Forks Forks, spear, or combo?

[duramaxsky]

Also my tractor is a forklift more than anything else. They are the most useful attachment I have for my needs. I have never dug anything with the backhoe. But it picks up logs real well. It has a thumb that is real handy. But if I need it I have it. I also use the brush mower. Come winter I will plow snow with the back blade. It's a very versatile and useful little machine. Much better than my old grey market Mitsubishi with a loader with a bucket and a homemade fork attachment. And a rototiller I never used for anything but a counter weight. Probably can't justify the cost with my needs. The old one was getting me by. Just not as well. But I can afford it and the little lady was okay with buying it so who cares. And she will use this one. She never even sat on the old one. Because of the manual transmission and no power steering.

 

[kjg26]

I have the similar Titan model in 42". Get the 48" if it fits your tractor. The only improvement would be if the spear and stabilizers would store on the frame when they're not being used. I might weld up some things on mine to do exactly that.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I know I'll use the heck out of the forks. Just didnt know if I could go without the spear. It will not be a daily back and forth swap so that's of little concern. Why 48 over 42?

 

[ning]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I know I'll use the heck out of the forks. Just didnt know if I could go without the spear. It will not be a daily back and forth swap so that's of little concern. Why 48 over 42?

I put a lot of thought into 42 vs 48 before getting my forks.

I think it comes down to, what you're going to use them for.
42 will do fine for most pallets, especially for smaller tractors where you're probably going to have to pile heavy stuff closer to the loader anyways, so having a few unsupported inches at the end won't matter.

I use mine a lot for moving brush piles, and I'm really glad I went with 48's and if I find a cheap set of extensions I'd happily get some as the fewer trips I make the better (though it's pretty tough to see around a big load of brush and I'm lousy at driving far in reverse!). For my brush carrying, 42's would definitely decrease my load size significantly.

Personally, given the loader capacity of your tractor and its (somewhat) larger physical size, I'd go with 48's unless you have serious clearance problems around your place.

If I'm not carrying something in mine, I find the forks tough to see when they're down low, so I usually tilt the loader up and raise the forks a bit so that the tips are in my line of sight to avoid hitting anything.

 

[goeduck]

One downside to longer forks is simply maneuvering them, you need to back out farther to get free of the load. But they do allow you to carry a longer load.

 

[Wagtail]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I know I'll use the heck out of the forks. Just didnt know if I could go without the spear. It will not be a daily back and forth swap so that's of little concern. Why 48 over 42?

And that's why I recommend the 'combo'. I'm the opposite to you, and duramazsky... my bale spikes are constantly on my FEL. Occasionally I'll need to swap to the forks.

But I can.

 

[gsganzer]

Why 48 over 42?

Better versatility with the 48". It's amazing how many things people build to 48". Deer blinds, dog houses etc. Just makes things like that easier to move.