Bolt on pallet forks

[r porter]

i had a set for about a year and used them a lot. so much so that i finally got a SSQA set.

some notes;
the stabilizer bar is a must
i advise chaining them to the bucket--this probably kept me from bucket damage. [ and keeps them in place]

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Looking into bolt on pallet forks for lifting about 300 # of diesel containers on a pallet.

One person says they're "junk". Yeah, for maybe heavier loads.

Pallet forks are $1200 to go in place of the FEL, on the FEL lift arms. Bolt on ones are only about $90 and LOTS easier to store when not needed.

Don't really have much use for them except for the rare times I have to go get diesel for the generator.

What's your experience with them?

I think for your use, the biggest issue is going to be no line of sight between the fork tips and the pallet.

Having them on a bucket means you have to be able to see through the bucket to line up "the shot" to get into the pallet.

I had a set for a while, and gave them to my neighbor when I finally bought a true SSQA fork set.

The bolt on's have their uses. And I did use mine, mostly for brush, etc. But the frustration started when trying to actually use them for pallet work.

 

[Vigo327]

I 'built' something you might call 'hook on' or 'hang on' forks out of C-channel which is even sketchier than the cheap clamp on forks you can buy, but i still find it useful!

I bolted some front tow hooks from a Jeep onto a U shape of C-channel i picked up out of a junk pile which happened to have appropriate spacing for 'pallet forks'. Originally it was only supposed to be used with a 3pt receiver hitch frame with actual pallets with engines on them. The idea with the hooks is that I can back the threaded end of the 3pt pins under the hooks and pick it up or put it down without getting off the tractor. That DOES work.

This pic was just mocking it up. You can see the tow hooks and how they ride a sleeve on the threaded ends of the 3pt pins. Pins were facing that way because I bought the red piece for use with a garden tractor but it works just fine with my regular cat1 tractor too.

Anyway, at some point i got bold and decided to hang it on front of loader bucket just to move empty pallets. Then i got bolder and started putting more stuff on it.

Then i just kind of went crazy and so far the max i've had on them is 1000 lbs, but loaded evenly and all the way to the rear!

So considering these things don't even really attach to the bucket and if i dropped the bucket they would just FALL OFF, i'd say by extension that clamp on forks are at least this good but probably better, and definitely useful for the price. Im using some of the smallest loader tractors there are (kubota b6100, b8200) and i've still made a lot of use out of them.

Although since i have this silly thing that goes on a bucket AND on a 3pt, if i bought actual clamp on forks I'd probably try and find a way to make them work on 3pt too just because i'd hate to go backwards.

 

[RalphVa]

Found an old greentractor thread where quite a few folks said they've lifted more than the 300 # I'm looking to lift.

Got the wife to help me line up the forks.

Will go contact Lowes, Walmart, TSC, etc. to find a pallet.

Lots easier to store the bolt on forks and far cheaper.

 

[kennyd]

You can get the China made Titans for a whole lot less than 1200.

 

[jyoutz]

My neighbor has them. They bent his bucket edge.

 

[OzarkChris]

Looking into bolt on pallet forks for lifting about 300 # of diesel containers on a pallet.

One person says they're "junk". Yeah, for maybe heavier loads.

Pallet forks are $1200 to go in place of the FEL, on the FEL lift arms. Bolt on ones are only about $90 and LOTS easier to store when not needed.

Don't really have much use for them except for the rare times I have to go get diesel for the generator.

What's your experience with them?

I wouldn't call them junk, but they really aren't that great either. Quite some time ago before I broke down and got real forks I had a pair and the biggest problem I remember with them was having them twist on the bucket. It seemed that regardless how tight I screwed them down they would still turn - not with gravity but with just the slightest bump. Somebody told me I needed a stringer or a piece of tubing to hold them apart so I tried that and still had issues.

To be fair though, I was moving a bunch of stuff on (somebody elses) homemade "pallets" that didn't have consistent spacing on the fork holes so I would bump one side or the other causing the fork to twist on the bucket. Which was also a pain to adjust the width. Since I purchased my real forks, I've found many, many uses for them from hauling away brush (pre-grapple days), moving logs, accepting deliveries (without paying for lift gate service), etc.

In your case however, if you really can't think of anything other than moving your fuel container from one place to another, you would probably do well with a pair of those. Go to palletforks.com (Titan) you used to be able to get a pair for ~$100 or so.

 

[ruffdog]

Some people bent the lip of the bucket when using bolt on forks. It depends on how strong your bucket is. I had the HD forks on my Boomer tractor but I also had the HD bucket. The bucket also had a bolt-on edge so with 1000 lbs on the forks I was not close to bending the bucket. Some of the standard buckets now are so wimpy that they are not much more than mulch buckets and those are more prone to bending.

 

[s219]

I used clamp-on forks for many years and they were OK, certainly fine for light loads and casual use. But for heavy use they are not efficient. Visibility sucks. Being so far forward, you lose quite a bit of loader capacity and they are very awkward. They are also quite a bit thicker (about 2") than a normal solid forklift fork. Last year I did a lot of lumber production on my sawmill and the clamp on forks really showed their flaws, especially trying to get under logs at angles.

I finally got fed up. Earlier this year I bought proper pallet forks (Landpride 2042, $850) and they are so much better I can't believe it. Visibility is better, I can easily get under logs, I can pick up other stuff with surgical precision, and the increase in capacity is noticeable. I should have bought them years ago.

 

[r porter]

the stabilizer bar is to stop the twisting. it does a pretty good job, too.