Work Platform For FEL

[Wayne County Hose]

That looks almost exactly like the ones they sell for forklifts. I did actually think it was a commercially produced unit until I looked thru more pictures.
OSHA does not require a velocity fuse in man-up applications. They are built in for safety and the lawyers, but are not a requirement. I would recommend a full body harness. I have the kind that the guys in the church picture have.
If you are going to do this with any kind of frequency, I would install velocity fuses. You can get them here- Predator Systems, Inc.. Click on velocity fuses. You have to know the maximum gpm that will come out of each cylinder, then you get one rated a little higher. You install it replacing the fitting coming directly out of the lift cylinder.

 

[wdscot]

Gary, thanks for the picture and info. I have been thinking about doing the same with my tractor. How do you get it up while on the platform?. My wife is not exactly mechanical and prone to accidents and I fear teaching her to raise me up to the heighth you have achieved. Is it stabil? I don't like ladders very much either and my balance is questionable at this point in my life. Thanks for doing what I have been thinking about and sharing your experience. WayneD

 

[GaryBDavis]

It's a two person operation - one in the work platform and one operating the tractor. My wife is pretty good with the controls and at my present life insurance level, she's not likely to do me in on purpose.

A couple of safety pointers that we use are:

1. Anytime the person in the platform is working, the tractor is in park. If I don't see her put it in park, I won't start working.

2. Always lower the platform to at least half height before moving the tractor. The higher you are, the more movement you have in the platform when driving the tractor around.

3. Before the operator raises or lowers, the platform, they should call out "up" or "down" to the worker. That gives you a chance to make sure you have a grip on the railing.

Overall, the platform feels pretty stable. It's at least as stable as the tractor's FEL. Keep in mind that this is a pretty big tractor for a CUT. It weighs something like 5 or 6k pounds and the FEL is rated at 2500 pounds at full lift height. When fully raised, I'm standing about 10 feet off the ground.

 

[Redbug]

Another thing...My loader has a "lock" on the joystick control. The joystick is disabled when in "lock". Rambler made a good point about limbs falling and possibly hitting the joystick/loader arms. Put the "lock" on and that would further serve as protection.

Does your loader have the lock override?

 

[ASGAR]

Yours is way nicer than mine... both in reach and build..... This was the first 'attachment' I built....

 

[JB4310]

As far as getting in and out, it would be great if you could come up with some kind of remote to allow you to control the loader valve from in the basket, that would be the cats meow, then one person could do the work of two.

With the size of your machine I'd imagine your bucket is self leveling, which makes it much easier for the operator, mine is not, it's not that critical under most circumstances but when using the forks with unsecured, palletized materials or lifting a person it gets a little tricky.

I really think you should add some kind of fall protection to your safety check list, it should be the #1 point, not trying to be the safety police, (If you don't take risks in life you loose any way). that was told to me by my old Italian boss, I thinks it's some kind of poker mentality, applied to real life.

 

[LBrown59]

Gary I think you are right about the safety police having a caniption over this. I personally think you did a great job. I spent a lot of years in a steel mill working off of a similar basket to that only attached to a forklift. For everyone that says something bad about your setup I challenge them to point out where a ladder doing the same job is safer. I know the stock one is going to be that a ladder wont fall down if is placed properly. My reply to that is that *you can fall off a ladder a lot easier than you can that platform.

*Especially a step ladder because after you get up so high there is no side rail to hold on to or grab for if you start to fall.
At that time the only thing ya got going for you is balance and that can go any time.

 

[LBrown59]

Another thing...My loader has a "lock" on the joystick control. The joystick is disabled when in "lock".
*Does your loader have the lock override?

It won' thelp a bit if a hose or line bust,the fel will still come crashing down.

 

[Renze]

Installing some pilot-operated check valves at the cylinders and it would remedy that possibility. Any hydraulic manlifts produced for the purpose of lifting a person aloft, must have a proper check valving system.

Over here in Holland, a popular alternative for a boom truck, is a heavy wheel loader with an extendible boom, because they are much cheaper to operate than the boom trucks, and when they're on the job, they usually carry buckets, pallet forks etcetera on a wagon, so they can do some backfilling too when they're on the job with all tools.

I have visted a company that specialises in equipping payloaders with electric check valves and tip load warning systems, to turn them into officially approved lifting machines. The hardware, and the rules around it being dual purpose machines, it a world on its own.

