Straightening forks

[sheamus]

I have a pair of forks I retrofitted to my tractor. They are not quite level. They work, but it can be annoying to pick things up as one digs into earth while other digs into what I am picking up. I am trying to thing of a way to level them out. I have a welder, but not an oxy/acetyline torch. Any tricks for fixing this? See pics.

 

[CliffordK]

That appears to be a mild steel tubular steel fork. Not nearly a strong as the hardened solid steel forks from forklifts. But also much lighter weight which would be nice.

Did you build the entire fork and the frame? Or did you make it out of already built pieces?

Was it ever straight?

I think I'd probably try one of these hydraulic puller sets. Attach corner to corner, and start pulling.

Hydraulic Auto Body/Frame Repair Kit, 7 Piece

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Although, I don't think that kit actually includes the pump... so more stuff you'll need.

It will be tricky. You'll have to overshoot a couple of percent as the metal will relax some. So, probably multiple pulls.

Done cold.

 

[WranglerX]

Flip forks upside down, cut a notch in fork that has to much up angle, bend down, weld up notch.... IF working with forks upside down remember up is down and down is up....

Or put a long extension on fork that has to much up angle and try to lift something "unliftable", it will cause fork to bend down, let tractor hydraulics work for you...

This is also going on premise the forks are tubular...

 

[sheamus]

That appears to be a mild steel tubular steel fork. Not nearly a strong as the hardened solid steel forks from forklifts. But also much lighter weight which would be nice.

Did you build the entire fork and the frame? Or did you make it out of already built pieces?

Was it ever straight?

I think I'd probably try one of these hydraulic puller sets. Attach corner to corner, and start pulling.

Hydraulic Auto Body/Frame Repair Kit, 7 Piece

Amazing deals on this 7Pc Hydraulic Auto Frame Repair Kit at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Although, I don't think that kit actually includes the pump... so more stuff you'll need.

It will be tricky. You'll have to overshoot a couple of percent as the metal will relax some. So, probably multiple pulls.

Done cold.

No I found them on the property we bought, then I removed the old mount and made a quick attach mount. It seems that the reinforcement is causing the issue, I don't think it was taken into account when the guy built it, and it causes the one fork to be high. I suspect it was never straight.

I'll ask around and see if a friend has one of these.

 

[sheamus]

Flip forks upside down, cut a notch in fork that has to much up angle, bend down, weld up notch.... IF working with forks upside down remember up is down and down is up....

Or put a long extension on fork that has to much up angle and try to lift something "unliftable", it will cause fork to bend down, let tractor hydraulics work for you...

This is also going on premise the forks are tubular...

The notch thing is similar to what I was thinking. However, for some reason I was thinking of notching the top, opening the notching, and sealing back up, and I didn't feel comfortable with the strength of that. However, notching the bottom makes way more sense, and I feel like a bonehead for not thinking of it.

So I could likely just use a zip disk and do the bottom and 2 sides, then check the height. If all is good, weld it. If I need more drop, take a little more off the bottom. But the width of a zip disk on that length may be all I need.

Going to try this on the weekend, or possibly after work tonight, as I am excited to fix that annoyance.

 

[Sonny580]

careful what you try to pick up with that kind of forks!!! You will just bend them again!! WAY too soft to be much use! Get regular forklift forks and mount them on your frame and never look back!!

 

[CliffordK]

careful what you try to pick up with that kind of forks!!! You will just bend them again!! WAY too soft to be much use! Get regular forklift forks and mount them on your frame and never look back!!

Used forklift forks are common around here, and generally pretty cheap.

They are, however, very heavy. So, if you have a small tractor, they'll decrease your lifting capacity.

Get smaller 4" forks if you can find them.

 

[CliffordK]

I bought a used tractor a while ago with solid steel forks, but they looked home made on a press brake.

These were hanging on a round bar mount.

One fork had bent. So, the solution appeared to be simply adding a block under the bent fork to compensate for the bend. However, they appeared to have fixed it, then bent it again, so it was still quite a bit off kilter when I got it.

Nonetheless, that is an option, just realign the fork and leave the bend alone.

 

[Tomtint]

This past fall I was using my forks on my Cat 246 skid steer and bent one digging out a boulder from the ground. They are Cat forks so they are high quality.. Im thinking about having a friend with a big excavator bend it back with his bucket.

 

[etpm]

I have a pair of forks I retrofitted to my tractor. They are not quite level. They work, but it can be annoying to pick things up as one digs into earth while other digs into what I am picking up. I am trying to thing of a way to level them out. I have a welder, but not an oxy/acetyline torch. Any tricks for fixing this? See pics.

You could try running a few beads on the back side just above the triangular plates on the high fork. As the weld cools and shrinks it will tend to pull the fork down. Or run beads on the front of the low fork. Anyway, there is a lot of length to the fork so the weld won't need to shrink that much to move the tip of the fork.
Eric