FEL Forks

[In Utopia]

Need ideas for making a set of forks for my L175 FEL bucket.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Bucket forks. They just slip on. Hope you dont expect to lift much. Removing bucket and putting forks in its place will give you more. I made a rig for the three point. Doesent lift high, but it does the job for me. I figure somwhere around 600 lbs.

 

[Lil Foot]

Here are a couple pics of the bucket forks I got with my tractor. They are round pipe, 3/16" wall; would be better if they were heavy wall rectangular tubing.
You'll notice two pieces of vertical rectangular tubing, these are pockets for 2 x 4s (not present in these pics) to keep the load from shifting back. My buddy's new rectangular forks don't have this feature, which I find both useful & safe. You might also notice they are both on the same side instead of opposite sides of the spear. Apparently when the PO bought them, he never used them for 6 months, then noticed he had two rights instead of a right & left, but never did anything about it. It looks odd, but still functions.
Third pic shows the angle I welded to the top of the bucket after straightening it- the PO used to get really carried away with tightening his ratchet load binders & had bent the top edge of the bucket down about
3 1/2".
Similar forks are common on Craigslist in the Phoenix area, example links below.
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/bfd/4776078950.html
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/grq/4756905425.html
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/grq/4789978291.html

 

[Lil Foot]

I forgot to address weight limits as Tooljunkie mentioned- forks that replace the bucket will lift considerably more because the load is closer to the tractor, but bucket types are still pretty handy. I've lifted/moved Rhino engines, loaded rollaways & tool boxes, radial arm saw, culverts, compressors, yard wagon, logs, rocks, concrete planters, bags of pellets, feed, concrete, demolition debris, slash, potted trees, lumber, pavers on pallets, large ladders, work benches, implements (gannon, front blade, backhoe, rock skid) T-posts, even a sagging porch while I repaired it's supports.

 

[In Utopia]

3 Point is out of the question, got my ballast box there.
Not looking to lift anything heavy, just thought they'd be handy landscape timbers and alike.
Need hints on material and how to attach to bucket.

 

[Bulldog]

Have you looked at www.everythingattachments.com ? They have several different styles of forks. Something might fit your needs or at least you can get some ideas of how they have theirs mounted.

 

[Lil Foot]

Here is a basic layout of mine, all metal is 3/16" to 1/4" thk except for the 2x4 stake pockets that are 1/8". Sorry for the crude drawing, don't have a decent graphics program on this machine.

 

[MagKarl]

I have a clamp on set of Rankin forks that I bought off of CL and they work great. They poke the load way out in front of the bucket, which reduces your lift capacity as mentioned, but my tractor doesn't have the lift to actually bend anything like a lot of folks caution about.

Here's a link: Check the clamp on forks, they would be easy to reproduce.
http://www.rankineqco.com/

 

[Backfire1]

Check these out. http://www.titandistributorsinc.com...et-forks-1-500-lbs-capacity.html#.VI9pxCvF98E

 

[In Utopia]

I like em, thanks.
Won't take much to make a set of those.

 

[otter]

A set of these would be great but they are not made for the L3800......yet...am on a waiting list

http://bxpanded.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=4