Pallet Forks vs Carry All

[edzakory]

I am considering purchasing clamp-on pallet forks or a carry all; the loads will be between 200-500 lbs. I have a Kubota BX2660. My concern on the pallet forks is that the load is in front of the bucket which may lead to instability; I assume I will have to have ballast on the rear. I do not know if the angle steel of the carry all will fit in the slats of a standard pallet or if the arms are long enough to provide adequate support/load distribution.
I would appreciate your comments as I have limited experience with tractor/implements.

 

[Sysop]

A carryall frame will not work as a pallet fork as far as I know, all the carryall frames I've seen are too thick and too short to use on most pallets. You can get pallet forks made to go onto the three point hitch on the rear of the tractor also. Any load you put on the front should be properly ballasted by having an equal amount of weight on the 3 point; first it helps prevent overloading the front axle and steering, second it reduces the risk of tip-over. I would avoid clamp-on forks as they have many disadvantages.

Welcome to TBN!

 

[BigMike50]

500 punds on bucket mounted forks may a bit too much for your machine even with counter weight. I believe my carry all fits inbetween the slats on a pallet but are just a tad bit short. You can however weld extensions on it. I even welded some hooks to my carry all near the top wear I can chain to my bucket and use it as a bucket mounted pallet fork

 

[Sysop]

500 punds on bucket mounted forks may a bit too much for your machine even with counter weight.

yea, the reduced lift capacity with clamp on forks is horrible.

 

[edzakory]

Thanks guys; I was not aware that rear pallet forks were available. I had read about the clamp on forks and had concerns about stability and weight distribution. I settled on a set of rear forks from Titan Attachments. They have 47” L adjustable width forks with a 1500 lb. capacity. I can use the FEL as ballast and the forks should be able to safely meet my moving needs.

 

[Egbert]

I've never been a fan of forks that clamp to the bucket. It feels like using a screwdriver to drive nails. There are good quality clamp-ons out there, and I'm sure they can be useful ... just not for me.

I much prefer the real deal. Like this: http://stores.palletforks.com/-strse-26/tractor-pallet-fork-attachment/Detail.bok I lucked out and found a set for $400.

 

[davehowell]

Just a quick note about clamp on pallet forks. I note a lot of negatives stated, but wonder if the those making the judgement actually have used them.

WE have a set (three instead of two) for our B7800 Kubota and they are very useful, although we have never used them to move pallets. We have used them to move apple crates. One can pile a huge pile of brush, reducing the need for a grapple, they move our calf hutches around, we have used them (very carefully) with a wood base as an elevating work platform. We use them, with the wooden platform to lift hay into our loft. We have chained them together and used them as a stone boat (dragging behind the tractor). I have used them as lever when I needed to pry fence posts out of the ground (they are not not mounted on the tractor). Placed across saw horses, they make a non precision, but very handy welding bench. They can be "stabilized" with a two by four, nailed to the stake pockets holding vertical 2 by 4's.

Using the chain on models takes the load off the front edge of the loader. As bonus (to us) they clamp on over the Piranha tooth bar, that seems to be a permanent part of our bucket. They can be taken on and off in a few minutes.

It all depends upon what you want to do with them, but ours get used weekly . Maybe useful.