Talk Sense to Me about Pallet Fork Capacity

[Pete Puma]

I'm going to be getting a pole barn kit delivery that includes multiple 1200 lb pallets of steel siding and roofing.

I have a L245DT plus Model 1200 loader with clamp-on pallet forks.

My gut feeling is that this would be pushing the limits of my tractor, especially since the other day when I used the loader to hold the front end of my riding lawn mower off the ground while I futzed with the deck I noticed drops of fluid from my hydraulic cylinders so it's time to rebuild them.

Am I worrying too much about overloading the loader or should I play it safe and rent a telehandler for that delivery?

 

[#40Fan]

I don't know about a telehandler, but a bigger tractor for sure.

 

[Caden]

That's too much. I think its a bit much for the tractor its self, but especially with clamp on forks is a no go.

 

[Pete Puma]

Yeah, I'm convinced. I should totally go with my first instinct on this one. The telehandler would mostly be because no one around here seems to have outdoor forklifts for rent.

I did move a rock that must have been getting close to that weight with the loader when I had nothing on my three point and even a couple inches off the ground it was pretty sketchy. I figured if I tried this I'd have at least 500 lbs of weight on the rear, but I'm not going to try it.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

are you installing the pole barn yourself?

the reason i ask is because around these parts all pole barns are delivered on flat deck trailers that either have their own fork lift on the back or a crane on the front. A lot has to do with what type / length of posts being ordered / used.

Have you checked with your supplier or installer?

I don't think your tractor is going to be big enough.

 

[nbryan]

That loader is likely capable at tops of safely lifting 1000 lbs, at the bucket pin. I'm pretty sure you'll need heavier lifting capacity.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I'm going to be getting a pole barn kit delivery that includes multiple 1200 lb pallets of steel siding and roofing.

I have a L245DT plus Model 1200 loader with clamp-on pallet forks.

My gut feeling is that this would be pushing the limits of my tractor, especially since the other day when I used the loader to hold the front end of my riding lawn mower off the ground while I futzed with the deck I noticed drops of fluid from my hydraulic cylinders so it's time to rebuild them.

Am I worrying too much about overloading the loader or should I play it safe and rent a telehandler for that delivery?

You wont get a 1200# pallet off the ground.

Dan

Dan

 

[Pete Puma]

are you installing the pole barn yourself?

the reason i ask is because around these parts all pole barns are delivered on flat deck trailers that either have their own fork lift on the back or a crane on the front. A lot has to do with what type / length of posts being ordered / used.

Have you checked with your supplier or installer?

I don't think your tractor is going to be big enough.



View attachment 180236

View attachment 180237

That's a bit of a sore point. The barn is coming from several states away and after we were well into designing it they changed trucking companies. The old company had unload services but the new one doesn't. And now we're trying to figure out if they'll bring a 72' cab+trailer into my driveway or if I'll need to unload at an alternate location 24 miles away.

Biggest items in terms of length are the 24' trusses, but they come on a tilt bed and just slide off.

And in theory my contractor is doing most of the installation in partial trade for some property but he had heart surgery and I'm stressing about him being caught up enough to get the shell on this done before winter sets in. The whole thing is pretty anxiety-inducing.

Yes, I'm thoroughly convinced that I shouldn't be considering unloading the pallets with my tractor. I was almost convinced before I even asked the question.

 

[Caden]

Yes, I'm thoroughly convinced that I shouldn't be considering unloading the pallets with my tractor. I was almost convinced before I even asked the question.

Sounds like you are in a tough spot. Sometimes those "bite the bullet" situations make it easier to spend the extra rental money to do things the right way so nothing else goes wrong.

Any way you can block a lane of a road for 20 minutes to unload at the foot of your driveway?

 

[TheOldHokie]

That's a bit of a sore point. The barn is coming from several states away and after we were well into designing it they changed trucking companies. The old company had unload services but the new one doesn't. And now we're trying to figure out if they'll bring a 72' cab+trailer into my driveway or if I'll need to unload at an alternate location 24 miles away.

