Tractor forks

[Mainer_for_life]

Hey everyone I have another question for you all. When my dad bought our new holland tc40d from a guy he offered us a set of forks that were build to mount to the bucket of the tractor. About 6 inches of the forks sit in the bucket and on the top they have a piece to hold the top of the bucket. We do not like the fact that the forks wobble on the bucket. Also you can not see the front or the sides of the forks when trying to move a pallet of the forks because of the bucket and how it is in front of your view. The loader of the tractor is curved instead of at an angle so it sticks our farther in front which is good because enough can see the bucket or forks even if they are. All the way to the ground but it makes the tractor harder to manuver in the woods and with the added length of the bucket and 3 foot pallet forks it is quite difficult if you not trying to stave things up.

Here is the tractor and the forks y. 

So as a fix to this we are going to weld a plate to the back of them and make a mount this loader does not have the new quick connect bucket style it is the olde pin style. To compensate for the loader being curved we were also going to cut about a foot or so off of the forks to make them easier to manuver in the woods what do you guys think should be cut a foot off or not and to you think that this is a good idea to make the forks. There own piece and not just an attachment for the bucket.

This image is what would be cut off of each in the making of the forks back plate and loader mount. The black lines are what is cut

Sorry for all of the reading we just want to make a good decision and I figured well let's ask people who might have done something like it. Thanks for all of the help.

[beenthere]

So if you cut them shorter, will you sacrifice being able to use them to pick up a pallet?

And do I read you right, that you are still going with the bucket (which is in your way to see the forks) ??

[Mainer_for_life]

Beenthere you have helped me a lot so before anything thanks you. If we cut them shorter I belive that we will still be able to use them to pick up pallets because we will still have enough length to balance the load. As for your second question no we will leave the bucket as is and make the forks there own unit that does not need to be used with the bucket, they will go from these 



to something like this

[WmFritz]

As for your second question no we will leave the bucket as is and make the forks there own unit that does not need to be used with the bucket, they will go from these 

I'm still confused... the bucket will stay mounted and the forks will add on? Or, is the bucket coming off when the forks are mounted?

I wouldn't lose the fork length, if it were mine. But, you know better for your usage.

I've got a set of forks for mine waiting to be fabbed up. I just can't decide if I want to mount them like Magicman's tractor off my three point. Or, Fab them for the FEL. If they mount to the loader arms, I will definitely drop my bucket out. My little tractor gets maxed out on weight too much now. Losing a couple hundred pounds before the forks go on won't hurt it.

[fishpharmer]

I think I understand your reasons to have a dedicated set of pallet forks that do not attach to the bucket.  So you detach the bucket and attach and use the forks and vice versa?  That's a good idea.  However,  I would not cut any off the forks, until you used them for a while.

[beenthere]

 

  My forks quick attach to the FEL as well as the 3 PH. Very handy that way.
But they are a complete unit, not just the tines themselves.


  

  

 

[WmFritz]

My forks quick attach to the FEL as well as the 3 PH. Very handy that way.
But they are a complete unit, not just the tines themselves.

Now that is versatility!

[fishpharmer]

Beenthere, that's a handy setup.  Are the vertical extensions homemade or factory, at times flopping forks are a hassle?

[beenthere]

The verticals are factory. And the forks do not flop. Use them often to dig stumps and rocks out.

The forks slide on a bar, and I removed the factory set screw that was to hold them along the slide. I cut some short lengths of pvc pipe and removed a slice that allows me to snap them on and off. That way they are easy to change and don't end up jimmying up the bar with the set screw.

I'm close to attempting to fab a single thumb on these forks for holding logs when working in the woods (and I wouldn't want less length to these forks in the woods).
Just a couple things to work out, one being easy removal for when I don't want them on, another is the dual hyd. lines attached to the FEL frame, and a third is the redirect valve for the dual hyd. lines. I have the hyd. top arm on the 3 ph that helps tremendously when using attachments on the rear 3 ph. I thought redirecting that hyd. flow to the thumb (grapple) on the forks would suffice.

[Mainer_for_life]

The bucket will come off when the forks go on and the reason for cutting length off of them is to make them more manuverable in the woods. The forks will mostly be used to move around tree length or half tree length logs and stacking them in piles.

[Mainer_for_life]

Beenthere these forks will also be a complete unit that will not attach to the bucket. I like what you did to the 3pt hitch mount also that is a great idea.

[beenthere]

The forks will mostly be used to move around tree length or half tree length logs and stacking them in piles.

The longer the forks the better, especially when stacking logs.
I think you'll find that reaching out further to lay a log on the pile is important, because the front tires come up against the lowest log on the ground.
A trick I use is to get the log rolling to the tips of the fork and flip the forks up to throw the log further up the pile.
A stack from last years' firewood, and you can see how "reach" on the forks is important. 


