Forks, light weight but strong

[bob42]

I made my forks originally for a IH 3414 from a 1 3/4" sq. axle cut in the middle on a taper with a cutting torch and straight edge making 42" long forks. The vertical part was 2x3x1/4 angle.
These worked ok but would twist to the side if I tried to power under anything. Later I added 2" sch. 40 pipe to the angle to stop the twisting and to ad strength.
After buying a Kioti DK40 I made the quick attach from 3x5x1/4 angle and installed new bushings lower in the forks.
Picture showes a lift of dry redwood from an old water tank. With this load the tractor would only move effectively in 4WD and the rear tires would lift if the box blade was lowered. They show no evidence of bending. The rear tires are loaded.
A spun wheel bearing damaged the axle and it came from a rental equipment company I was working at.

 

[mroldstyle]

very nice! do the cross tube at the top of the re-enforcing pipe serve a purpose?

 

[bob42]

Not any more. They were used on the taller International bucket to hang the forks.

 

[lostcause]

nice. i'm always more impressed by the lighter built units that still do the job. i've got to finish the design and then build the ones for my tractor soon. i have a jd770, so since i have such low lifting capacity i don't want to waste any more of that capacity on the forks themselves. i'm working around a pair of forks i brought home from the scrapyard, so i just need to make the frame for them. only downside is that the forks weigh about 100lb each already.

 

[Depmandog]

nice. i'm always more impressed by the lighter built units that still do the job. i've got to finish the design and then build the ones for my tractor soon. i have a jd770, so since i have such low lifting capacity i don't want to waste any more of that capacity on the forks themselves. i'm working around a pair of forks i brought home from the scrapyard, so i just need to make the frame for them. only downside is that the forks weigh about 100lb each already.

I just purchased a set of pallet forks. Total weight 325#. The frame is rated to 4000#, and the forks rated at 3000#. Mine has the rear guard that is about 36" tall. The forks are 42"

If your forks weigh 100 pounds each, your load rating would probably be similar to mine. Just a thought.

I paid $650, new which I thought was reasonable. They seem to work well with my L5030

Dean