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

[Panik]

Yes, I know, another fork thread. With spring time here I've been looking at needing to move smallish brush piles, rebuild some railroad tie planter beds as well as some other odds and ends. I've been looking pretty hard at the bxpanded clamp on forks and for the work I have in mind they seem like they are a very good value.

In all the threads I've read I have seen little to no complaints about the product. In fact the only issue I've seen so far was a fitment issue due to a change Kubota made in their bucket lips, and Harry resolved things quickly.

Has anyone had any long term wear issues with the clamping mechanism, or with the clamps slipping? If so, is this something that can be resolved by replacing wear parts (springs, etc)? Also has anyone managed to bend or other wise damage their set through abuse?

I do realize that these are are not heavy duty, fixed forks in the sense that they are geared towards the capabilities of a scut and as a result I do expect some compromises in ability. I'm just trying to make sure of what I am getting into prior to making the purchase.

While I'd love to be able to justify the grand or so it would take to get setup with a quick attach system and a dedicated forks and such I'd rather save that expense for some other "toys"/back savers like rear remotes and or a grapple down the road.

One final thing. If anyone has a good close picture of the attachment mechanism I'd be grateful if they would be willing to share.

 

[allen in texas]

You ain't gonna have fun moving brush piles with forks. ask me how I know. Other'n that, I got nothing to say.

 

[Panik]

Aright I'll bite... What's your experience with moving brush with forks? Are we talking not fun as in "castor oil and character building" unfun or are we talking "dribbling sticks and brush as you try and move a load and eventually throw up you hands in frustration and get a beer" lack of fun?

 

[allen in texas]

I'm sayin' that trying to move brush with forks results in said brush falling off the sides and between the forks, making a mess that you have to pick up twice so yeah "dribbling sticks and brush as you try and move a load and eventually throw up you hands in frustration and get a beer" That's been my experience anyway. Very frustrating. Otherwise I love my forks. I just can't speak to the type of forks you are talking about because mine are landpride quick attach forks.
Dang, now I need a beer.

 

[Panik]

Gotcha, I understand! Well, there's got to be an affordable solution that is quicker and easier than my current technology: forking everything onto a heavy duty tarp and lashing the bundle it to the FEL when it is full and transporting the whole bundle to the burn pile that way. Usually I'm doing this sometime after dark after the kids have gone to bed and the dogs have been feed. You know your right I think it is beer o'clock. :licking:

In any case, aside from the brush issue, I am still in need of some decent pallet forks for general use. 'Cause while I'm not that old I'm darned certain old enough not to be moving things like railroad ties by hand and well the slave labor (kiddos) are still to young to do it.

 

[k0ua]

Well it depends some on the brush.. If we are talking green limbs from trees with leaves, they stay on pretty well.. If we are talking dry stick and twigs. Uh not so much. I moved a lot of brush with forks, and it is better than your bucket generally. But my grapple is a lot better. With forks you generally need to get off and stack the brush on the forks.. with the grapple you just start grabbing and hauling. You stay in the seat. I have the construction attachments SSQA forks, and before that I has some e-bay special clamp on forks.. any forks are better than no forks, the ssqa forks are bunches better and easier to see what you are doing as well as putting the load much closer to the pins. But you will be able to move some brush, better than using just your bucket with the forks you are looking at..

 

[Panik]

Man do I wish I could justify a grapple right now however that's cost prohibitive at the moment . Well, I could make it happen but I'd be sleeping in the shop and using the bucket as a bed. Out of curiosity are there any QA systems that will work for a BX besides Kubota's proprietary one? I know people have used bob-tach's for the B series but I was under the impression that weight to power combo was about the thinnest margin to be really worth it.

 

[GolfAddict]

I have these forks and have moved lots of brush with them. A couple of things I need to mention.

One is I got a set of four, which may help some, though I've never tried just using two to be able to say if it makes a lot of difference.

The other is I usually have somewhat organized piles of brush I'm moving. That is, as I'm cutting I am stacking the brush and branches in piles. Then I can just scoop the piles up and the stuff all lays across the forks pretty good. I'd love to get one of those new grapples from Landpride...

I've had issues with the brackets over time. The clamp part is fine, but the v-bar thing that secures them to the bucket lip can lose their spring or something. I need to write to Harry, as I understand there is a way to make a little adjustment to them to make them snap tightly into place again.

They are really tough and well built. I've lifted loads of logs stacked on them where the loader will barely raise, and it was pretty clear to me I wasn't close to damaging them.

