Pallet forks and prototype ballast "box"

[HerbP]

My neighbor gave me some pallet forks from his work so I made a simple frame for them with brackets to mount on my DIY quick-attach brackets. I made it such that the forks can slide to the center and be removed with the intent that eventually I will make different 'forks' and add a grappler on top.

Then I assigned my 16 year old son to build me a ballast box. It worked well until the top mount bent. He'll learn more when he redesigns it.

 

[mickeyd]

He gave you just the forks, nothing else?

Great job by both you and your son.

 

[HerbP]

Yes, just the forks. They're standard Class-II forks with a full taper.

They're very heavy unfortunately. They have far greater capacity than my LA364 can lift and each one weighs about 110lbs so along with the frame, I've probably lost about 275lbs of lift capacity.

One interesting use I inadvertantly discovered is that I can put the forks closely together and drive them almost vertically into the ground and then peel them forwards... Makes a nice divet in the ground for planting shrubs. Also is able to pry up small tree stumps.

 

[mickeyd]

Yes, the added weight means less weight you will be able to lift.

There are lot of extra uses when you have flexibility.

 

[D2Cat]

Herb, nice work. I have a set of forks and just haven't got around to building a mount for them.

Could you post some close up pictures of the angles you used, and did you put some notches in them to place the forks in? Thanks.

 

[HerbP]

Could you post some close up pictures of the angles you used, and did you put some notches in them to place the forks in?

Gladly. I didn't really design anything. Just had some material lying around and it sort of just told me how to it wanted to be built.

I don't have notches in the rails so the forks can just slide left right. For the most part they stay in place.

I'll post some close ups this weekend.

 

[HerbP]

Could you post some close up pictures of the angles you used, and did you put some notches in them to place the forks in? Thanks.

Hopefully these pictures show you what you're looking for. If not, let me know and I can take some more specifically with what you need. The material is primarily 2x2"x.25" square tubing and 1"x.25" angle. One thing I wish I'd done differently is to put the missing piece for fork-removal at the bottom instead of the top. It's a bit of a chore to put the forks back on.