DIY Forklift Forks?

Quick question, guys!

I've just bought a tractor with a front end loader which will lift 3,300 pounds at the pivot points. Since I'll be using this almost exclusively for industrial use, I now need a set of forklift forks for it, which I'm planning to build myself.

The plan is to build a "frame" that attaches to the front of the loader and have it setup so that the forks have a large bushing on the tops of them, which will slide across a stout pipe allowing them to adjust their width.

Looking around for the forks themselves, prices often hit ~$500 for a set, which isnt really something I consider a decent buy.

Therefor, I'm wanting to build my own.

1) How much would a set of 40" forks, made from 2x4x.250 mild steel hold? I dont want to underbuild this, especially for the application
2) Should I just use 1x3 solid bar stock for this? It would be heavy, expensive, and I'd probably never use the leftovers, but if thats what it takes, then that's what it takes I guess
3) I understand the hardest part of this design will be the 90 degree bend in the back of the fork. I'm planning to run the forks under the loader bracket and reverse-gusset them, assuming the design of the loader will allow it.

Does any of this sound workable? Bonus points if anyone can link me to any references I can use in the future for calculating what type and thickness of material I should use for future projects. Thanks in advance guys!

>inb4 "hurdurdur you shouldn't build this the sky is going to fall" posts

With scrap as cheep as it is I would hit the junk yard for a set of forks and mast plate. A year ago I made a set up to put forks on my skid steer and they turned out good and all the steel was scrap steel I bought or had. I did use the old mounts from a junked bucket and cut and welded them on the frame I built for it. These forks are old but they are still good so I saved they off a fork lift we junked at work. I hope this gives you an idea or two. Bandit

Lanse don't look to hard at my welds, I'm not a welder, I am a proper barn yard rod burner! Bandit

Bandit's got it ....Just go to a forklift junkyard and buy the Forks and fork carriage , then adapt that to your loader frame. You moved to Texas ? Look around the port cities for the junkyard , Port Arthur , Houston, Galveston ....

Bandit, your work looks great to me!

Honestly, I just plain and simple dont have time to ravage various junkyards looking for beaten parts. With my shop, it would be faster just to make them

I looked around on CL and found a set that looked pretty good for $250 which I thought was high, and they weren't the style that I wanted (with the loop on top), and I'd be afraid to weld a bushing to the top of them, since this probably very hard, carbon rich, difficult to weld steel...

After Carl's picture, I'm ready to hit the steel yard myself

CEP, if you don't mind, how thick is that tube? What size is it? I could start my design with that...

The box tube on the bottom is a piece of 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 1/4" wall, It's a piece of an AC planter frame so it's good steel. My forks are the old style but they are attached with a 1 1/4" bar stock shaft that I made so the shaft can be removed if I want the forks under 24" outside to outside and can be moved together in the middle. At least I thought it though and made it so I could take the shaft or long pin out just in case I need to. I thought about 3 mounts for that shaft but after looking at it it made more sense to use 4 and it made it stronger. Take 2 1/4" bolt out and the cover comes off and the shaft comes completely out. Bandit

1) "How much would a set of 40" forks, made from 2x4x.250 mild steel hold?"

You're kidding us right ? 40 inch forks welded from pieces of mild steel measuring 2x4x.250 ??

All I can suggest is don't place anything you value under the load you plan to lift. Buy the forks.

They use high carbon heat treated steel for forklift forks for a reason. You wind up sticking the forks under a load and lifting at the tips to get the load up. That is about the highest loading on forks. The tips are thin to help you get under the load. Rectangular tube can't have thin tips.

Do you know what capacity you need? 2x4 rectangular tube, 40 inches long, won't hold much, about 1,400 lbs at failure. So if you are going to use two, and you use a factor of safety of two, you could pick up 1,400 lbs at the tips. Lifting equipment is usually designed for a factor of safety of six to avoid personal injury and death. A reasonable load for your own use would be 700 lbs total, factor of safety of four. Of course you need excellent welds to develop the full strength of the tube at the attachment points.

