Forks Pallet forks

dbrauner · Sep 11, 2004

I bought a new JD 4310 with a 430 FEL; awaiting delivery. I think I need some pallet forks but I think I want to take off my bucket when I use my forks. Does anyone have any recommendations? I want to use the forks for helping clean up 11 acres with a lot of downed trees and brush and use it to move (not necessarily stack) smaller round hay bales.

Carl_NH · Sep 12, 2004

dbrauner,

I purchased forks for my B21TLB with the HD bucket (required spacer under bucket due to cutting edge) on ebay from Dave Mattox $275 included shipping. They are HD 36" clamp on type and great for logs, wood, brush, just load and go. I have handled 900-1000LB root balls when planting this summer - just need to make sure you get near the bucket or no lift.

After I bought these I saw another design with a piece of bar stock to keep pressure on the lip of the bucket - this is better IMO.

If you are buying new consider buying the ATI removable bucket and forks attachment, this is a better set up if you are using the tracor for mowing and is fast. My cousin has this setup on his 7810 Kubota. This is about $6-700 more if I recall.

I have attached web page for the forks with the round bar stock and also web page the ones I purchased from Dave Mattox. he can be reached at dtmattox@charter.net.

Good Luck,

Carl

bebster · Sep 12, 2004

I purchased forks from my JD dealer (probably Deere or Frontier brand), that are quick attach with my 430 FEL. I regularly switch between the bucket and the forks. Takes about 1 minute to do it. Just release the 2 points at the bottom and then lower the FEL and back away -- reverse the procedure to put the other attachment on. I couldn't live without either. The forks are so handy for moving stuff around. I have a few extra pallets on hand, and that makes it easy to move all sorts of things around with the forks.

KennyV · Sep 12, 2004

Forks are very handy and if you are getting a Quick Tach on your loader, you will be able to switch easily.

I have a set of Piranha HD forks see pic. These are 48". watch Ebay like current item 3838507850. Around $400 to 500. will get you a set that will handle anything you are apt to do with them. I think I have spotted others like Markhamwelding that look very good also.
KennyV

Currmudgeon · Sep 13, 2004

( The forks are so handy for moving stuff around. I have a few extra pallets on hand, and that makes it easy to move all sorts of things around with the forks. )

Yep. The first thing I did after getting the forks was to find the pile of free pallets behind the old warehouse, and load them all up.

dbrauner · Sep 14, 2004

How much did you pay for the Deere quick attach forks. My dealer quoted me $968.

OkieG · Sep 14, 2004

...a lot of downed trees and brush... 

Forks are great for moving stuff. My loader forks are bucket forks. Sometimes, I wish I had a Quik-Tach system where I could detach the bucket and mount a fork frame. However, for moving brush and limbs, sometimes it's nice to have the bucket to throw smaller sticks and rocks into and use bucket forks to move the bigger stuff.

Seems like every variation of forks has tasks it does better than the others. As more uses surface, you probably wouldn't regret having more than one type of setup.

OkieG

bluecon1 · Sep 14, 2004

We have a few Cat loaders with hydraulic quick attach. Before we had the quick attach, we had forks that went on the bucket. The forks had a round bar through the top of them, joining them, and the top of the bucket had hooks, such that when you dumped the bucket, the hooks would grab the bar going through the forks. Curl it back, and away you went. It was amazing how easy it was after a little time to use these forks, even though you had the big bucket in the way. You eventually could sense the position and height of the forks to pick up pallets and such. It's cheap and easy, but not near as slick as the hydraulic quick attach.

ronjhall · Sep 15, 2004

Darrell
You live in NC. Checkout this thread. It may be what you are looking for.
Click Here
Their price of $450 is better than $968.

OkieG · Sep 15, 2004

You eventually could sense the position and height of the forks to pick up pallets and such. 

Yup, lack of visibility has not been an issue for me. With a little practice you can manage pretty well. Bucket forks only allow a load to get as close to the loader arms as the cutting edge of the bucket. That translates into a loss of leverage and some decreased lifting capability. Building a Quik-Tach system may be a future project. If I had more pallets to move, it would climb up my "to do" list.

OkieG