Nice way of managing bucket plus pallet forks in my small barn bay

[SmallChange]

It's been kind of a pain keeping my tractor plus bucket plus pallet forks in the barn where they're protected. How do I fit it all? Which one do I leave on the tractor? How much going back and forth does it take to swap attachments? How hard is it to shift things around to make them accessible to the skid type mount?

I just hit on a solution. My pallet forks also have three round mount points, for bale spears I think. Two of them are down low on the frame and accept 1-1/4" attachments. I just bought two 1-1/4" round bars 24" long, and slip them into the holes so they stick out the same way the tines do. With the bucket on the tractor, I approach the pallet forks from the fork side (the opposite of like I'm mounting them). I put the bucket under the round bars, and then can lift the fork assembly, with the tines reaching back toward my front wheels (though they don't get all the way there). Now my tractor plus both attachments is a compact enough unit to fit into the barn bay. It's very easy to pull out of the bay and place the forks someplace out of the way before working with the bucket. And, it's pretty easy to pull out, lay the forks down, place the bucket someplace out of the way, drive around and attach the forks, and work with the forks.

Solved!

 

[Birdhunter1]

With my tractor I can reach over my forks and drop the bucket on the other side of them then back up and pick up the forks and dump the bucket off of the forks. But I usually only ever have the bucket on to of my forks if I'm loading them both on a trailer. Every other day of the ear whichever one, or my bale spear, isn't on the tractor and sits outside. Sitting outside won't hurt them.

 

[SmallChange]

Sitting outside won't hurt them.

Clearly, you aren't running a cat rescue. It rains brine here.

 

[ericm979]

I made a two level dolly. The bottom level is a space for the forks to slide in, and the bucket can sit on the top level. So the forks and bucket share the same floor space.

 

[SmallChange]

I made a two level dolly. The bottom level is a space for the forks to slide in, and the bucket can sit on the top level. So the forks and bucket share the same floor space.

I thought about this. My storage area didn't lend itself too easily to this idea, so I wasn't quick to go this route. For one thing, with the fork tines pointing away from the tractor, I can't fit in there and still get around the tractor to work on it, so I was pointing the tines down to park when I left the fork on the tractor. I was thinking the best option might be to make a very wide top level for the forks to slide in, and leave space below for both the bucket and my toolbox and general work area. This seemed just a bit scary and would want to be built very solidly (which would be more costly).

But it's a good idea generally, and I might yet figure out how to do it. It's nice to be able to load either implement while still in the bay.

 

[nyone]

Sitting outside won't hurt them.

I'm thinking the same thing.