1x3 bar will lift about 438 lbs at the tip at failure. It is not nearly as strong as 2x4 rectangular tube.

You got some excellent advice from others on using salvage forks and frames. Lifting equipment is not a good place to skimp on.

How much do you plan to use the bucket? it will be easier to make some type of bracket frame that mounts right on the loader frame that hold forks w/o the bucket or a set that mounts in the bucket then trying to go over, under around. If you use both fairly regularly make some sort of "farmer patent" quick connect.

A little advice make it heavier/studier then you think you need and make it heavier yet. You are better off finding a set of forks and making a frame for the forks, anything else might be too light. In a pinch channel iron/rectangle tubing would work. We made a frame for the tractor(sorry no pics, camera dead and screen cracked) out of angle iron for the bracket used a couple reinforced I channel for where the fork rides. The forks slide across, and off for using frame as a push bar, with out much fight. Then we put a piece of 2x2x1/4 sq tubing on the back in the middle, with a clevis on top to hook to the three point.

I say build it more solid then you think you need because we managed to twist the "I" channel to the point that the forks would bounce off driving along. Had to put the heavy jacks in between, and hammer it to straighten it(not enough),we ended up putting round stock on the bottom to keep the forks on. Then we managed to snap the square tube(for the 3pt) and reinforced that with a rod in the middle and angle iron on the out side.

That came out very nice and purdy!!

"How much do you plan to use the bucket?"

Virtually never

Yes, I was planning to overbuild, thanks

I believe that I would justy go to a place in your area and purchase junk.

That is a good forklift outfit, such as CLARK, FORKLIFT, etc., even TOYOTA....they will treat YOU right on a junker parts. After all a good used FORKLIFT will only cost $$$$....$1500.00, even running on propane. So usually they have their own graveyard.

John,PA

Thanks, I do like the way it turned out. Very over built for sure but it will pick up and carry a 16 foot by 36" log with no problem so they work good. Funny thing is once you have a set you find lot's of things to use them for and don't know what I would do without them. Bandit

Lanse
It's not too late, call the dealer tomorrow or early Monday & cancel the purchase on that tractor!!! You say in a reply below that you plan to use it around the shop & virtually never use the bucket.
You can get a genuine forklift, 4 or 5 years old for less than $10 grand, with 4-5k safe lifting capacity. A 3k capacity forklift is considered light duty, 2500 is a toy. Clark, Yale, Hyster, Toyota, Nisson etc. Reg gas, propane, or even electric powered.
Better yet, rent a forklift for 30 or 60 days to see how much handier it will be for use in a shop setting. More manuverable, can see tips of forks from the seat, forks don't change tilt angle while lifting, can even operate hyds from the floor to tweak position of whatever you are lifting or holding.
Go to a lumber yard (oops, building center) & watch for an hour while they are recieving or loading out supplies. You will see how much more manuverable a forklift is.
Unless you plan to run it at least an hour at a time, that diesel tractor won't ever warm up, soon to have "wet stack" slobber blowing out the muffler into your face.
If you keep the tractor, go to dealer or salvage yard & get a set of forks & the carriage. I don't doubt your welding skills, but a pipe or tube for the forks to slide on just won't take the load. Solid shaft is needed.
Whatever you do, if your main use is for a shop setting, DO NOT GET A SKIDSTEER!!! If you don't believe me on this one, try holding a load 3 feet off the floor & climbing out of the seat.

Willie

Banditfarmer- I like your whole setup. That is some great work! It looks good too.

