Yup, another pallet fork thread by a newb :-)

Panik · Apr 6, 2014

HA! Interesting turn of phrase. In high school and college I shot competitively and at one point was on the U.S. National Shooting Team. Sadly, that doesn't help me a dang bit with welding/fabricating skills. That's on my list of skills to learn one of these days - however, time is a bit of a scarce commodity at the moment. I'm currently multi-tasking with typing and trying feed my daughter toddler blueberry super fruit pur馥, while listening to make sure her two older brothers aren't getting into trouble in the living room.

In truth I don't mind the 300.00 for Kubota's QA plate/bar. As far as I understand it attaches to the loader arms and works with the existing pin positions of Kubota buckets so no welding mods are necessary. And I believe there are aftermarket grapples that work with this configuration

I just am not interested in being raped by Kubota for the forks and fork frame. 900.00 for two forks and a frame is just a wee bit excessive.

Poopdeck Pappy · Apr 6, 2014

Panik, I haven't bought or used the BXpanded forks so I won't be any help. But I did want to say that Harry is a great guy to deal with and makes quality products. I recently bought and installed his Piranha toothbar on my BX23, and it is very well made and works great. I called and talked to Harry before I bought it. He was very helpful. Thumbs up to BXpanded.

Panik · Apr 6, 2014

:thumbsup:Thanks for the recommendation! This site and the folks on it have been a wonderful wealth of information!

k0ua · Apr 6, 2014

Panik said:
HA! Interesting turn of phrase. In high school and college I shot competitively and at one point was on the U.S. National Shooting Team. Sadly, that doesn't help me a dang bit with welding/fabricating skills. That's on my list of skills to learn one of these days - however, time is a bit of a scarce commodity at the moment. I'm currently multi-tasking with typing and trying feed my daughter toddler blueberry super fruit pur馥, while listening to make sure her two older brothers aren't getting into trouble in the living room.

In truth I don't mind the 300.00 for Kubota's QA plate/bar. As far as I understand it attaches to the loader arms and works with the existing pin positions of Kubota buckets so no welding mods are necessary. And I believe there are aftermarket grapples that work with this configuration

View attachment 369286

I just am not interested in being raped by Kubota for the forks and fork frame. 900.00 for two forks and a frame is just a wee bit excessive.

Ok, so you are "handy with the steel" but in a more traditional meaning!.. I shot USPSA/IPSC and IDPA for may years.

Here is my conversion of a pin on bucket to SSQA if you want a laugh.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/208653-so-you-think-converting-pin.html

Panik · Apr 7, 2014

I shot American and International Skeet. Always wanted to trying practical shooting - I have browning hi-power that I would love to have fun with even if it meant a disadvantage in terms of capacity or power.

In any case I got an email out to Harry today and will post his responses to my questions when he replies.

tjkubota93 · Apr 8, 2014

I welded one link of chain on the bottom of my bxpanded forks. I run a tie down from there around the bucket and to the one at the top that comes on them. They are sturdy, I have used them to hook a chain on to pull tractor out when stuck.

tractorgp · Apr 8, 2014

Don't know if you ran across my video on homemade forks. You can make them as long and as heavy as you like (keeping in mind your tractor loads). Anyway here's the video:

jimpen · Apr 8, 2014

I basically just skimmed the thread. So take all I say with a grain of salt.

I bought a pair of the clamp on pallet forks (link below) for my Max25. I've only used them for about five hours. The prior owner of my property worked for the railroad. He used railroad ties for fence posts, buildings and left them littered across the property. I got the worst of it into piles over the years, but there have been areas that have never been mowed because I ran into crap he left behind.

So with the pallet forks on my 50" bucket I have been going through this spring and moving even the ones sunk into the dirt over to my burn pit.

<bragging>My BH has allowed me to pull the "dead" fence posts and then use the forks to move those to the burn pit as well.</bragging>

If things work out, this summer I'll be able to mow most of my property since I bought it.

It sounds like you have the talent to make a pallet to put under your cuttings. Or in my case, at my last company we used enough supplies and had enough deliveries that our supply manager had a stack of empty pallets by the loading dock that I could take all of them to just burn, for free.

So I'm suggesting that you don't blow off the cheap forks completely.

Clamp on Pallet Forks 1,500 lbs Capacity w/ Stabilizer Bar

Panik · Apr 9, 2014

TJbeck93 - Thanks for the pictures, especially of the clamping mechanism. I like your idea of welding a link on the forks - I'm going to have to bribe my neighbor into a a wee bit of welding.

Tractorgp - I did indeed see you video. I like the ingenuity of your idea Out of curiosity have you every experienced any issues with the fork slipping, i.e. sliding out of parallel with each other when in use?

Jimpen - Thanks for the inspiration! I too have a ton of railroad ties that the former owner put into use for landscaping. Forks of some form are a necessity. We have a 5' RR tie retaining wall that needs rebuilding, multiple RR tie steps that are at the end of their life expectancy, as well as road edging and planter beds that will need work in the next several years. Have you figured out a disposal solution? My local landfill won't accept them so I am getting ready to start looking at any waste to energy facilities in the region that will take them and hoping I might find one that accepts ties without a permit.

Panik · Apr 9, 2014

As a separate issue I did receive a reply from Harry to my questions:

1) Have you established a per fork weight capacity?

The forks are stronger than the loader. We never heard of a bent fork or bucket. We rate the forks at 600 lbs per pair, at 12 from the base.

2) Is there an easy way to service the clamping mechanism/spring holding the forks to the bucket lip? Please excuse the question but I have heard of people occasionally losing the spring out of the clamps. If I am mistaken please accept my apologies.

There is a very easy adjustment if the clips get loose.

3) Would you be willing to provide a width measurement for the clamps? My reason for asking is that one of my bucket hooks is attached just to the inside of the level indicator and I would like to know how much that will offset my placement of the forks.

The clamps are approximately 7 wide. The outside edge of the fork would be about 3 from the hook. The bracket will fit outboard of the level indicator.

4) I know of one gentleman who had issues with Kubota having changed the bucket lip design on his bx25 and as a result you were gracious enough to work with him on providing a solution. Is there a way to determine in advance if this is going to be an issue? Or have you been able to make adjustments to your clamps so that Kubota's changes are not problematic?

The bucket aberrations have not shown up on any of the BXs except the BX25. It shouldn't be an issue on the BX2350.

I am going to go ahead and place an order with Harry for a set of forks. From all reports it sounds like he has an awesome product that will fit my current and future need. I do greatly appreciate everyone's input and all of the good ideas and products that have been suggested.