My homemade forks

[LowNSlow]

Some forks I made out of some scrap steel from work.

First version, the dumpster is full, I carried it in the shop and filled it up to test the strength of the forks.



Second version, I had to move them a little closer together to fit a pallet, I have lifted a pallet with 900lbs of hay on it and hauled it out to the pasture.





I'm really surprised how much this little loader will lift.

 

[Arc weld]

You might be equally surprised how much it costs to repair the front end damage to your tractor having that much weight out so far in front.

 

[George2615]

They are very long forks (too long maybe) and look like they would be a hassle to take on and off since they are bolted in the back. May have been cheap to build but a set of QA forks would be easier on and off.

 

[LowNSlow]

You might be equally surprised how much it costs to repair the front end damage to your tractor having that much weight out so far in front.

I don't plan on using them to carry much weight, I just had to test them once I had them on, the real purpose for them is to lift sheets of 3/4" plywood up onto the mezzanine I'm building in my shop. I'm getting too old to lift them by hand.

 

[LowNSlow]

They are very long forks (too long maybe) and look like they would be a hassle to take on and off since they are bolted in the back. May have been cheap to build but a set of QA forks would be easier on and off.

They come off very quickly, undo the chain binders and spin 2 nuts off on the back, the nuts on the back are only finger tight once the chains are loose so no tools required.

 

[Green Power]

Nice looking forks! Much cheaper than buying some im sure.

 

[George2615]

They come off very quickly, undo the chain binders and spin 2 nuts off on the back, the nuts on the back are only finger tight once the chains are loose so no tools required.

OK, wasn't sure if they were wrench tight or not. I built my first set of forks for my previous tractor and still have them. Since I bought QA forks for my current tractor I'm going to adapt the old ones to fit my 3 pt. as a carry all.

 

[David Devuono]

I need to do this now that I have a sawmill. While none of these pictures show anything to heavy being lifted, I hope you had a counter weight on for the 900 lb bale.

 

[franklin2]

You might be equally surprised how much it costs to repair the front end damage to your tractor having that much weight out so far in front.

Most older tractors would lift the back tires off the ground before something broke. Are you saying there are some tractors now that would break before that happened? I have read about breaking the driveline scooping too much in 4x4, but is it possible to break the frontend before the rearend lifts off the ground? If so, is this just with the little foreign tractors or are some of the American designs like this also?

 

[Arc weld]

Most older tractors would lift the back tires off the ground before something broke. Are you saying there are some tractors now that would break before that happened? I have read about breaking the driveline scooping too much in 4x4, but is it possible to break the frontend before the rearend lifts off the ground? If so, is this just with the little foreign tractors or are some of the American designs like this also?

It's about leverage. The further out in front the weight the harder it is on the front end, especially if driving across a field with the load bouncing up and down. Effectively the 900 pounds could be the equivalent of 1500 or more pounds. Rear counter weight is good but not if it's only there so you can over load the rating of the tractor. You don't need the back wheels to come off the ground for something to break or get fatigue cracks or damage over time. Any tractor on the planet, new or old, will break if it's over loaded. You need to use some common sense. Industrial loaders are built a lot stronger but they have their limits too. It's like carrying 4000 lbs. in a half ton truck. Will a 1/2 ton move it, probably. Would you want to use a 1/2 ton, no.