My loader lifts 1200 kg, so i dont think me standing on the platform with a chainsaw and a jar of gas, would cause enough strain on the hydraulics to make a hose burst at 1/5 its nominal load... There is a very small risk that a hose DOES burst at minimal loads when i'm on the platform, though this has been endlessly discussed in the safety section of this forum, and i would rather make my own decision about standing on, or under, oil without check valves..

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

Gary,
that thing is awesome!
good job - some solid thinking went into the construction.

 

[Redbug]

No doubt about it Gary...great idea. My scrounging eye is open now for a metal pallet and I will be making one of those things, also.

Just thinking on improvements...suppose I make the railing removable. Insert the rail ends into pipe (welded onto the pallet sides), and held in with clips. That way, pull the clips, and the railing could be taken off and the pallet could also be used normally.

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

dave
don't forget an attachment point for the telescoping ladder so you can use it as a deer stand...

 

[Redbug]

Oh yeah Erik! I forgot about that post!

 

[GaryBDavis]

It won' thelp a bit if a hose or line bust,the fel will still come crashing down.

Yes, but there are two cylinders holding up the FEL so both of them would have to bust at the same time. Although that's not likely, the FEL control valve is a single point of failure. Still, it would most likely leak like crazy before it fully gave way. Again, not very likely.

I think the most likely scenario is I'd forget to put the clevis pins in while attaching the pallet forks and somehow manage to dump the pallets forks off the FEL. That would hurt.

If I were using this thing everyday, I'd find a different solution, but I'll take my chances the two or three times a year I'll use it.

 

[Captinjack]

I would add a 4 to 6 inch "kick" plate around the circumference of the floor to keep objects from sliding off the base.

 

[Kendrick]

Sweet setup. 3 things I plan to do on mine that you have not. I have a 45 hp at about the same weight as yours. I plan to add one of those "fire escape" type ladders to the front and have the railing swing in at the middle to get on and off. I also plan to have 1 or 2 staibliser leggs for the front of it that collapse similer to the temporary collums of a house. 3rd is an attachment for a 40' ladder. the ladder will be positioned by large screws about 1/2" dia so that i can crank it to the exact angle i need for repairing the roofs of our out buildings. due to the soft ground and slope I wont be able to use it for the orchard area. there Im going to have to do a monster sized atv with treds and a trailer that has similer featurs to the platform.

when Im working things with the ladder I will have the BH on and use its staibliser leggs and boom to make sure the tractor doesnt do any thing silly

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Mine is 4 by 6 and about 4 ft tall. Was made to slide on and off my pallet forks and can be secured with a pin.
I set pallets of item on it then pick it up with the pallet forks to reach the 12" balcony in the shop. But it has also proved very handy for tree pruning, building construction, servicing lights at the 18 ft ceiling.
I'll take my chances with the hydraulics over a ladder any day. Myself and 200 or 300 lbs of tool on the platform does not equate to much pressure in the hydraulic system. The odds of blowing a hose are minute.
Ken

 

[gemini5362]

I have a question. Everyone that has one of these that has posted has it made to slide over their forks. At least one poster has a quick attach on his tractor. Why not just make it so that it fits on your quick attach and save the weight of the forks. Do you use the forks underneath to help with the floor being more solid ?

 

[JB4310]

gemini.
Not to answer for other people but that would be alot of customizing for something that's only used occasionally, and definitely not necessary to save on the weight of the forks, as the combined load on these things is 1/4 the loaders capacity at the most. the forks make a great HD starting point and are designed for supporting flat platforms also.

I would not be very worried about a total failure in hydraulics, causing a collapse. but if some one was concerned, why not use a cylinder prop like is used when servicing any hydraulic implement that has to be kept in the raised position. since these are 2 person operations it would be a simple thing to do and probably a good idea for the falling branch into the joystick scenario.

 

[GaryBDavis]

I have a question. Everyone that has one of these that has posted has it made to slide over their forks. At least one poster has a quick attach on his tractor. Why not just make it so that it fits on your quick attach and save the weight of the forks. Do you use the forks underneath to help with the floor being more solid ?

It's quicker and cheaper to make one that fits pallet forks and weight is not much of a factor. Plus, you can use it with any set of pallet forks which means it's easy to sell, use with other equipment, trade or loan out.