Biggest items in terms of length are the 24' trusses, but they come on a tilt bed and just slide off.

And in theory my contractor is doing most of the installation in partial trade for some property but he had heart surgery and I'm stressing about him being caught up enough to get the shell on this done before winter sets in. The whole thing is pretty anxiety-inducing.

Yes, I'm thoroughly convinced that I shouldn't be considering unloading the pallets with my tractor. I was almost convinced before I even asked the question.

Rent a small all terrain fork truck. Its not that expensive. Unload the trailer on the road and ferry the load to your worksite. I have done this many times snd with far heavier loads.

Dan

 

[Pete Puma]

Sounds like you are in a tough spot. Sometimes those "bite the bullet" situations make it easier to spend the extra rental money to do things the right way so nothing else goes wrong.

Any way you can block a lane of a road for 20 minutes to unload at the foot of your driveway?

Yeah, rental is definitely looking like the best option.

The manufacturer says the other open trailers can be unloaded from the road but for some reason the enclosed one with the steel on pallets can't be. My property is on a "minor rural collector" (I think that's what they call it) and is fairly busy, but if I end up doing it at the alternate location that's out on a dirt road in real farm country and no one would care.

Personally I think a decent driver should be able to pull a 72' rig through a 16' wide gate 40' from the edge of the road, especially because the available width of the driveway at the road is doubled by an old unused cattle guard made of beefy i-beams that wouldn't have any problem taking the weight if they needed to drive on it. Of course, never having driven a 72' rig myself I'm only going to put up so much of a fight on this point.

At one point the county wanted me to fill in the cattle guard but they dropped it. If I end up having to dump a couple yards of 5/8th minus in it so a semi can get in without feeling nervous that might be worth it.

 

[Shawn T. W]

As a truck drive of 34 years, and driving 72' long semi-trucks ... It generally figured that you need the length of your truck to turn ... What I mean is if your road is 22' wide, your driveway should be 50' wide ... Those two numbers added together equally 72'

Sounds like you have about 32' of road frontage, how wide is the road? If it soft ground and he gets stuck, a wrecker bill will start around $1000.

Now ... With that said ... A experienced driver can generally get it done with less room ...

Here are a few pictures of my driveway that I built myself for backing my truck off the 19' wide county road ... The gate posts are 80' from the roadway (so I can back off the road before opening them!) and they are 26' apart ...



You can see that I flared out the ends of the driveway between the 60' culvert, and road to get a headstart on getting the trailer in.



Over all I have about 70' of road frontage to "blindsided" (backing towards the right side of truck) back in off the road, this gives me plenty of wiggle room to make up for being tired or bad weather, or dark ...

 

[JasonW]

I don’t have any pictures although a few years ago now I went to help a friend have a building offloaded from a truck at his rural property.
He rented a Lull forklift and I ran it while he was busy with everything else.

Well the driver was too confident and buried the truck and trailer in this driveway after I recommend it wasn’t a good idea. Soft sand and uphill. Had to cut trees down and unload the truck while it was buried. About 8 hours later to finish a 30min job the truck was unloaded.

Long story your tractor is too small. Definitely with clamp on forks. You might be surprised how little you can lift with that set up. Leverage does wonders.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

check with 'sunbelt rentals' close to you. heck with a valid credit card they'll drop off a green painted Kubota excavator and no experience needed to run it. Yeah, neighbour did that...kinda freaked me out !

 

[Pete Puma]

As a truck drive of 34 years, and driving 72' long semi-trucks ... It generally figured that you need the length of your truck to turn ... What I mean is if your road is 22' wide, your driveway should be 50' wide ... Those two numbers added together equally 72'

Sounds like you have about 32' of road frontage, how wide is the road? If it soft ground and he gets stuck, a wrecker bill will start around $1000.

Now ... With that said ... A experienced driver can generally get it done with less room ...