(quoted from post at 21:28:45 10/30/15) Lanse
It's not too late, call the dealer tomorrow or early Monday & cancel the purchase on that tractor!!! You say in a reply below that you plan to use it around the shop & virtually never use the bucket.
You can get a genuine forklift, 4 or 5 years old for less than $10 grand, with 4-5k safe lifting capacity. A 3k capacity forklift is considered light duty, 2500 is a toy. Clark, Yale, Hyster, Toyota, Nisson etc. Reg gas, propane, or even electric powered.
Better yet, rent a forklift for 30 or 60 days to see how much handier it will be for use in a shop setting. More manuverable, can see tips of forks from the seat, forks don't change tilt angle while lifting, can even operate hyds from the floor to tweak position of whatever you are lifting or holding.
Go to a lumber yard (oops, building center) & watch for an hour while they are recieving or loading out supplies. You will see how much more manuverable a forklift is.
Unless you plan to run it at least an hour at a time, that diesel tractor won't ever warm up, soon to have "wet stack" slobber blowing out the muffler into your face.
If you keep the tractor, go to dealer or salvage yard & get a set of forks & the carriage. I don't doubt your welding skills, but a pipe or tube for the forks to slide on just won't take the load. Solid shaft is needed.
Whatever you do, if your main use is for a shop setting, DO NOT GET A SKIDSTEER!!! If you don't believe me on this one, try holding a load 3 feet off the floor & climbing out of the seat.

Willie

Click to expand...

illie knows of which he speaks! What the H of a farm tractor for shop use???!!!

Willy,

Great job with your reply. I looked over the picture,too, and agree on the round pipe, plus, no grease fittings on the binding points.

We use forklifts to raise apple bins as high as 40 ft. Then I craw out of the top bin just to replace fans and blades on the evaporators.

With the older forklift, I can crawl down the back side of the lifting mechanism when the boss forgets that I am up in the COLD. Usually I work when he goes for dinner and by the time he comes back, I am on the ground.

Prblem with the newer equipment, no ladder on the back to climb down.

John,PA

I made my forks out of used 7 inch channel. Very east to install in different places on loader. They slip over the front lip and one bolt in the back holds them in place. You will need rear ballast behind the rear wheels to remove the weight off the front wheels or you could damage the tractor. My design is simple and fast to install. However the closer you get your forks to the front tires, the more you can lift. I also made an adaptor to use landscape rake. I like to use rake on backhoe because the loader can apply down pressure, something I can't do with a 3 pt.

I had a set like George but mine were tied together with 3 inch angle that hung over the edge of the bucket for most of the width if the bucket. Yes I could not adjust the width but they were solid and worked for me for several years. I had used 4 inch channel with a 3 inch channel welded inside the the 4. They held up well if I used them properly. I finally bent them beyond repair pushing dug out tree stumps with them mounted on my old Michigan loader.

I also will say I think your making a mistake by not getting forks and a quick tach with the tractor, but we all have opinions of course. That was a happy day when we did finally get forks for the loader. The bucket looks like new still and the forks ae well used. You will loose a LOT of lifting capacity and visibility with clip on the bucket forks. If you really want forks make a set like Bandit did so you don't loose capacity. Your crafty enough you could even make hydraulically operated forks so you could adjust width from the seat using a remote on the tractor. It's a very handy feature on a forklift.

Do NOT attach the forks to the bucket. It works very well for brush and light jobs. However, I know you will be using it to lift metal and fabricated pieces. By the time you put that load several more feet out front you are really hard on the front end and diminish your lifting capacity. I done tried that with a bale spear when I was financially challenged.

Take that bucket off and set it behind the shop on pieces of RR tie. Then build your forks. My 4020 chore tractor has the bale spear on it for about two years at a time. I just don't need the bucket with a skid steer. You won't miss a quick attach if you really aren't going to switch much.

I'd second the trip to the scrap yard. I see old forklifts there being scrapped each time I go.

most metal scrap yard have a set of forks somewhere.
They know the value and save them aside for resale.... So dont be afraid to call around. But... All of them will be high as they are very rare and sought after, and they are worth every penny. Be prepared to negotiate a little but not much. You cant built them to hold the weight the factory one do.


good luck on your quest.

