Heavy FEL work (3500lbs)

[muckdp]

Hey Folks --

Right now I'm borrowing my dads 1980's Kubota M4700. Its a good dependable tractor, but I hate borrowing dad's stuff for fear of breaking it! I'd also like to upgrade to something with a heavy duty FEL.

Every few months I come home with 3500lbs of palletized material (cement, pavers, steel, etc) in the bed of the truck, and the 3 pt forks can't go high enough to get into the bed of the truck, they also present a "reach" problem. I'd like to be able to put forks on the loader for these types of loads. Seeing as how dads 47h machine bogs when I'm pulling a heavy duty box scraper, I've been looking at ~55 horse machines. I've noticed some manufacturers list FEL lift capacity at 59" lift height different than full height. Others only list the lift height at the pins.. So I'm looking for some real world feedback and suggestions.

I'm not picky about brand. I have NH/Case, Kubota, and JD dealers about 10 miles away in Paso Robles, CA. And Mahindra, Kioti about 90 miles away. I plan on doing all my own maintenance, so dealer distance doesn't bother me too much.

Other than the FEL, I'm not too picky. I don't need hydrostatic or any other fancy trans, I'm ok using the clutch. I don't need a cab. I may end up wanting to put a ho on it at some point. Other than that it would get all the normal implements for maintaining my 5 acres - bush hog, box scraper, blade, disk, etc.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[JasG]

3500 lbs is a lot for any front end loader on a tractor. Your pallet is going to put the load way out in front of you. Deere and Kubota even the 70 hp machines I think are not rated for that much with a loader. The Kubota M9540 (95 hp) is only rated at 2900 lbs at the bucket center. That is to full lift height, but you will be out a ways lifting pallets. I know we have a Cat 416C TBL at work and I can pick a lot more with the bucket that I can with the forks picking a pallet, only due to the load is out further. 3500 lbs for our Cat as far as lift isn't an issue, is just the rear of the machine gets light ther further out you go even with the weight of the hoe.

The other issue is are the front axles rated for the maount you wish to lift? Probably yes but I would still double check.

A Kubota M59 might be rated for what you want., It is rated at 3900 at the pins and 2900 at the bucket mid point.

 

[Dmace]

The Kioti DK90 with the KL901 loader can lift 3,749lbs to full height at the pivot pins so with the load that far out, you may be able to lift those pallets but it wouldn't be to full height. Ask the dealers if they can bring their tractor to your place to try and lift the pallets before you buy.

Do you need a tractor? How about one of those off-road fork lifts...?

If your pockets are deep, a JD 310J can lift 6,600lbs to full height!

 

[RPW]

You might check out some auctions and pick up a used forklift. We have equipment auctions all the time and a small 4k forklift can be had for a couple of grand. Then you could use any remaining money for a tractor to maintain your 5 acres. IMO I think owning a large tractor just to offload material from the bed of the truck is not using your money wisely. Again just my opinion.

good luck.

 

[LD1]

To get that kind of lift force you are going to need a really big tractor. 100-125HP range. And even at that, you will be lifting near the max so you will need a good but of counter weight. A tractor that size will be almost useless and a waste of money on only 5 acres. With the amount of money that you will spend getting that size of a tractor, you may want to consider one of the larger skid-steers (possibly even used if you only need to lify 3500lb pannets a few times a year) and then opt for a smaller tractor in the 30-50HP range for the other chores around your property.

 

[CurlyDave]

Where does the palletized material come from?

If you could break it into two pallets, there are a lot of tractors which can lift 1800-2000 lbs. and which would not be too much overkill for 5 acres.

 

[Gary Fowler]

i see lots of small forklift trucks that could handle that weight on Craigslist. That might be the cheapest way to go for equipment, however those things have to stay on the concrete or really well compacted soil so you may not be able to use them in your situation.

 

[jenkinsph]

The cheapest and best solutions are what Curly Dave mentioned or as I do with palletized concrete pavers, keep a couple of empty pallets on hand and split the load by hand.

I didn't get the impression that the materials coming in were for business use instead just some overflow materials for personal use. I did not think there was enough money or profit to buy a large loader or forklift.

Never measured or weighed it but would guess my 110 tlb can pick up about a ton off a truck safely. I would have to need an all terrain fork lift pretty bad before I would buy one. Not something I want to have.

 

[Ken45101]

I suspect that the forklift suggestion is your best bet.

Visibility seeing the forks is poor on a tractor, it's too far ahead and the hood is in the way. It's difficult to precisely position the forks unless you have someone guiding you. Going to a big tractor would make visibility even worse.

Another option for you is to buy a small trailer for hauling the pallets. For under a thousand dollars, you can get a small utility trailer that you can either leave the pallet on until you have used the material, or at least be more accessible to your existing setup.

Ken

 

[JasG]

With the amount of money that you will spend getting that size of a tractor, you may want to consider one of the larger skid-steers (possibly even used if you only need to lify 3500lb pannets a few times a year) .

I don't think a skidsteer will pick that load, I could be wrong. They are rated by tipping load and working load. The largest ones I have seen do have a tipping load of over 6000 lbs, but a rated load of around 3000 lbs. The tipping load I believe is with the arms all the way down, and I think its what they can carry. The rated load is what they can actually lift safely at the bucket pins. I have run several of these over the years and it is amazing how fast they get unstable (want to tip forward) lifting a load that all the way down it can carry all day long.



I found different information. Tipping load can be measure a few different ways. The current "standard practice" now is with the machines arms about 1/2 way in the lift path, see how much weight it takes to tip the machine forward. 50% of this should be the rated capacity. Looking at a few mfg numbers though that doesn't always seem to be the case, but very close. Some measure at bucket center, others at the pins.