SSQA fork build

[joefromga]

That's some sweet welds, bro. Keep the pics coming.

What's your welding rig?

 

[Mysfyt]

That's some sweet welds, bro. Keep the pics coming.

What's your welding rig?

Thanks! Miller XMT 304 with D75D feeder.

 

[Mysfyt]

More work on the side plates. Welded the sprocket mounts in place and then bored and reamed them for the pins. Also finished boring the left side plate for the support bar and next up will be indexing and drilling and tapping the holes for the cap plates. Getting pretty close to final fit up and welding.

 

[4570Man]

Are you worried about this being too heavy for your tractor to effectively lift? Is it going on the L3901?

 

[joefromga]

What welder are you using?

 

[4570Man]

What welder are you using?

He already said that about 4 post up.

 

[Mysfyt]

Are you worried about this being too heavy for your tractor to effectively lift? Is it going on the L3901?

Yes, its going on my L3901. I know the lift capacity will be limited to around 800 lbs give or take, but that will take care of most my needs. I have a 1000 lb manual fork lift in my shop and so far that has handled everything I needed to move around.

 

[4570Man]

How much do these forks weigh? The L3800 which I think has the same loader as your L3901 can lift at least 1000 pounds. Using the L3240 I lifted a pallet with 100 ten inch concrete pavers. It weighed about a ton.

 

[Mysfyt]

To be honest, I don't know. I'll grab a scale and total up all the parts today or tomorrow and then we should have a better idea. The LA525 loader is rated for 500 kilos (1100 lbs). Your picture is encouraging. Thank you!

 

[countrybumpkin]

I'm really curios too what the finished set of forks weigh, looks like the specs show about 855 lbs at 19.6" from the pins. May just be a good reason to upgrade the tractor to match the forks. Very nice work.

 

[jimmysisson]

What dia is the rod they slide on? Mine is I think 1-1/2" and is about 2 ft. long: each side separate. I've managed to bend one, w 4' long forks, doing what I don't remember.
I hope the chain equalizer doesn't want to bind up the sideways action, being a ways from the cylinder c/l. Probably worse as they get gunked up. (Probably not too gunky, though, judging by the welding!) Mine slide by hand too easily if greased, too hard if not. They live inside.
You do very nice work.
Jim

 

[joefromga]

He already said that about 4 post up.

Woops didn't see it! I was fascinated by the quality and have been considering a tig setup.

 

[Jim Timber]

The power supply he's got is an earlier version of mine. They could be had used for not much more (if any?) than a comparable single piece MIG machine in the 250A class when I got it, but you'll also need a feeder and that can sometimes be expensive unless you find a deal on one.

I love my Invision 354MP. Even without utilizing the pulse capabilities, it's one of the nicest arcs I've had the fortune to run, let alone owning it. Since I bought mine in the 2008 sell-off, I'm not sure what they go for today. New ones are mid 4 figures.

Still takes a steady hand to run a bead like that. Been appreciating the build Mysfyt!

 

[Mysfyt]

What dia is the rod they slide on? Mine is I think 1-1/2" and is about 2 ft. long: each side separate. I've managed to bend one, w 4' long forks, doing what I don't remember.
I hope the chain equalizer doesn't want to bind up the sideways action, being a ways from the cylinder c/l. Probably worse as they get gunked up. (Probably not too gunky, though, judging by the welding!) Mine slide by hand too easily if greased, too hard if not. They live inside.
You do very nice work.
Jim

Thanks! The support bar is 2-1/2" hardened and chromed round from Alro steel. They had a drop that was 68" long so I'll have about 24" left over for another project. They list it as 100 ksi yield.

 

[joefromga]

What about putting the cylinder pushing left on the left fork and connect that fork to a cable to a pulley fastened to the right hand side of the frame where the cable run through the pulley and connects to the right fork. That way, when you spread the forks apart the hydraulic and the cable pulls them apart. Using a spring under tension between the right fork and left frame wall will pull it closed while the hydraulic pulls the left one closed.

 

[joefromga]

Like this:

 

[davedj1]

Sounds interesting. Any pictures or links for reference?

I don't, just a design in my head but basically the cylinder would be more or less horizontal pushing one of the arms while a solid piece goes back over to push/pull the other side. Maybe an S shape piece in the middle with a short cylinder?
I could maybe draw/sketch up something if you need me to, not on cad though...LOL

here is another idea similar to someones idea above: https://www.kaup.de/en/products/kaup-attachments/productdetail/fork-positioners/product/t163sn.html

 

[joefromga]

This is my drawing that took forever.
When the cylinder pushes the left fork the spring pulls the right fork. When the cylinder pulls the left fork the pulley pulls the right fork .

I think this is the simplest way to do it and cheaper too.

 

[Mysfyt]

(Quote)Still takes a steady hand to run a bead like that. Been appreciating the build Mysfyt!

Thanks! As far as the welding goes, what you're seeing on the larger welds is flux core (dual shield). IMHO it is the most forgiving welding process there is. On the round that I welded, I was assisted by a positioner. Get your speed set, pull the trigger and the biggest challenge is to not fall asleep. I use .052 diameter because I just seem to get along best with that size. Used to run .045 on my Miller 250 and it worked great, but you had to watch for undercut. I use straight Co2 btw.

This stuff would just love your 354. Give it a try sometime( if you haven't already). Does your welder run off single or 3 phase?

 

[joefromga]

What's the benefits of 3 phase welders?