Pallet Fork size

[Chris2520]

If you can slide the spikes close togather and spread them apart thay are floating. if there in a fixed position the same distance apart and dont move.
there know as fixed forks......

 

[pat32rf]

I built my forks out of a homemade frame that replaces the bucket on my 4300. They aren't exactly floating but they do adjust by merely lifting a pin on each fork and dropping it into the next hole 4" over. Now I wish I had drilled holes every 2" instead. The forks are made from old truck half-axles that are just under 2"diameter so a section of 2" square 1/4wall tube will slide over them. Had to grind off the axle splines. At 36" long they are good for moving logs, most pallets etc plus I can slide on the extensions and pick up ski-doos or ATVs from the rear. I've never bent the axles but I do have a selection of slightly bent extensions..... You can also build extensions for the flat forks out of rectangular tubing or 5"(?) channel iron. This is what out local Polaris dealer uses on his lift truck

 

[Kamik]

I decided to buy a Horst pallet fork with 36 inch tines. That extra 12 inches of length on a 48 inch set just wouldn't be useful to me, and as the earlier poster said, just reduces the net weight that can be lifted.

Pallet forks sure are handy, and get more use around here than the bucket. Now, before heading out to Home Depot or Lowes, I throw a pallet in the back of the truck. The nice young kids always seem eager to me help carry it out and even load it on the pallet without asking. And once home, I just lift the loaded pallet out of the truck and move it right into the shop through the 6ft wide double door!

Another good use for pallets I hadn't thought of can be seen in the attached photo. I love my little garden nomes!



Kamik

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Longer forks lowers the lift capacity so insignificantly, you would never notice. Longer forks pushed out the load center by half of the longer length. I.E., 48" forks pushes the load center out 3" past what 42" forks would.
Traditionally, a standard pallet is 48" deep. A standard forklift fork is 42" long. This is done mainly because with a shorter fork, you can reduce aisle width. You can start turning sooner when backing out of a pallet when you have shorter forks. Personally, on a tractor, I would choose the longer forks to give more stability with uneven loads on uneven terrain.

BTW, I thought at first this was a new thread. When I saw Mr Jimi's response, I got shivers. We miss you old friend.
Andy

 

[AKfish]

Hmm... haven't been on here much lately -- Mr. Jimi has relocated to a new address??? A great neighborhood with a view to die for...?

If that's the case; my sincere condolences to his family -- we'll miss him, too.

AKfish

 

[dieselram]

My fixed 42" Frontier forks were 700 even and I love them!

 

[truckie36]

Picked up a Construction Attachments COMPACT X-TREME DUTY
Shaft Mounted 42" Pallet Fork.

COMPACT X-TREME DUTY Shaft Mounted Pallet Fork

Got it on Ebay from www.everything attachments.com
They sell them for $698.50 shipped Within 1,000 miles of Newton, NC 28658.
When we got it we used a 10% off coupon from Ebay so it ended up costing $628.65.
A local tractor place wanted about $961.93.

 

[Nuru]

I got some Horst 48" for $680 from one of my local dealers.

 

[Kamik]

My Horst 36" pallet fork cost $625.00 including setup and delivery. It handles a 1250 lb load and for me was a great buy. Now that I've used it a while I've identified what I consider to be three design oversights:

1. the backguard is heavier than the tines, causing the fork to tip over backward when removed from the loader for storage;
2. the tines don't slide completely together and are forced to stop about 16" apart. I wanted to use them for "digging and popping" shrubs and trees but they're too far apart for the small ones;
3. the tine pivot rides on a painted shaft and chips the paint.

Nevertheless, they're just about perfect for my needs.

Talking about pallets, interestingly, according to Wikipedia, the most produced pallet is for the grocery industry, 48x40; next is 42x42; third is 48x48 ... and at #9 and #10 are 36x36 and 48x36, my size!

I'm slowly replacing a cedar stockade fence with a custom design and, rather than take the cedar panels to the recycling center, I cut them down into pallets sized to fit through all my doors and gates. They work great and after a quick once over with the belt sander smell terrific in the shop.

Kamik

 

[PegAir]

If you can slide the spikes close togather and spread them apart thay are floating. if there in a fixed position the same distance apart and dont move.
there know as fixed forks......

Actually that's not correct.

Both fixed, and floating pallet forks can move side to side. Floating forks are not secured to the bottom, and are hinged at the top. That way you do not have to get the forks perfectly level when you go down to the ground as the forks tilt up and "float" along the concrete making it easier to get them into and under the pallets.

However, for utility work you'll find them harder to work with if you want to dig under things like fence posts, or logs laying on the ground as you can not tilt the forks downward to dig under something.