Work platform for the loader.

[Mace Canute]

A few years back a friend bought a baler that came with a 15 bale stooker that looked like this one except it has a coarse mesh platform instead of checked plate steel.

I've always thought it would be easy and handy to split it where it hinges (three 3/4" pins) and mount it on the FEL bucket for an elevated work platform and since last year we twice had to work on his front yard light (which is a 100W HPSV luminaire mounted on top of a 14 foot ornamental standard) I decided that this year it was time to carry through with my threats and just do it. I made an attachment point on top of the bucket from a couple of pieces of 1/2" thick plate and four 1/2" bolts for the 2x2" tongue and a couple of angle iron braces from the corners of the platform where it swivels down to the bucket. We immediately used it to fix a problem with the eaves trough on the corner of his house and tested it's working height on the light standard - his head was above the luminaire - so perfect for that. Although I don't think it will be used often I'm sure it will be extremely useful when we do have a use for it. We also discussed the potential for a failure of the loader's hydraulics and know full well the hazards of using a loader for a man lift and I believe that hazard is much less than alternative work-a-rounds. We also plan to fabricate a removable extension for the guard rail.

 

[texasranger556]

In action pics are a requirement for projects like these!

I keep a solid top pallet around for working from the forks on my tractor. I agree it's safer than a ladder in many situations, but there is always a risk working at height.

 

[crazyal]

I have a jet engine work platform that came from a military surplus site. It has a hydraulic pump and cylinder that were shot so I replaced it with a pipe of pipe to fix it in the maximum lifted position. I use the clamp on forks to lift it with my backhoe. It came in very handy while building my house. In one of the pictures I used the bucket curl to level the platform one way and the stabilizers to level it the other way. Being an expanded metal floor it's easy to use straps to hold the ladder from moving.

 

[crazyal]

I have a jet engine work platform that came from a military surplus site. It has a hydraulic pump and cylinder that were shot so I replaced it with a pipe of pipe to fix it in the maximum lifted position. I use the clamp on forks to lift it with my backhoe. It came in very handy while building my house. In one of the pictures I used the bucket curl to level the platform one way and the stabilizers to level it the other way. Being an expanded metal floor it's easy to use straps to hold the ladder from moving.
View attachment 512147

 

[Redlands Okie]

Not trying to be a pain here but think about some safety belts at the least. Local retired city building inspector here a while back had his ladder setting on some scaffolding to paint. Fell off. Broke something just below his neck i think. Result of whatever it was is that he is now a Paraplegic for rest of life.
Looks like a nice home in the makings, congrats

 

[Mace Canute]

In action pics are a requirement for projects like these!........

Here's a pic of my buddy on the platform and I'm in the driver's seat. That's my JD 3010 with a 148 loader with 6 foot bucket.

 

[texasranger556]

Does it want to tip when you stand in either of the rear corners (closest to the front tires)? If the diagonal angle iron is bolted at both ends it shouldn't tip, but can't tell if they are in the pic.

White rims on a Deere?!

 

[Mace Canute]

texasranger556, it's very stable. The frame is 2"x2"x1/4" angle iron and the angle iron braces are under a bit of compression when installed. They are attached through existing 3/4" pins at the top end and are bolted with a 1/2" bolt ar the bottom end where there is a factory hole in the bucket.

The white rims are because we got them and the tires for free from a guy who had to clean up his rented acreage because he was leaving in a few days. They're 11.00-15 (IIRC) four rib tires and are a major improvement over the stock tires for loader work with much better flotation on soft soil and they don't tear the ground up like the old three rib ones did when turning. They bolted on with about 3/16" clearance on the inside of the tire and we've never bothered to take the time to paint them yellow.

 

[ruffdog]

At a large company I worked at, we had work baskets and would use fork trucks to lift them. We wore safety harnesses and attended fall hazard classes. Is your liability insurance paid up?

 

[jenkinsph]

here is one I built that uses a 7' scaffold plank. Max height for the plank is 15' on top rung. I did make an add on hand rail for the top platform but have not needed it yet. It does fasten to the fork back brace and the forks allow building materials to ride along. It is light enough to load in a pickup and carry to a job site. My helper is about 5'5" he thought this was a huge help.

It is not OSHA approved, not even close but we felt it was safer than ladders.

 

[Egon]

I look at those platforms and think how useful they could be. Then the thought of the tractor fellow sneezing or some such thing and involuntarily moving the joy stick makes me want two feet on the ground!

