad]

HF makes one thats about 125.... and once you have it youll find all kinds of uses for it

How very true. Once I got my Grizzly I found all sorts of uses for it. Granted, one pays for the miter capabilities; but being able to make miter cuts easily was worth the extra $$$$ to me.

Plus a bandsaw doesn't make fire starting sparks the way an abrasive chop saw does.

 

[mjncad]

Nice concept on the forks alchemysa, I may have to look into your design further as I want forks; but like you I don't care for the clamp on units for the same reasons you don't like them.

I also got sticker shock today when I priced out a set of Frontier forks for my JD 420 loader...$840 USD.

 

[alchemysa]

I wasn't clear. The forks are not for pallets.

Eddie. I understood what you meant - that the forks were for brush. But I was just pointing out the pallet situation because you never know when you might want to use them for that too. The bit I didnt understand was when you said the forks have to be "tied down for dumping". What does that mean? Have you already got some kind of forks?

 

[EddieWalker]

alchemysa,

My experience with forks on a tracotor are those that are mounted to the top of the FEL. They are attached to a rod that is held onto the bucket with a set of hooks.

For lifting straight up, they are great, but if you have something on them that you want to dump, they don't work so good because of the way they are mounted. To fix this, I've seen straps attached to the forks and the bucket to hold them tight. This way they don't rotate, or stay level when trying to dump with them.

I'm not sure how your design holds your forks in place if your bucket is in the dump postion?

If you can, I'd love to see some pics of them in operation. Maybe dumping a load of brush or a tree?

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[heymack]

Getting those piles of sticks and twigs to the burn pile has proven to be quite the challenge.

Thanks,
Eddie

Do what I do, have more than one burn pile.

 

[alchemysa]

alchemysa,

I'm not sure how your design holds your forks in place if your bucket is in the dump postion?

If you can, I'd love to see some pics of them in operation. Maybe dumping a load of brush or a tree?

Thanks,
Eddie

The forks can't slide out because they are stuck behind the top plates that are welded to the bucket. And they can't swing up or down and fall out because the angled upright of the fork is longer than the vertical height of the bucket. So in effect they stay wedged behind the top plates no matter what direction the bucket is pointing. Its not perfect by any means but its very fast to fit or remove and requires no tools. And the whole fork assembly is a single unit so the spacing and alignment of the forks is always good. I'll try to remember to get some pics when I'm back at the site in a week or two.

 

[orezok]

Interesting and inovative design, but how did you engineer out the shadow?

 

[heymack]

The forks can't slide out because they are stuck behind the top plates that are welded to the bucket. And they can't swing up or down and fall out because the angled upright of the fork is longer than the vertical height of the bucket. So in effect they stay wedged behind the top plates no matter what direction the bucket is pointing. Its not perfect by any means but its very fast to fit or remove and requires no tools. And the whole fork assembly is a single unit so the spacing and alignment of the forks is always good. I'll try to remember to get some pics when I'm back at the site in a week or two.

How much do the forks weigh and how easily are you able to get them in and out?

 

[Corm]

alchemysa - that is a really innovative design on those forks! Building a set of forks has been on my to-do list for quite a while. I've been holding off because I've been searching for a design that suited me. Until I saw yours, I didn't know what the design I wanted was, but I do now! Would you mind if I copied it for a set of my own forks?

Corm