Thanks for all the replies. I truly appreciate it.
It is true that I could fix some of the fork issues by welding the forks together and so on, but then I would have an attachment weighing at least 200 pounds, to attach by myself. Moving it would not be a lot of fun, either. I don't have a boom pole. I would also be unable to vary the distance between forks, limiting their use as a makeshift forklift. Welding would work great, but I think it would cause more problems than it would solve.
I could put some kind of bar across the forks and attach them to it, but then things would not slide onto them they way they should. They would hit the bar and stop. Then the bar would probably bend.
Designing these things with turnbuckles seems like a terrible idea. Even with grease, I have to use a breaker bar to turn them, and I generally have to get off the tractor several times to retighten them because they settle on the bucket during use, causing the forks to loosen and move. They used to be even worse. Some mechanical wizard apparently put a Vise Grip on one in the past, compressing it and reducing the internal diameter, because it was dinged up and hard to turn. I had to buy a special tap and chase the threads to make it work again. I should probably put that tap on Ebay now. How often do you use a tap that big?
Hard to believe anyone would put a Vise Grip on a turnbuckle, but I understand his frustration, trying to use the tiny built-in tommy bars to turn it. I was thinking if I didn't get an SSQA, I might buy some huge hex nuts and weld them to the outsides of the turnbuckles so I could use a big wrench. Of course, the manufacturer didn't think of that obvious move. With that big tap, I could correct any warpage issues caused by exterior welds.
I feel like I could install the SSQA and then cut the forks up and attach them to some kind of shopmade frame. I could attach them with bolts and make extra holes in the frame so I could move the forks to different locations when needed. There is no way I would ever lift enough to break bolts, so there would be no need to weld the forks to the frame. Right now, the forks are held on with bolts subject to shearing forces, which are way higher than pulling forces due to weight on the forks, and they have never begun to shear. It's much easier to shear a bolt than to stretch it until it breaks, so I'm sure bolts would do a fine job holding the forks on.
Anyway, I guess I should spend now if I'm going to spend. Next year, we may have Weimar-style inflation, and the money I wanted to spend on an SSQA may be just about enough to get breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
