Forks Trailer ball on front forks

   / Trailer ball on front forks
  • Thread Starter
#11  
Bird, I thought about the bucket but I have a hard enough time 'guessing' where my lip is so if I put a ball there it would require way too many off the seat peaks to line up a trailer :eek:

Zinno, That's at least a good place to start. I think I would modify it to be a little more flexible but might just order one now.

Runner, I didn't think about a receiver. Maybe I'll get a stabilizer bar like Zinno's link and find a way to cobble a receiver and a link back to the frame for strengthening / safety. I like the stabilizer since it's adjustable in width, might help later.

I'll post a photo when I get something going.
Thanks all!
Kevin
 
   / Trailer ball on front forks #12  
Take your torch and cut a hole in the end of the tine. The annealing is not going to hurt a thing. By the time you put enough force on the tip of the tine to bend it way out there, your tractor will have done a cartwheel, IMO. I burned a hole in my loader forks a few yrs ago, and have dug up many trees w/ them and moved light trailers around. Yes, I eventually bent the forks (got a little irritated w/ a very large stump, and it won) but they bent, naturally, way back at the 90 degree bend. My neighbor has burned holes in all of his loader forks for 25 yrs, and he moves some big butt trailers around. Good luck drilling them, if they are really heat treated. My 2 cents.
 
   / Trailer ball on front forks #13  
another thing about the hole in the forks is it is very useful for hooking a short chain/hook through to lift light things.
 
   / Trailer ball on front forks
  • Thread Starter
#14  
I sure like the idea of the hole up front. I'm a little afraid of making an ugly hole with my torch. Sounds like an excuse to finally get my plasma cutter :D
Kevin
 
   / Trailer ball on front forks #15  
I needed to move some empty trailers (and my light sailboat), so I built this. I already had the hitch. Having it set like this, I can curl the bucket and see the ball over the top of the bucket, so hookup is easy without leaving the seat.

When I take the hitch out, the base doesn't hinder dirt work.

Enjoy.

ron
 

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   / Trailer ball on front forks #16  
cobbkevin said:
Bird, I thought about the bucket but I have a hard enough time 'guessing' where my lip is so if I put a ball there it would require way too many off the seat peaks to line up a trailer :eek:
Kevin
You dont put it on the lip-BAD NEWS. The hole would weaken the cutting edge and lead to prompt failure. You reinforce the top edge and put it there.
larry
 
   / Trailer ball on front forks #17  
Resist any temtation (and advice) to cut a hole in the tyne . By the time you get it hot enough to pierce it with a flame it WILL be mild steel and jagged to boot . Any machine shop will drill it with a magnetic drill and the correct size Broach for $30 , for the price of a carton of beer do it right . ( This goes for anyone else planning on doing this ).
 
 

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