Fork Lift Arms

[BIGHOSS]

Been wanting to make some forks for my Bushhog Loader that is mounted on my Ford 3000. Found these forks for $10 at a farm consignment auction last fall. Who ever made the fork arms did a good job of fabricating. I cut off and discarded everything except for the horizontal forks and the upright posts. I beefed it up with heavy angles at the bottom and spacers between the twin forks to make it more stable. Fabricated the hooks that are welded to the top of bucket from about 1" rebar.

I have not picked up a good load with it yet, but I believe that it will work OK as long as I don't go crazy with a big load on it. Really like how easy it is to attach to the loader. Just tilt the bucket, go under the cross rod, lift up and away you go. To remove just reverse this procedure.

[

Except for the initial $10, a little paint and welding rods, there was no other expense. All of the rest was made from metal that I had on hand.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

good job. I am impressed.

[Urbish]

Looking good. I think that depending on the weight of the load you're picking up, you'll find that the cross rod will bow/sag while under load. It's good that you have the ends capped so they can't slip out of the hooks though. A third hook in the middle would help a lot if you run into that problem, but it might make it tougher to line up for attachment.

[BIGHOSS]

The cross bar is made out of about 1 1/2 " re bar, which is the largest diameter one that I have ever seen. Not sure of the metal properties of re bar. but it should be pretty tough to bend. The forks can slide in and out, so that the load can be directed to the outer hooks.

Thanks for your comments.

[Murphy]

Very nice looking.. however.. I think the connection point between the horizontal forks and the vertical bars is going to tear apart.

Those will work very nicely for general stuff but I think if you put something heavy on there like an 800 to 1000 lb load that is evenly distributed across the length of the forks, I think the connection point is going to bend or tear. My best guess is that it will tear due to the carbonizing of the steel caused by the high temperatures required to weld.

Just my guess.. If your application is moving light objects then you'll be just fine.. put something heavy on there and when your tractor hits a few bumps, there could be problems.

[Murphy]

The cross bar is made out of about 1 1/2 " re bar, which is the largest diameter one that I have ever seen. Not sure of the metal properties of re bar. but it should be pretty tough to bend. The forks can slide in and out, so that the load can be directed to the outer hooks.

Thanks for your comments.

I wasn't referring to the crossbar at the top.. My concern is the connection point at the bottom where the horizontal forks, the part where a pallet would lifted, connect to the vertical bars. You have a short piece of angle iron welded to each side on the back/bottom to add some extra meat to it. I don't think it will hold if you put a heavy load on there. I'm not worried about it pulling apart, you got that covered pretty well.. I'm worried about a hinge effect where pressure at the tip of the forks pushes down causing that connection point to open up.

I only say this because I've seen setups like this in the past made of 3 inch square tube and the welds tore apart when they put four full 55gal drums on a pallet and lifted it. That's about 1600+ lbs.. but I'm guessing your tubing is 2x2 or something? Every pair of forks have their limits.

As for the re-bar at the top, I think that will be fine so long as you don't slide both forks together in the middle and push the envelope. I have forks on my tractor but they're a bit different.. I take the bucket off and the forks connect directly to the loader arms. Your "re-bar" to adjust the width of the forks is a 2 inch piece of solid round stock on mine.. I've never detected any bending at all and I've used that top slider bar as an anchor point for using a chain to pull 24 inch diameter trees out of the woods. See photo.

[Rudi]

Ron:

You did a very nice job building those forks. As always, you know what your work envelope is, so I wouldnt worry too much. You got lots of overkill there. Ray built his own and they worked very nicely on the Massey Ferguson and still do. Lots of folks said it would get torn apart. well .. after 12 years they are still in one piece ..... you know what you got. I like how you did it very well. These projects are always in progress ... as a bump comes along we deal with it.

Keep up the good work. Nicely done. Kudos

[BIGHOSS]

Thanks Rudi. As always good to hear from you.

I like to think that at my age extra common sense has finally kicked in. I know not to go crazy by trying to lift more than the forks can stand. First of all, my Ford 3000 will get light on the rear with too much of a load on the bucket.
I was an industrial/manufacturing engineer in my other life (before retirement). Most of my mechanical engineering skills have been learned by experience and working with MEs. I try to design with the least amount of braces, gussets, heavy wall steel, etc. that I can get by with. I want just enough engineering to get the job done with very little safety factor built in. It becomes a challenge to me to make it work with the least amount. That's just me. This is for my own use and not for the public's use.
JMHO

[Rudi]

Ron:

Precisely.... we do this stuff to fill a need that we have ... along with keeping the creative juices flowing or our brains working somewhat. When I look at some of the stuff that has been CSA and UL approved .. I just shake my head and wonder how did that happen and go back to what I was doing.

Home made doesn't mean shoddy .... it just means either being frugal or needing the hobby quotient more than anything else.

I really enjoy seeing what y'all fabricate over time .. always some useful tidbit that sticks from just about every project that will work in another one. Keep on playing cause you make some neat toys