Lots of good ideas, fun post to read here! Having some experience operating and owning forklifts, its clear to me that there is no real substitute for a properly made fork tine. Some of the shapes considered here certainly work, but they likely won't have the same capacity.

I just went through this exercise, bought a cheap set of agrisupply 3 pt forks, as my new to me tractor does not have a loader yet. I was outclassed on the first job I did with them, metal fatigue one way or another and one tine started to tear off the A-Frame mast/lift pin frame. LOL... would be an easy job for you to repair, but still only a 2000 lb rated set of forks, so that's 1000 lbs each.


I bought a set of forks, 2nd hand quick tach for our 33 hp compact. Company was out of one of the Dakota's, yellow and red was the color scheme, and the tines were tube steel with the ends cut at an angle, capped off too. Good match for the tractor, as anything heavier would be well beyond what the loader and or tractor could handle anyway. I unloaded many tractor trailer loads of bagged shavings, handled small logs, and just about anything else I could use them for around the farm, in that application, this set, as fabricated, with the materials used, were fine. However, for heavy use, there is no doubt they would be stressed and fail at the heal or the bend, as the frame would tolerate a heavier or regular solid steel bent tine. This is why I say there is no substitute for a proper fork tine. Channel is pretty decent and thicker wall tube can work, but I would have to think a heavy gusset is needed to strengthen them. I've had fork extensions made of channel and it was for lighter loads, as they will deflect a lot more at greater lengths. Tube seems stronger than channel, but the heal or the 90 has to be substantial. This is just from practical experience and observation, one would have to do some calc's to find the actual/allowable loads for something built like this, you could mirror yours from actual products out there today and have the same loading, you certainly have the fabrication ability !

You could easily build a frame for a used set of fork lift tines to hang or attach to. In my searches for them to do the same, before the below was reality, I found tines in quite a few places, some had pallets of them, all used and worthy of discretion, but no doubt more than likely fine for re-use, unless there are other circumstances I am not aware of. I found 8" wide tines in one location $165, full 48" too, most others were $100-$150. Still a decent size fab job, but you are in that line of work anyways.

I recently found a solution for my fork needs and no loader, a 2nd hand set of Woods universal fit DuAl forks. This set came with brackets that can fit just about any loader, vertical holes in them are plentiful, and they are U-bolted to what appears to be 4" schedule 80 pipe for horizontal adjustment. Well built for sure. You can get a quick tatch plate to clamp on the same way as the brackets do. So its universal across the board. The forks are 4800 lb rated, 2400 lbs half the distance to the heal or the frame they are on. They are made from bent plate, not sure of alloy or heat treating etc. , they are not likely to bend with moderate to heavy use, and this set was tested by a fool per the previous owner, and evident by minor damage.

I took it to another level, by adding 3"x4" 1/4" wall tube for a top link mast and connection to the brackets, so I can use them on the 3 point hitch and still mount them to our other loader tractor if there was a need. I figure its best anyways, I want/need a loader on this tractor, but given the 3000 lb capacity of the lift arms, best to handle heavier loads on the back, and not the front drive axle, given they do take some abuse from loader use, mostly excess weight. Repairs may not be inexpensive. Some photos of the steel mocked up, hope I can get back to it today, get the holes laid out, drilled, the top piece set, tacked and fully welded. Forks were $450, I'm in another $200 with steel, pins, bolts, drill bit etc. + my time. which will be at least 4 hours or more when said and done.

Thanks, I do tend to over build when I do build. I could not find what I wanted so I built my own so that's what I did. Bandit

Forgot to mention, the set in my photos has the detail with bushings welded to the top of the forks, (talk about testing tensile strength of welds) and there is a solid steel bar spanning the frame, that pin the bushings. This makes adjustment of fork tine widths easy. Even with the 1" or maybe its a bit more, round stock, its not hard to bend, per the previous owner telling me what one of his industrious hired help did to bend the one on this set. He was trying to dig out something frozen in the ground! I have a replacement ready to install, you may want to think about that pipe and consider solid steel.