 

[petefrom bearswamp]

off topic, but beenthere are those beetle killed ash or live.
Nice stack,  but looks like a lot of saw logs in there.
Pete

[gspren]

  I had a local weld shop make up a bracket to hold forks that fit the quick detach on my loader and later took it back and added a few pieces so I can also hook up to the 3 point like beenthere's. When I first had it made I used some heavy 24" forks because someone gave them to me but later I bought a set of 42" forks at an auction. I could swap if I wanted but so far I have never put the 24" forks back on.

[beenthere]

pete

off topic, but beenthere are those beetle killed ash or live.

Have had no beetle killed ash around here that I am aware of.
And when they were ash logs in this pile, they were not live "no more".   ;D

They are too short for sawlogs. ;)

[lopet]

There is nothing wrong with the idea of having a separate set of forks built the way you described. But you may wanna consider that long forks can be as much of a pain as short ones can be.  The long ones can be handy to make a pile as others have mentioned but when you pick up the logs from the pile and they start to roll you can get quickly more on, then your loader can handle. Also when you're loading a trailer you need a higher tipping point. That's when they're not so handy.
That set of forks in your picture looks like 40" or more to me and yes I would cut a junk off.

Beenthere,  that's a sweet idea with the setup you have.

[Mainer_for_life]

I will measure the forks in the morning and I will probably make the decision I also will probably start making a sketch tomorrow of what I'm thinking it will look like if the forks are over 3 feet then I will at least probably cut them down to 2 1/2 feet so that they will at least be somewhat more maneuverable but still keep the advantage of having longer forks for piling.

[RayMO]

Use them first before cutting. I would not dream of cuting them if they are 42 inches or less. I run 48" on my skid steer and they work perfect for loading and unloading logs as well as stacking. Shorter fork do not allow you to reach the middle log on a standard width truck or trailer bed.
Also nice to be able to pick up a decent width stack of lumber without it falling over or tipping .

[chuckthompson]

I also have TC40.  HAve the quick attach bucket / forks AND a set of rear 3PH forks fabbed from old forklift forks.
I agree with other posters - you should not be in a hurry to cut 'em down.  Use them first, for a season to see if they are really too long.  (you can always cut 'em in five minutes, but lengthening them is a bit more work! :^)   )I think that you'll find out that the length isn't as much of a problem as you foresee.  You can still lift just as much if you locate the log / load at the rear of the fork assy., and it WILL be easier piling logs up with longer tines...  good luck!

[Stray one]

I agree with Raymo.  I built a head for my skidsteer and if the forks were any shorter they would make unloading a trailer or truck a hassle.  When I built mine I made the head wider than conventional so it would balance the load better if you pick up logs with the butts in opposing directions. Also if you use a separate head you will already be shorter because now your subtracting the length of the bucket.  My experience says your visibility and leverage will be way better with the separate head.   

[Ljohnsaw]

Geez, I thought you had long forks  :D  Mine are long enough that when unloading a flatbed, I kept snaggin' the pallet behind the one I was unloading.  My forks are 5' (60") long   But they are great for popping rocks and tree stumps!

[Mainer_for_life]

I like all the info that everyone is giving but I still feel that if I am going to be driving through the woods with these forks on because it would take to long to take them on and off to stack a pile because of the fact that they are the pin type, that I will most likely hit or scrub trees that I don't want to hurt or I will get stuck trying to corner with a twitch on. The shorter forks would help me compensate for the curved loader arms which stick out 2-3 feet more than the usual angled ones do.

[Ed_K]

Just forks on,won't weight alot. I lift the loader up to get around trees, just don't do it if you have anything on them.

[DeerMeadowFarm]

Mainer - I understand your thinking but your logic is off. First of all, if your twitch roads are so tight that you are considering cutting your forks down, they are too tight! You need to open your trails up a bit. I fotget if my forks are 42" or 48" but I wish they were longer. Everyone on here that has responded to your post have said the same thing; don't cut those forks. Lots of combined years of experience here....might be worth listening to.

Beenthere - If I read your post correctly, you have a hydraulic top link? Do you have any other rear mounted remotes? My Massey has two sets of rear remotes. I have a set of lines I made that run from the rear to the front of my tractor that I just plug into one of my rear remotes. I routed them "permanently" with zip ties. I did this originally to angle my snowplow (I use a snow blower now) but I am planning on making a grapple to attach to my forks.

[Mainer_for_life]

Okay the overwhelming vote here is to leave them so I will probably do it. The twitch roads are not so much the problem because we normally don't cut from twitch roads we don't cut enough a year to justify many of them. We normally just cut our trees for firewood, if they are 100 feet in the woods we normally just back in as far as we can and winch them from there to us so we normally are just bush wacking through old grown up road ways or such. But if everyone says leave them then so be it I'll post a drawing of the rear plate later thanks guys.