Storm Cleanup and hung up limbs

fried1765

Well-known member

Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
Nov 14, 2019
6,313
4,003
113
Eastham, Ma
I know they have bolt on forks that hook to my bucket.

I have also considered converting my FEL setup from the pin on bucket to the SSQA.

I would really like the SSQA. I just have to decide if I am keeping the BX until it dies or if I am going to eventually move up to a different machine. If I keep it (which is what I will probably do) I will convert it to the SSQA and then get a set of SSQA forks
Good plan!
Do not by clamp on (crappy) forks!
 
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In Utopia

Active member

Equipment
L175 FEL
Apr 21, 2013
582
87
28
Utopia,Tx/Pasadena,TX
Yep.They use it all the time on their cattle farm. Not sure how all that works.
Ran across this in upstate New York. Talked to a young man who was cutting grass on a John Deere lawn tractor, and it had the same type wheels on it. The answer he gave me is the chuch said it must be done this way.
3F1A3FBB-C89C-4BBB-8D51-62C573E29AF2_zpsjgm66m2i.jpeg
 

fried1765

Well-known member

Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
Nov 14, 2019
6,313
4,003
113
Eastham, Ma
I've got a set of "clamp on crappy forks" and they work great. Not as great as real forks, but easy on/off and never had a problem with them. Moved a lot of brush and other stuff with them. For $300.00 (I think that's what I paid) they're worth every cent.

The only bummer I've found is brush gets hung up on the cross bar -stabilizer bar- between the forks. The extension worked well for very large brush piles.

View attachment 86557 View attachment 86555
I am sure that clamp on forks work just fine for bales of dry feathers, and twigs.
Anything much more.......look out for a bent bucket!
 
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Sep 3, 2022
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America
I am sure that clamp on forks work just fine for bales of dry feathers, and twigs.
Anything much more.......look out for a bent bucket!
I've not moved any bales of dry feathers yet. Twigs yes! You're correct about a bent bucket on the thin steel buckets many of these machines come with. I still highly recommend them as a cheap and simple way to get forks - and they're under $200.00! 🎿🚜
 

ve9aa

Well-known member

Equipment
TG1860, BX2380 -backblade, bx2830 snowblower, fel, weight box,pallet forks,etc
Apr 11, 2021
1,202
972
113
NB, Canada
I looked at "clamp on pallet forks" but the cost (Amazon.ca) and then the cost to get them here started to make them $400+ and I didn't want to run the risk of bending my bucket.

At Costco one night they had super biggie ratchet straps for $20 or something, so I took those home with a thought.

I took an 8'(ish) pc of 2" galvanized fencing pipe and cut it in half (at a 45* angle, not straight across as you'd normally do) and then into each pipe I mounted 2 bigazz eyebolts I had laying around. One eyebolt at the back of the bucket end of the pipe and one nearly halfway along an inch or two ahead of the cutting edge of my bucket. The "tip" (cut at an angle) of the fork got no eyebolt.

I then placed the 2 pipes a couple feet apart 'aimed' away from me (laying on the ground), so the cuts were way out front.
I put the bucket on top of them, all on the ground.

I wrapped the ratchet strap completely around my bucket, eventually hooking onto the eyebolts. Cinched it down really well.

Voila ! Instant pallet forks for essentially zero money (who doesn't already have some of these 'straps or eyebolts kicking around collecting dust?)...if not, figure $30 in "stuff" and a few minutes cutting a big pipe in half.

The bonus is....I don't think I could/would deform my bucket with this mounting scheme. Are they as good as real forks? No. Are these close? (pretty close...they work!)

I still like the SSQA forks much better, but in a pinch and for an hours worth of mods, these worked for a couple jobs until I could source SSQA forks, easy-peasy !

2 small downsides,. Could not remove my SSQA bucket as straps were wound around everything (oops!) and the exposed threads of the eyebolts hanging down at ground level scrapes along the ground and will dig trenches into your driveway, lawn, whatever.

Overall, I'd call these maybe 75% as good as "real" forks.

I didn't try to torture test them to see how much they'd lift compared to real forks.

I only own a 'BX2380 so I am not lifting anything over a few hundred pounds anyways and I think I'd be good at those weights. LOnger would've been better as I only have something like 3' of actual fork (I never measured it exactly) but for the 3 jobs I had, it was all good.
 
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