DIY forks

[Marauder]

I haven't tried it buy looks like a good short term and quick idea.

 

[WranglerX]

Those would last about 10 minutes on my property and then would be fire wood.....

 

[metalbender]

Don't lift anything you like.

 

[Vigo327]

An idea I've been meaning to try is to make some light duty forks out of axle shafts from a truck axle.

 

[airbiscuit]

These were on another TBN thread. They are a little more robust, and would work for hauling brush.

 

[metalbender]

That axle would make a dandy bale spear. My pry bar for 45 years has been an old Dodge car torsion bar. One end shaped into a spoon shape, other end is quite comfortable to handle. Truck front torsion bars would also be unbreakable for a cut fork system.

 

[BukitCase]

I'm with Dale on using wood; I like things that don't break when I use 'em, are adaptable for multiple tasks/conditions, and aren't in the way when I DON'T need 'em.

The forks in the pic are of .187" wall 2x6 rectangular tube and can pick up one end of an empty 40' container (typically 5000 lbs per end) - the gray tubes are .250" wall 2" tube and are pairs of 30", 4' and 6' long with holes in various places for 5/8" pins.

This setup was to move several piles of "brush" from a tree cleanup and "widowmaker" abatement (project also included a rented 85' manlift), the gray tubes were to keep piles from dumping on the hood of the 580B.

The loader bucket has ZERO hooks welded, instead there are 7 receiver tubes welded on and ANYTHING I can imagine just gets plugged into one or more receivers. Not too practical for a CUT, but works for a full size backhoe... Steve

 

[WranglerX]

Ummm... Brush forks....

Same forks with added grill guard...

 

[not2old]

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2x2 steel tubing and trailer hitch receivers. Need a little more clearance than normal forks but still lift most anything and used left over materials

 

[chim]

My second set:

Brush Forks - Second Attempt

The first pair was several years ago for the L3200. Post# 18 in the link below has a brief description of them. The pictures in the link don't show a couple add-ons that made them pretty much self installing. Sort of like the "early photo" in an obit. Since those forks were custom made to...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[CliffordK]

Hmmm, Unique way of making those wooden forks. They might be OK for the occasional light duty work, but it would be easy to overwhelm them. I like the concept of quickly just pounding them in, and only supporting the back.

I made these a while ago out of used forklift forks that I had picked up.

Bucket Tusks!!!

I've seen several posts about adding little teeth to one's bucket... I thought tusks would be better. I only had two. I set them a little narrow to suit my needs at this time. I'm not carrying around pallets at the moment, but could redrill my holes if I need to set them wider. If I was...

www.tractorbynet.com

It looks like I've had them on my tractor for just shy of 10 years now, and haven't found a need to remove them yet. Nor have I managed to damage them.

 

[Vigo327]

Wait, haven't found a need to remove them, from the bucket, at all? Does that mean you basically don't need a bucket on your tractor? Keep doing what works, just curious.

 

[CliffordK]

Wait, haven't found a need to remove them, from the bucket, at all? Does that mean you basically don't need a bucket on your tractor? Keep doing what works, just curious.

I don't do a lot of digging or moving dirt with the tractor. Perhaps that will change this summer, although I'm now starting a project of restoring an older Bobcat 610, which may be the new dirt machine.

However, the forks are handy for hauling stuff around, unloading, etc.

Sometimes some tilling or mowing. The forks stick out a bit, but I'd rather have them on the tractor then off.

The last scooping manure I did was with Mom's tractor.

There might be benefits of a fork specific bucket attachment. One thing that bothers me is that I can't see the forks from the tractor seat. Also shortening the reach slightly would help with heavy loads.

 

[Jims1025R]

Be careful with home made forks, you can put loads into the bucket for which it was not designed. Two risks: Worst, the attachment breaks unexpectedly, and drops your load and maybe recoils the loader/tractor. Or, you just bend the bucket. I have the proper JD dealer purchased forks for my 1025R, and I still managed to slightly bend the fork frame while lifting a too large log. You build a light arrangement, promising yourself that you'll only lift light loads, but then you lift something too heavy. Buying the proper fork attachment will be lest costly than breaking something unintended.

If you must, space the forks as wide as practical to spread the load away from the middle of the bucket, which is the least strong.

 

[gizmo]

Built this set back in 2006. Still going strong in spite of criminal abuse.

 

[Curtis Cabs]

Interesting topic! We love to see your innovative ideas on making your own forklifts. If you are looking for something which is more robust, check out Artillian Attachments for pallet fork frames and forks.
Happy lifting!
-Curtis Industries LLC