 

[rodnok]

Here's a pic of my buddy on the platform and I'm in the driver's seat. That's my JD 3010 with a 148 loader with 6 foot bucket.

That picture makes me shudder. Having worked in construction for 45 years and having seen all manner of unsafe work platforms yours ranks right up there with the most unsafe. A front loader is not built to raise a work platform and does not have safety valves in case of a hydraulic failure. If you blow a hose that platform is going down and real quick. Also there is not a safety rail all the way around the platform. There also should be attachment points for a safety harness. Take that thing off and go rent a manlift from a rental shop.

 

[bigtiller]

I like it Mace. I made a handrail for the snow bucket on my 3020. They come in pretty handy occasionally.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I bought three stages of scaffolding several decades ago. With aluminum planks, guard rails, heavy duty casters, adjustable feet etc. It is much safer than ladders and needless to say, also safer than these scary loader platforms. It is fast and easy to set up and move around. The cost is not much initially and has now been amortized over 30 years! One of the best work and safety investments I made.

 

[Redlands Okie]

I bought three stages of scaffolding several decades ago. With aluminum planks, guard rails, heavy duty casters, adjustable feet etc. It is much safer than ladders and needless to say, also safer than these scary loader platforms. It is fast and easy to set up and move around. The cost is not much initially and has now been amortized over 30 years! One of the best work and safety investments I made.

Very good point, stuff can be bought used at most rental stores and then sold if needed. It's pretty darn cheap to rent

 

[Mace Canute]

That picture makes me shudder. Having worked in construction for 45 years and having seen all manner of unsafe work platforms yours ranks right up there with the most unsafe. A front loader is not built to raise a work platform and does not have safety valves in case of a hydraulic failure. If you blow a hose that platform is going down and real quick. Also there is not a safety rail all the way around the platform. There also should be attachment points for a safety harness. Take that thing off and go rent a manlift from a rental shop.

Like I said in my first post "We also discussed the potential for a failure of the loader's hydraulics and know full well the hazards of using a loader for a man lift and I believe that hazard is much less than alternative work-a-rounds."

I worked for 35 years as a Lineman for the provincial electrical utility operating a variety of equipment during that time including boom trucks and bucket trucks so I am well aware of pilot operated check valves. I guess climbing poles, steel transmission line towers, and doing rubber glove hot work on 25KV lines has given me a different perspective on what's hazardous and to what degree it is.

 

[crazyal]

When I use to do lead abatement we often used telescoping forklifts with baskets to work near the abutments. Often they were steeply sloped and neither staging nor a man lift could get close enough. We did have scaffolding that could hang off of the I-beams but it was not easy to set up. Sure you could break a hose but it's more likely to have an extension ladder's feet slip and fall or to fall while climbing up staging. In some ways using a platform on a loader is safer than staging or a ladder. For example while building the house we often would put heavy items like bundles of shingles in the basket to lift them up with us. Climbing up a ladder while trying to carry something means using one hand. Not to mention the extra stress on your body or the number of trips up and down a ladder. We were also able to put the platform to the exact height we needed. Everything is a risk, you just have to balance the risk vs the benefits.

 

[stuckmotor]

When my grandson was born my wife told me not to take him up in the loader bucket. I told her I was hoping he'd take me up in the bucket.

 

[Todd727]

First, I've climbed up in a bucket many times.

Second, I've had a lift hose rupture, not when anyone was in the bucket, and I was astonished at how fast it happen and the force with which the empty bucket returned to the ground.

Third, my ex-father in law was killed when the hydraulics failed while he was changing a light bulb on his mercury-vapor pole light.

I no longer climb in a bucket based on my experiences. Do what you want, but be careful. It can happen and it happens fast.

 

[oosik]

I worked for a company that used hydraulic lifts all the time. One of our electricians was UP in one when something or other failed. It came CRASHING DOWN and being the closest to the situation, I was somewhat hesitant to go look. Surprise, surprise - he was nowhere to be found in the wreckage. Then we heard this voice, from on high. "Get another lift and get the H*LL over here". He had grabbed a large electrical conduit, as the lift collapsed, and was about 18 feet up in the air hanging from the pipe. Its good he had strong arms because it took a while to push the wreckage out of the way and get a new lift under him.

We were never told why the lift crashed down - supposedly there are safety mechanisms that prevent this. If there are - they sure failed in this situation.