Here are a few pictures of my driveway that I built myself for backing my truck off the 19' wide county road ... The gate posts are 80' from the roadway (so I can back off the road before opening them!) and they are 26' apart ...

You can see that I flared out the ends of the driveway between the 60' culvert, and road to get a headstart on getting the trailer in.

Over all I have about 70' of road frontage to "blindsided" (backing towards the right side of truck) back in off the road, this gives me plenty of wiggle room to make up for being tired or bad weather, or dark ...

Yeah, that's definitely a lot more room than I have.

I happened to be here last year when they delivered the two halves of our 66' manufactured home. I didn't know it was coming that day but I was getting a shipping container dropped off and hung around for the show.

The first driver didn't hesitate about trying it, but then he realized he was going to need to jockey to pull it off and rather than do that he unloaded the tug they carry for positioning the house on the foundation, unhitched, and used it instead. So I think it's doable but with some effort on the driver's part and if one of the three balks I'm screwed.

Maybe I need to start planning on having it all delivered to the alternate location and trailering it down in smaller loads. Most of it I can handle with a rental trailer and my truck, but it's a newer Ranger rated for 7500 lbs towing and based on past experience I'm not sure anyone will rent me a trailer long enough to handle those trusses.

 

[Pete Puma]

check with 'sunbelt rentals' close to you. heck with a valid credit card they'll drop off a green painted Kubota excavator and no experience needed to run it. Yeah, neighbour did that...kinda freaked me out !

Yeah, a few years ago I was the very first person to rent a brand new Kubota excavator and it was also the first time I ran an excavator. I was a little nervous about damaging it. Now I've got a mini-ex of my own.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

This sounds like a crappy deal; rather than combine into a single load they're maybe drop shipping at least part of it (steel sheeting?) from the manufacturer. Maybe (hopefully) I'm misunderstanding the situation, but it sounds like they expect you to unload part of it over the side of a flat bed, and part of it out the back of a box trailer.

I would ask them exactly how they load the enclosed trailer. Can you drag it out part way and then lift it (this may need 2 machines) or do you have to reach in the trailer and lift it out? You may need more than the driver's assistance. And be prepared with rigging straps, etc. Can the deliveries be coordinated, or will you have to make a 24 mile jaunt at random times?

 

[#40Fan]

This sounds like a crappy deal; rather than combine into a single load they're maybe drop shipping at least part of it (steel sheeting?) from the manufacturer. Maybe (hopefully) I'm misunderstanding the situation, but it sounds like they expect you to unload part of it over the side of a flat bed, and part of it out the back of a box trailer.

I would ask them exactly how they load the enclosed trailer. Can you drag it out part way and then lift it (this may need 2 machines) or do you have to reach in the trailer and lift it out? You may need more than the driver's assistance. And be prepared with rigging straps, etc. Can the deliveries be coordinated, or will you have to make a 24 mile jaunt at random times?

100 out of 100 truss deliveries I've seen are just as the OP describes. Trailer pulls up and they slide them off the back and onto the ground.

Then the rest of the wood shows up and then the metal. (Or flipped order of delivery)

I've never seen any of the deliveries in the back of an enclosed trailer.

I'll take a guess that the OP bought from Menards.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

100 out of 100 truss deliveries I've seen are just as the OP describes. Trailer pulls up and they slide them off the back and onto the ground.

Then the rest of the wood shows up and then the metal. (Or flipped order of delivery)

I've never seen any of the deliveries in the back of an enclosed trailer.

I'll take a guess that the OP bought from Menards.

In post #11 OP wrote,
"The manufacturer says the other open trailers can be unloaded from the road but for some reason the enclosed one with the steel on pallets can't be."

 

[Pete Puma]

I'll take a guess that the OP bought from Menards.

Hansen. I talked to a few local places but between price, timing, and attitude wasn't impressed. Hansen has been great to work with and put up with a lot of changes from my end. But this delivery is turning into a headache.