One thing to be aware of. Look at his pictures closely. Because of the way they mount, your bucket is already tipped some when the forks are level. When the bucket is dumped all the way, the fork angle isn't all that steep. I find that I often have to shake the bucket to get brush to dump off.

For use as pallet forks they have been great.

 

[newbury]

I'm ASSuming you mean pallet forks.

I bought a pair of clamp ons from Palletfork.com. I (and my son) moved several tons of brush, bamboo and vine.

On occasion for a BIG load I'd lay a 20' chain down perpendicular to where we were going to pile the brush, pile the brush so the chain ran under the middle, throw the chain around it (essentially making it a 5' bundle of sticks) and lift the whole thing. When we cleaned up where there were a lot of short sections we would use a wooden platform called a "pallet".

For about $240 ( w/stabilizer bar) I could not get any grapple, plus I needed pallet forks anyways, and they fit both tractors.
Ideally I would have 2 sets of (QA attachment points, QA grapples and QA pallet forks) and the $5,000 to throw away on them.

But you know what they say about "If wishes were horses"

The streets would be filled with horse dung.

/edit - note the 4,000 lb rated forks are an inch wider than the 1,500 lb rated. Looking at the quality of the build today I should have gone for the $170 1.500 lb forks. I'm pretty sure they would have handled all I needed.

To quote Evan from palletforks.com

The metal is just a little bit thicker on the higher capacity

 

[George2615]

Here's what you need. A set of forks with grapple. Titan Attachments sells them as do other companies. About $1225. for 42" forks w/ grapple but serves 2 purposes. I just bought a set of regular QA skid steer style forks and think I'm going to buy a separate thumb (pictured) to attach to either my bucket or forks. Buying my forks and thumb separately costs less than the grapple forks.

 

[juddspaintballs]

George, I've been contemplating grapple forks a lot lately. I would buy a set of SSQA 48" forks for my tractor and then build a thumb (most likely) that attaches to them and comes off with ease for when I don't need the grapple function. I also thought about buying an extra set of fork blades for it and running with 3 or 4 fork blades on the pallet fork grapple setup so it's as close to a brush grapple as I can get without buying a completely separate attachment (that I will buy eventually). I need forks soon, so modifying them to grapple only make sense.

 

[George2615]

George, I've been contemplating grapple forks a lot lately. I would buy a set of SSQA 48" forks for my tractor and then build a thumb (most likely) that attaches to them and comes off with ease for when I don't need the grapple function. I also thought about buying an extra set of fork blades for it and running with 3 or 4 fork blades on the pallet fork grapple setup so it's as close to a brush grapple as I can get without buying a completely separate attachment (that I will buy eventually). I need forks soon, so modifying them to grapple only make sense.

I couldn't justify the combo grapple / forks (even though I think it a great price) setup due to I don't have enough uses right now but I did buy the QA forks. For about $400 or so I can get the thumb when I need it and attach it to the forks. Then I could make a second mount plate and attach to the bucket. Once that's done I could switch the grapple between the forks and bucket as needed. Maybe this will give the OP some ideas. My total cost for forks and thumb would be under 1K by doing it myself. Others may not want to be bothered fabbing it themselves for the couple hundred difference. Just an FYI the 48" grapple forks are $1275. from Titan.

 

[ENC]

I figured out that when I want to move a lot of brush I put a heavy metal wire pallet that I have on my forks. I use a chain so it stays on the forks. Stack the brush/debris/whatever when I go to dump it pallet stays on the forks. Little to no lost debris, better than carrying it all.

 

[Panik]

Sorry folks, got distracted with family stuff last night and didn't have the opportunity to reply.

The other is I usually have somewhat organized piles of brush I'm moving. That is, as I'm cutting I am stacking the brush and branches in piles. Then I can just scoop the piles up and the stuff all lays across the forks pretty good.

Hmmm I'm usually pretty organized about my piles. I spent 15 years as an exotic animal keeper so I got to be pretty **** about organizing trash/manure/brush piles. I used to get annoyed when people haphazardly stacked brush that we would later have to hand load and unload. Anyways glad to here that the forks are durable

I've had issues with the brackets over time. The clamp part is fine, but the v-bar thing that secures them to the bucket lip can lose their spring or something. I need to write to Harry, as I understand there is a way to make a little adjustment to them to make them snap tightly into place again.

As for the springs - if they are easy to replace/service I think I can live with going "sproing" and disappearing off into the sunset occasionally, at least as compared to the price of installing a third function plus a grapple at the moment.

One thing to be aware of. Look at his pictures closely. Because of the way they mount, your bucket is already tipped some when the forks are level. When the bucket is dumped all the way, the fork angle isn't all that steep. I find that I often have to shake the bucket to get brush to dump off.

