Wide pallet forks

[SRSeedBurners]

Started a thread a few weeks back looking for pallet fork recommendations and was directed to the Express Steel forks which I nearly pulled the trigger on. A set of Land Pride PFL5648 popped up in my FB marketplace that stopped me. I was about to purchase those and then looked up the specs and found they are too narrow. The Express Steel forks are too narrow as well. I have a safety cage that I use on the forks that require the outside edge of the blades to be 51.5 inches. THe borrowed pallet forks I'm using, which are john deere with an adapter for my kubota, has a total width of 55.5 inches. All the forks I'm looking at online are width in the 40s. Now I'm on the hunt for wider than normal pallet forks. The land pride PFL5660 are wide enough but come with 60" forks which are too long. Any suggestions? Pics of the safety cage, cage fork channel width and the tape holder for tax

 

[dodge man]

Normally the forks are roughly the width of your loader arms. I’ve never seen any that go wider but that doesn’t mean they don’t.

 

[SRSeedBurners]

Normally the forks are roughly the width of your loader arms. I’ve never seen any that go wider but that doesn’t mean they don’t.

Here's the right side loader arm with the current JD fork mounted. You can see the forks extend out beyond my arms.

 

[EarPlug]

Here is a 60" or 72" frame

Pro Series Extra Wide Pallet Fork Frame Attachment - Optional Fork Blades | Titan Attachments

This 3-in-1 heavy-duty pallet fork frame features an extra wide design for demanding jobs and an SSQA connection for easy installation.

palletforks.com

 

[Sportsman762]

I have the Titan 60" wide pallet forks. I wish I had gone with the 72" wide. The forks I had on hand did not fit the frame well and I had to grind the top rail to be round rather than square. I do not use them much as I have 72" long forks on them, however they are nice to have when I need them.

The following make wide pallet fork frames.
Bradco

Bradco Signature Series 60″ Wide Fork Frame with 72″ Long 6,000 LB Pallet Forks – Skid Steer Attachment Depot

www.skidsteerattachmentdepot.com

Blue Diamond

Pallet Forks - 6,000 lb Capacity Wide Frame HD

Pallet Forks - 6,000 lb Capacity Wide Frame HD

www.bluediamondattachments.com

CL Fab

EZ-PALLET FORKS : CL Fabrication

clfab.com

arrow

Extra Wide Skid Steer Pallet Forks - Arrow Material Handling Products Learn more

Extra Wide Skid Steer Pallet Forks - Arrow Material Handling Products -

arrowmhp.com

Loflin

American Made Attachments | Loflin Fabrication Since 1993

Field-tested American made attachments for skid steer, tractor & excavator: grapples, brush cutters, buckets, pallet forks, box blades & more—explore full line.

www.loflinfabrication.com

proworks

Severe Duty 54″ Wide Rail Pallet Fork Frame with 48″ 5,500 Pound Pallet Forks – Skid Steer Attachment Depot

www.skidsteerattachmentdepot.com

Virnig

Wide Rail Pallet Fork: Walk-Through - Virnig Manufacturing

Walk-through design allows quick cab access. Choose from three tine lengths and capacities to match handling and lifting needs.

www.virnigmfg.com

Messer

https://messerattach.com/product-category/attachments/towing-lifting/pallet-forks/

There are probably more. But this is what I was looking at.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

I think I would just reweld the man cage.

That said, I'm not a big fan of using a FEL as a man cage. There is no stops on it to keep it from falling if there is a hydraulic failure.

 

[nyone]

I think I would just reweld the man cage.

That said, I'm not a big fan of using a FEL as a man cage. There is no stops on it to keep it from falling if there is a hydraulic failure.

This is what I would do. A single non standard attachment isn't going to stop me from buying a standard set of forks.

I bet the wider ones he needs will be nearly 2x the price...for a few inches.

 

[scootr]

That is a beautiful pup. I'll trade him for a set of 60" Bobcat forks. All of my Bobcat attachments fit my Kubota MX.

 

[4570Man]

I’d scrap the idea of using forks on the man cage all together and weld a skid steer quick attach plate directly on the cage.

 

[scootr]

I’d scrap the idea of using forks on the man cage all together and weld a skid steer quick attach plate directly on the cage.

