Bolt on forks on a CK20

[bherr]

I'll need to move a 700# pallet a few times in mid-April and have sourced a loaner set of forks for when I need them, but I'm wondering if that's a reasonable thing to do. Would 700# on 48" forks extended off the loader be likely to deform the bucket? I can't imagine the cutting edge will hurt but what about the bucket itself?
Thanks.

 

[kennyd]

I think there is a 10% chance you won't bend your bucket.

This is a great reason to buy some real forks!

 

[5030]

If you have the usual light duty bucket that most units come with, using bolt on -clamp on forks to move a 700 pound skid of anything will most likely impart a 'smile' in the lower sheet of it because the bottom sheet isn't stout enough to carry the weight on the forks, no matter what the forks are rated at. Why I have both light duty 'material' buckets and heavy duty double bottom sheet excavation buckets, not that I'd use bolt on forks anyway, because I would never use them I use dedicated forks as in forks only, never clamp on anything.

The closer the forks are to the FEL pivot point, the better. 700 pounds of weight on a set of forks far away from the pivot point and installed on a bucket equates to way too much weight on a snigle bottom sheet and will make your bucket 'smile'. Removing the smile is an involved (and expensive) task. I repair quite a few smiling buckets in my fab shop and like I said, it's an involved job that requires cutting the side sheets from the bottom sheet, hydraulically straightening the bottom sheet and then rewelding the side sheets back in place. You have to cut off the side sheets no matter what because when the bottom sheet smiles, it sucks in the side sheets as well so they must be cut off and rewelded. Best bet is to just not use bolt on forks at all or load them well under their rated capacity. Cheaping out on bolt on forks is a recipe for disaster and an expensive fix.

 

[5030]

I think there is a 10% chance you won't bend your bucket.

This is a great reason to buy some real forks!

Kenny, 10% is high odds.... Besides a smiling bucket becomes useless for most tasks a bucket is for in the first place.

 

[Coyote_CS2220]

700 lbs, depending on how it is piled on the pallet (vertically) might be close to the limit on lift and stability for a 2000lb tractor.

The farther the load is out in front of the loader/bucket pivot points the greater the stability and lift issues. Forks in front of a bucket is convenient/safe for occasional light stuff, but not great for heavy lifts particularly on irregular surfaces, turns and/or high lifts ....and/or all of these combined.

Also, you will certainly need some rear ballast for stability.

The CK20 specs says it weighs about 400lbs more than my CS2220, but the farther forward load on bucket-mounted forks may offset this tractor weight advantage.

Purpose built pallet forks are always a safer way to move pallets and irregular loads.

 

[kennyd]

Kenny, 10% is high odds....

Yeah, I was trying to be polite

 

[RjCorazza]

I would likely use clamp on forks for moving brush, but not much else. SSQA forks get the load closer to the pivot pins, and also ditch the bucket weight.
It's hard to justify dedicated SSQA forks for a single use, but you will be surprised how much use you get out of legit forks.

 

[newbury]

Is the pallet 48"x40"?
Are the "loaner forks" built such that you can slide the pallet partially inside the bucket?
I've got "clamp on forks" that are designed to have a 2x4 stuck in to stop the load shifting backwards.

and I can rest a pallet on top and against the back of the bucket. Or I can just slide a pallet into the bucket without the forks and then strap the pallet in. This puts more weight in the back of the bucket.

 

[5030]

Yeah, I was trying to be polite

I'm not but you already know that....lol

 

[bherr]

Thanks for all the responses, and confirmation of my gut feeling.

I can't justify buying a real set of forks since this is the first time in the 12 years I've owned the tractor that I had a need for forks. Plus, the tractor doesn't have SSL loader attachment.

The pallet isn't a "standard" 48" pallet, it's long so the lever pretty much guarantees bucket deformation. The armstrong method of transferring the pallet load to its destination will work.