Forks pallet forks

[roxynoodle]

What brands of pallet forks do you guys/gals have? I am interested in picking up a pair for my FEL. There are a couple guys on ebay selling them fairly cheap. Has anyone bought those? Any advice, recommendations or condemnations welcome.

 

[Neophyte]

Do you have any type of quick attach on your loader arms?

 

[California]

I just built these forks from a 'relay rack'. (two uprights that had held a service-band radio transmitter.)

The back chains are welded to the forks. The front chains pass through a slot (three drilled holes, then filed) and are secured by a tempered bolt (with nut) that is as long as I could fit side to side under each channel. Lifting stress is borne by the bolt head and nut near the outer edges of the channel to get the stress away from the slot. I considered putting a short length of bar stock under each channel to further spread stress but decided it wasn't needed.

After the photo I added a short piece of angle across each fork as a shield between the sharp cutting edge of the bucket and the front chain.



I used a pair of HF 5400 lb load binders but after getting this set up, I think the 2200 lb binders would have been sufficient.

The forks work great, but the project revealed the first problem I have encountered on this 25 year old tractor in the three years I have owned it: one of the Great Bend Loader curl cylinders had sweated occasionally at the lower seal but this new stress caused more significant leakdown. Friday I pulled the bad curl cylinder and took in for rebuild.

 

[Timber]

Well this is what I bought and couldn't be happier with them. They are on my tractor all the time but I palittise everything

 

[MadReferee]

If you want the bucket clamp-on style, and you can weld, then you can build your own for $50-$75 in steel. I offer plans to build your own. The plans contain detailed step by step instructions, a cut list, and much more. Just PM me with your real email address. Over 300 satisfied TBN'ers have already gotten their free copy.

 

[roxynoodle]

My loader is not quick attach. In fact it is probably pretty old and is Japenese like the tractor. Kanzaki is the make and it is an industrial type bucket with teeth. Pallet forks would have to attach between the teeth. I would like them because it would be easier to stack hay (figure I probably wouldn't drop any bales this way), move materials longer or wider than the bucket, and yes, get pallets out of my truck on occaison. Although for pallets I'm not sure how much rear weight I would require on the back of the tractor. Might also need a ballast box for that.

 

[Timber]

When I bought my tractor the thing I wanted my forks for were to load my loft with hay and sawdust bails. I did bails a ballast box out of a 55 gallon drum and about 750 pounds of cement



I wanted to stack my bails on a pallet and lift them into the loft and be able to stand on the pallet too

 

[Casco1]

I used my forks for the first time this week and so far I think they're the best attachment I have. I had to move a pile of cut logs from one side of my lot to the other. i started by chaining them to my bucket dragging them into the clearing rechaining and moving them. After 3 or 4 I decided to try my forks, I had never used them, I swapped the bucket for the forks ,maybe 2 minutes (ATI quick attach). I moved the rest of the pile without getting out of the seat.

 

[lawn_king]

I have a set of crank on king cutters, they are rated for 2000 # they ran $450.

 

[Timber]

Yea I think mine were something like that too. I love them, I would be lost without them

 

[BobG_in_VA]

My loader is not quick attach. In fact it is probably pretty old and is Japenese like the tractor. Kanzaki is the make and it is an industrial type bucket with teeth. Pallet forks would have to attach between the teeth. I would like them because it would be easier to stack hay (figure I probably wouldn't drop any bales this way), move materials longer or wider than the bucket, and yes, get pallets out of my truck on occaison. Although for pallets I'm not sure how much rear weight I would require on the back of the tractor. Might also need a ballast box for that.

Not sure you're going to find any forks that fit over a toothbar. I looked for some and had to end up building my own out of 6"X2" "slipover" forks (actual forklift forks that slip over the pre-existing forks). I'll try and put on a picture...BobG in VA

 

[patrick_g]

I would like them because it would be easier to stack hay (figure I probably wouldn't drop any bales this way.

My Kubota dealer warned me against using pallet forks to handle round bales. He loaned me some safety videos that among the topics was one advising against handling round bales with pallet forks.

I had no problem using my Kubota pallet forks which replace the FEL bucket rather than attaching to the bucket. I think that sort of forks is better, stronger and safer. I used them to stack round bales out in the field from the ground to the trailer. I could stack them on end double high and have driver (wife) drive to the hay barn. I then unloaded the trailer and stacked hay in the barn till in one brief instant of innattention I let a bale tip back and it bent the guard (pretty HD) back at a 45 degree angle and the bale nearly went over and back into the cab with me.

That would have been a BAD THING as the bales are over 1000 lbs. I stoped stacking hay and went to town and bought a bale spike. The bale spike is way superior for handling the bales and far safer too.