Best idea yet. And probably the cheapest solution too

 

[tacticalturnip]

Is that an African Gray in your profile picture? My wife and I have an Amazon we inherited from her grandparents; he's so old he is a wild caught import from before the ban. Nothing like an extremely intelligent winged toddler greeting the day, and the night, with the songs of his people.

 

[scootr]

Is that an African Gray in your profile picture? My wife and I have an Amazon we inherited from her grandparents; he's so old he is a wild caught import from before the ban. Nothing like an extremely intelligent winged toddler greeting the day, and the night, with the songs of his people.

Friends had an African Gray that was real funny. We were sitting in an old couch enjoying a refreshment on the porch BBQing at their place when I said hey, the phone's ringing. No it's not she replied. ??? A moment later I heard Hello, what? Uh-huh, no, Good Bye!

 

[tacticalturnip]

Friends had an African Gray that was real funny. We were sitting in an old couch enjoying a refreshment on the porch BBQing at their place when I said hey, the phone's ringing. No it's not she replied. ??? A moment later I heard Hello, what? Uh-huh, no, Good Bye!

 

[scootr]

The funny thing was that the bird imitated my friends wife's voice and inflection perfectly. I spit out a little beer laughing so hard.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

I’d scrap the idea of using forks on the man cage all together and weld a skid steer quick attach plate directly on the cage.

Good idea. I checked and on Amazon you get them for around $150.

 

[CoyPatton]

I have used a man cage on a FEL many times. After a hydraulic line blew once while I was in it, rapid decent following, I cut s piece of angle iron as a safety, then ended up cutting several at different lengths, as full raise wasn't always what I needed. I always climbed in using an extension ladder so even if help was around, it didn’t matter. To keep the angle iron in place, I usually just wrapped a piece of 12 gauge wire around cylinder ram and angle iron in a couple of spots. It reduced the decent to whatever gap was left on the ram—usually I dropped the ram to be the length of the angle iron. One rapid drop was 1 too many.

 

[Jaygyver]

Welding a skid steer plate on the front also means beefing up the area to hold it, that's going to be a feat in itself. You'd be changing the lifting parameters.

Yes it's more expensive but it will be done and over with:
What you can do is buy the wider frame with the longer forks, buy the shorter forks and sell the longer forks if you just have no use for them. Or if you're on good terms with a neighbor with a cutting torch you can just cut them short.
In -general- the forks them selves are interchangeable with other frames. I used the forks off my 50 year old Hyster forklift then bought a cheap frame and it worked fine.
Ask if you can swap out shorter ones? Or if they have shorter ones that will fit that specific frame.
It does look like the longer 60" forks wouldn't go past the top of the cage but I do understand it's one more thing to bang into.

Another way is if you don't plan on lifting a pallet of brick on the deck is to put some wood between the frame and the cage to take up the length. It will push out the cage but your tractor is more then capable of the extra extended weight on the forks.

And no matter what you do wrap a chain around the base of the cage to the frame to keep it from sliding off.

 

[oldnslo]

I have used a man cage on a FEL many times. After a hydraulic line blew once while I was in it, rapid decent following, I cut s piece of angle iron as a safety, then ended up cutting several at different lengths, as full raise wasn't always what I needed. I always climbed in using an extension ladder so even if help was around, it didn’t matter. To keep the angle iron in place, I usually just wrapped a piece of 12 gauge wire around cylinder ram and angle iron in a couple of spots. It reduced the decent to whatever gap was left on the ram—usually I dropped the ram to be the length of the angle iron. One rapid drop was 1 too many.

How is using a loader different than fork lift? They both drop if a hose blows.

Potential concern with FEL could be curl cylinder hose since they could dump more than tilt on fork lift.

 

[kneedeep]

Weld fork pockets on or reuse the existing fork ones for whatever you buy.
I would bolt the platform to the fork frame for safety and use it safely.
I have a fork attached boom that had fork pockets too narrow so I welded new ones to fit my forks. A plate to bolt it to the fork frame was the key to making it work.
I bolt a grapple to the QA of a big tractor to keep it locked tight.
That is a big platform for a compact tractor.

 

[TMGT]

How is using a loader different than fork lift? They both drop if a hose blows.

Potential concern with FEL could be curl cylinder hose since they could dump more than tilt on fork lift.

Forklifts typically have more fail safes, such as a drop lock for failures.
And even if they don't, a failure results on going straight down on a forklift, rather than getting dumped out like on a loader.

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