Forks pallet forks

[Sackett2]

Found a set of woods pallet forks on Craig's list yesterday,
Paid 300, my limit, and discovered when I got there it wasn't a QD design like my tractor has- I'll buy an adapter plate from ebay soon and weld/bolt it on.
The other fault with it is the right fork is bent down at the corner, he tried to push a stump out with it.
Anyway, Repair of the fork. AFTER I get the adapter plate put on, I was thinking of reversing the bent fork and using the fel and tractors weight with the torch (or two of them) to caress it back into shape. Any concerns with the forks lifting ability after being heated? Any suggestions?

 

[allenr]

I wouldn't think the heating will be a problem.

You will need heat - it's alot easier to bend something down using tractor power and loader hydraulic pressure than it is to bend it up again using only tractor weight.

I guess you can't turn the fork over and then bend the fork back against another stump?

 

[tbenn7362]

Hi,
Heating the fork to straighten it will leave the heated section softer than the rest of the fork. these forks have a very special heat treat which is what makes them so tuff. If you heat it up it will probably bend in the same area again. If you dont heat it there is a chance it will snap. the commercial guys would have to replace it not fix it. My point is that no matter what you do you are compromising its strength.

 

[IslandTractor]

Heating probably will weaken it a bit but those forks are probably rated for 4000lbs and you are never going to be putting that sort of force on them with your FEL so I doubt it is a real safety issue.

 

[DanD78]

I would find someone with a good hydraulic press and bend it back cold. Like others have said the forks are made of forged steel and have some heat treatment to them. They are still soft enough to bend and I have drilled a hole in the end of one of mine for a hitch pin so their not real hard just tough.

Dan

 

[Sackett2]

I guess you can't turn the fork over and then bend the fork back against another stump?

that's what I'm going to try, in a round about sort of way after I get the plate attached to it.

 

[Sackett2]

Ordered the skidsteer attach plate for it today, about 190.00 with shipping. Get it mounted up then work on the bent fork.
Where do you guys find the time to repaint all the attachments to match the tractor? it's all I can do to find the time to repair them...

 

[Sackett2]

got the q/c acdaptor plate installed and we attempted to correct the bend in the fork. We was a bit too successful, as now the fork has a up turn rather than a down
Used 2 acc torches and the tractor pushing down. Well 2 steps forward, one back.

 

[allenr]

Where do you guys find the time to repaint all the attachments to match the tractor? it's all I can do to find the time to repair them...

Too often I don't. Sometimes its easier to just paint an attachment with a zinc based grey (cold galv) and leave it at that.

At least the zinc paint doesn't skin and dry between uses like enamels do.