I cut out the bent part of the back stop and replaced it with a tabling of 5 layers of flat bar. It won't bend there again!

Pat

 

[California]

Any advice, recommendations or condemnations welcome.

Think about safe lifting capacity.

Your Yanmar 1510d is a little smaller than my YM240 and based on my experience, I think the heavy forks others are picturing would use up half (well, part of) your safe lifting capacity.

I usually have the 450 lb mower on back for ballast, as well as loaded rear tires, and I estimate 400-500 lbs on a pallet is all I could safely handle on pavement. At that weight it tends to spin the tires (2wd) but if I climb off the tractor (170 lbs) and bounce on the pallet it won't lift the rear tires, so apparently that load is still safe. On rough or sloped ground, obviously the limit is lower. And the pallet should rest as far back as possible. Some bolt-on forks position the load farther forward.

There's a difference between maximum lifting capacity and safe transport capacity. Also a difference between transporting a pallet, near the ground, contrasted to lifting it to maximum height.

Think about your application. The tractor may be too light, or narrow, for your intended use.

 

[Timber]

I have no idea what everyones tractor is but regardless of size and wt you always travel with your pallet as close to the ground as possible, even an a warehouse on a standard fork truck. Everything is tippy in the air never mind driving over landscape. It is a very real danger dumping stuff into the operator seat so lifting anything overhead should be done with caution

 

[JJT]

I bought a $95 pair on ebay, + $30 for shipping and another $30 for chain binders. They see use loading logs. Money well spent. With the price of steel going up, these now cost $125 - see item 280021783198.

 

[roxynoodle]

Ok, I don't do round bales, just the small rectangular ones. The heaviest ones I've ever had came in at 130lbs. Those shouldn't be any problem but right now trying to balance them on my loader works most of the time (but not all of the time!). Today I got a pallet with bags of cement that came in at 1200lbs. I would not try to lift that with my tractor. I know I would have had to knock off at least half of them. I'm also thinking ordinary lumber and post moving, not logs. I also put 2 boxes of siding (96 lbs each) in storage today and pallet forks would have been nice for that too. I understand the limitations of having a smaller tractor. Still, I'd rather make more trips than to carry all this stuff around by hand. Pretty much my reason for buying the tractor, to make my life easier. A few years ago I developed RA and sometimes I'm close to being the gal I used to be and other times my joints are all so swollen I can barely move. I came to realize that if I wanted to keep my horses I needed to buy a tractor. No more hauling heavy muck buckets, I just put all the manure in the loader and drive it away. I can lift a bale of hay nearly to the top of my barn, so no more climbing up hay bales carrying something that can weigh as much as me. Pallet forks I think will come in handy for me. Now if only I could carry heavy things into the house with the tractor...

 

[DOUBLEG]

I made a set of clamp on pallet forks this year to move small square bales. After my back going out doing them by hand. They work great and I look forward to using them for other things as well.

Your right to do a number of trips rather than lifting a heavy load.

I did add a upright on each fork to stop anything from falling onto the tractor . Also since the forks clamp on I was able to have them to one side so I could come at the haystack from the side.

 

[Timber]

They are about the most usefully attachment I have. I leave them on most of the time. The ones I have go right over my tooth bar with no problem at all. I did see a thread were a guy used two 2x4s and wedged them into his loader with two short 2x4s and he had quite a bit of lumber on it. I know it would work in a pinch. I came across the thread doing a pallet fork search

 

[California]

I did see a thread were a guy used two 2x4s and wedged them into his loader with two short 2x4s and he had quite a bit of lumber on it. I know it would work in a pinch.

Maybe this one. Just 2x4's with the front supported by chains.

I look intense because that is beyond the safe capacity and I'm afraid of going over on my nose. I had covered a hundred feet of rough ground slowly with the back edge of the bucket skimming the ground, then stopped and used low range to go forward and lift the pallet onto the existing pile. Carefully.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...t-your-pictures-forks-403443-dscn4404r640.jpg

 

[Neophyte]

Northstar (Rankin) also makes a set of quick-attach bucket forks. They can be used regardless of cutting edge or toothbar. The forks are also easily shifted left or right for adjustments.

Quick Attach Bucket Forks

I have used a larger set of these on a Case 580K and they worked well, except for the visibility. Visibility on the clamp-on forks will be just as bad, if not worse. The nice part about this type of fork setup is that you can quickly take them on and off without leaving the tractor and without any heavy lifting. The downside is that you have to weld the hooks to your bucket.

Your other option would be to adapt a quick attach plate to your loader. You could then get quick attach forks. However, you would also need to modify your existing bucket and weld a quick attach plate to it. Not a small or inexpensive project but it would give you access to other quick attach attachments.