Billy your design is very good, very strong, but lacks the height I have with my clip-ons on my front bucket. Building something like yours would work very well on the loader if you removed the bucket, which is a Pain to do with mine. Which I need all the height I can get to load brush on dump trailer. It also lacks the ability to apply down pressure which I love when using the landscape rake. I can use my rake to level white rock, push brush in a pile, even level the yard after taking trees down.

You have a very nice design to lift heavier objects and that may be all you want.

After a tear in the first set, I was determined to either build a set from scratch using a set of forklift tines, just like Lanse is considering, or tube or channel, the latter 2 if nothing turned up like what I found. I see lots of similar ones made for quick tatch, that would likely only need minor modification for 3 pt use, but being new, they were out of the budget, well what I had saved up for implements LOL !. It's overkill, but I did not want to modify the set as they were, being in decent condition, resale, hence the 3"x4'x 1/4" tube. I just want to be able to slip a fork under a heavy log and not worry about what could happen to them when doing so LOL ! The previous set was a roll of the dice LOL !

You'll laugh, in the midst of hauling this set home, a 3 pt set of forks came up for sale for $900, but with a mast that could lift 10' high! Well, I thought about that, and realized I'd have a loader for this one at some point, and my current needs on this tractor is mainly logs and just being able to move things, not much high lifting needed, so these will work fine and when the extra piece is finished, it will look professionally built and resale won't be any issue, I have seen some cob jobs, heck I looked at a set for $250, but 36" forks, not to my liking at all, so I passed on them and glad I did.

That machine and what you are able to do with it is something to admire, I could almost get away with one that size, just some of the heavier work would limit me, but its just incredible the work you can do with that Terramite. I like the down pressure ability with the rake, you probably don't need much, but it has to be very handy when you need it. Nothing like having equipment set up per your terms and what you need out of it, very satisfying when said and done as I have learned. First set of forks I had at the other place, the very first labor and laceration saving task was to move a large pile of discarded roof tin from the inside of our large barn that had 2/3 of the roof rebuilt after a collapse. I never touched one piece of that tin, one pick and the whole thing was moved. Prior to, I would have handled it 2-3 more times by hand.

For now, I have my 850 ford for any loader work, she needs a lot of work now, but I'll keep it running and plan major repairs for when I likely won't need it. I have a heavy set of forks that clamp and binder/chain on, heavy, cumbersome but work if I need height. I do not particularly like clamp on bucket forks for visibility and that extra weight you don't need, but the ones I made for the 850's wagner loader have served me well enough. I built them out of old vehicle hoist lift arms. I used to stage then string out ductile iron pipe for water main jobs with a 977L and clamp on bucket forks, they worked well, but from the operator station you were blind as a bat as to what you were picking, I always had a laborer nearby to help.

Well anyways, fun post to read and add to by Lanse here, hopefully all is of some help, really enjoy the fabrication posts here !

Believe it or not, I made a concrete ballast for neighbor out of a 55 gallon drum. It weighed in at 1200-1300 and I was able to lift it with the forks. I had to have 450 pounds of ballast on rear hoe extended all the way out to do it, or the rear wheels would come off the ground.

The forks are about 48 inches in front of bucket. It's what works for me. Don't use the forks enough to fight removing bucket to put forks on. I can remove pallets from implement trailer too.

I would think it would be very dangerous to have forks that go 10 ft up and try to use it on dirt.

Guess necessity is the mother of invention. Be neat to see what Lance comes up with.

Lanse, I have the makings to make forklift attachment to loader, best way would be to use the quick-attach from a skid steer, and what I have could be setup as such quite easy, and has power sideshift. I will sell the whole bit for the price of forks I am only 75 miles from you, not like my handle implies. fred