I noticed what you are referring to and had wondered if there might be a way to strap the uprights to the buck on a temporary basis in order to facilitate dumping. Kinda like a poor man's rigid forks so to speak.

I'm ASSuming you mean pallet forks.

Yes, I would be referring to pallet forks. As in two separate forks that when combined make up a singular pair

I bought a pair of clamp ons from Palletfork.com. I (and my son) moved several tons of brush, bamboo and vine.

Thanks for pointing out the clamp on forks, at about 1/2 the price of bxpanded's forks those are now on my radar as well. I definitely won't have a need for the 5K rated version. The light duty offering is rated at about twice my loader's capacity

Here's what you need. A set of forks with grapple. Titan Attachments sells them as do other companies.

You're right I do need, or at least want, a set up similar to that. Believe me I've been reading about how to plumb in a third function as well as rear remotes so that one day U can make it happen. (I'm not overly thrilled abut the idea of paying dealer fees for hydraulics) In any case the grapple you posted would come close to maxing out my little bx.

As it stands right now I am torn between the lower cost, rigid, clamp on forks and the higher cost "floating" forks from expanded. As well somewhere in there I am still thinking about Kubota's QA setup. Apparently I have the LA243a loader variant, but do not have the QA bar that goes with it. Decisions, decisions, decisions..... and I thought you people were going to help me with a quick answer, not make it more complicated.

 

[k0ua]

I know you said you did not have the budget for a grapple.. but have you check this thing out?

Several members have them now and say they are great..Just saying.:stirthepot:

Land Pride SGC05 Series Grapple - YouTube

 

[Panik]

Aww geez! Your not any help at all are you? :thumbsup: Care to come over and help me convince the wife that this would be a good idea?

In all seriousness thanks for pointing that out. You've got me looking at the threads on it now.

Edit: Ouch, price tag is a little rich for me at the moment, but the specs are nice. From Paul's evaluation it sounds like its a quality piece of equipment.

 

[k0ua]

Aww geez! Your not any help at all are you? :thumbsup: Care to come over and help me convince the wife that this would be a good idea?

In all seriousness thanks for pointing that out. You've got me looking at the threads on it now.

I know, but they are pretty handy, and certainly a force multiplier for your small tractor..you could probably move about 10 times the brush with that little grapple than you could in a given time with a set of forks. I know, I know, it is 3 times the money. You just have to decide if you have enough work to justify the purchase. I know your wife is hating on a guy named James in Branson right about now.

 

[GolfAddict]

...
I noticed what you are referring to and had wondered if there might be a way to strap the uprights to the buck on a temporary basis in order to facilitate dumping. Kinda like a poor man's rigid forks so to speak.
...

It's not that the forks will float up on you, as the weight will keep them back against the bucket edge, even when not loaded. So you don't have to strap them back to the bucket or anything.

The forks attach at the top, then drop straight down past the bucket lip. So, you pin them on at the top, then you have to have the bucket tipped down halfway or so for the forks to be level. So when you want to dump the forks you only have the rest of the bucket dumping range. Your bucket will get to fully dumped position, and the forks will be about 45* or so tipped down.

This really doesn't affect their "pallet fork use", as you are always keeping the pallets level, or tipped back a bit and don't need any dumping travel range. But for brush, you scoop up, tip back to carry, then when you dump the angle of the forks in max dump position is about 45*. Sometimes the brush doesn't want to slide right off, so you shake the bucket dump a bit...

A really, really, nice advantage to them is they pop on and off in seconds, literally. You locate the clamping mechanism on the bucket where you want and leave them. When you want forks, just grab a fork, line it in the bracket, slip the pin in, done. Repeat for the other side.

 

[newbury]

Yes, I know, another fork thread. With spring time here I've been looking at needing to move smallish brush piles, rebuild some railroad tie planter beds as well as some other odds and ends. I've been looking pretty hard at the bxpanded clamp on forks and for the work I have in mind they seem like they are a very good value.
<snip>.

The OP started writing about moving some small brush piles and railroad ties.

I think a set of Quick-On Pallet/Brush Forks would fit the bill ideally, probably NOT break the bank, store easily and be useful for carrying many things. And they could be augmented by FEL thumb or top grapple later.

Very often us TBN'ers gradually force mission creep on posters. We are REAL good at spending other peoples money

 

[chopped]

here is a link to some inexpensive ones.
bucket forks | eBay
Ive also seen a thread here somewhere with some home made ones and some from basic 2x4 s that would possibly work.