Forks for a 4in1

[FLICK]

Started making some pallet forks this week...

As usual with me there's no plans or drawings, just ideas.... I wanted to make the forks so I can clamp the 4in1 bucket onto them and use them for light work without having to spend time attaching them, and I wanted to be able to mount them firmly for heavier work and for moving piles of branches and stuff where I want to use the mouth of the 4in1 as a grapple... Down the track I'll also make some grapple like jaws to clamp onto the opening part of the 4in1....

I originally planned to modify a pair of fork lift forks but I haven't been able to find any so I ended up buying 4m of 200mm x 100mm x 3mm RHS ( 13' of 4"x2" x1/8")...

I'm hoping 1/8" will be strong enough, I didn't want to go any thicker due to price and weight.... My FEL is only rated for 376kg (830lbs) so I didn't want to add too much weight hanging out the front.

Some pics of my bucket:


I started by cutting and welding the end of the forks, I went for a point so they wont dig into the ground and so they'll guide themselves through pallets easily, and not catch on the pallet deck boards:


Everything is stick welded with 3.2mm 6011 rods:


Next I made 3 sockets to weld into the bucket, they're 3" long bits of 2.5" square tube with a 1/4" wall, drilled to take a 5/8 pin:

The outer sockets are welded to the back-side of the bucket mounts, the center of the bucket isn't that strong so I welded a bit of 4" x 1/4" flat down the middle of the bucket to add some strength.

Not sure what sort of steel the bucket is made from but it was a bit of a bitch to weld, the welds just didn't want to flow, so they're a bit untidy.

Clamped a few bits together to work out where the holes in the upright part of the forks needed to be:


Then drilled 1" holes in the uprights and tack welded the forks together:

I was going to weld 1" ID pipe through the fork uprights for the 1" rod to go through but the pipe OD was 1-3/8" and I didn't have a holesaw to suit.... I'll probably just weld bits of the pipe inside so the rod feeds through easily.



Today I'll make some plates to weld to the sides of the forks to strengthen them...


Matthew.

[biggkidd]

Matthew,

Great project. Looking real good so far. Its funny you started this thread today. I just got a call from my wifes cousin who works on forklifts for a living. He has been watching for me a set and got them today. He is going to drop them off in the morning.

Keep up the good work.

Larry

[GuglioLS]

Matthew,

Damn, your good at figuring things out.
Very innovative, especially impressive is the way you made the points on the ends of the forks and the adjustable width feature.
They should come in pretty handy. I have a set of home made clamp on forks. I made the points the hard way, and the clamp on part on mine is a piece of crap, after seeing how well yours are turning out, I will be re-working mine modeled on your design. Thanks for sharing this cool project.

Larry

[FLICK]

Thanks for the comments Larry and Larry

Welded the sides of the forks and ground the the welds down flush:


Made some side braces out of 4" x 1/4" flat, marked out and cut 1 then used that as a template for the other 3:


Cut the plates to shape with a 9" angle grinder, at one stage the sparks were going against my leg and lit my jeans on fire first time that's happened to me... lol ...


Tack welded the plates onto the forks:


Quite amazing how little it takes to relight semi-burnt denim a spark from the welder re-lit the fire and singed a few hairs and gave me a slight burn, (no worse than sunburn) lol


After the second fire I decided it was time to quit work for the day

Matthew.

[bradblazer]

Nice design and workmanship Matthew.

I recently had my welding sparks catch the grass on fire at my feet. Luckily my pants did not catch. It's funny how in the back of my mind I recognized the smell of burning grass but it didn't immediately register.

It might be good to add a piece above the lower bucket lip to help support the weight. Kind of like the piece of square tube you have clamped back there in your mock-up. That way everything isn't hanging from the rod. (Maybe you are already planning that.)

Brad

[FlyHiFlyLo]

Matt, your fab work is looking very nice!

You're on fire!

[FLICK]

Brad:
It might be good to add a piece above the lower bucket lip to help support the weight . Kind of like the piece of square tube you have clamped back there in your mock-up... ... (Maybe you are already planning that.)
Yep, that bit clamped the the back in the mock up is part of the design, I want to be able to pick up and use the forks for light work without having to insert the 1" rod... Also, them bit's of square tube will be drilled and tapped to take a locking bolt so the forks can be clamped to a bit of 2" tube to keep them upright and correctly spaced when not in use....

There will also be a bit of 2" angle welded to the rear end on the forks to so the forks sorta hook under the back of the bucket.... I figure the more contact points the better the load will be spread out...

Scott.... are the re-inforcing plates on the sides of the forks ok? would you have done them any different? .... I made the plates based on the advice you gave when I was extending my grader blade boom, (about using diamond shapped plates and not welding across tubes) ....

Thanks for the comments Brad and Scott

Matthew.

[FlyHiFlyLo]

Scott.... are the re-inforcing plates on the sides of the forks ok? would you have done them any different? .... I made the plates based on the advice you gave when I was extending my grader blade boom, (about using diamond shapped plates and not welding across tubes)]


Yes good work!

[3RRL]

Matthew,
So that's what you've been up to all this time. ;D
As usual, great fabrication work great documentation, and fantastic thinking.
I really like your design. It is simple to install and should work very well.
I'm glad Brad pointed out using a small bar above the lower lip for some added support, taking some of the weight off that long bar. I've seen where the long 1" bar gets bent and now you can never get it out unless you cut out the bent section. I saw it on that GradeAll on my property. That bar was 2" in diameter too! In their case, they don't have to change back to a bucket though.

Nice work Matthew. Thanks for sharing all that.
Rob-

[FLICK]

Photos say it all








Still quite a few bits and pieces to do but most main work is done

Matthew.

Edit: another pic:

[3RRL]

That came out awesome, I love your design!
Rob-

[GuglioLS]

Matthew,

I agree that is a nice setup. Not sure I understand how the lower cross tube keeps the upper 1" rod from bending.

You could also install a long 1/4" wall tube for a boom pole into the center receiver for a really long reach. Your setup gives you all kinds of possibilities, very nice.


Larry

[FLICK]

Did a little more work on the forks today...

Welded 1/4" cap plates to the rear end of the forks:


Welded 1" ID pipe inside the upright part of the forks and capped the top:


Tack welded some 2" angle to the rear of the forks so they hook under the back of the bucket:

I'll finish welding them on and cap the ends later.

Larry;
Not sure I understand how the lower cross tube keeps the upper 1" rod from bending
The 2-1/2" tube on the back of the forks sits on what I figure is the strongest part of the bucket:

The 2" cross tube (not in the above pic) is just to hold the forks together and keep them upright when not in use...

I'm not worried about bending the 1" rod, when I jump up and down on the end of the forks the rod only flexes slightly....

Thanks for the comments everyone

Matthew.

[FLICK]

Move some logs and other crap around with the forks to make sure they're usable before I paint them and so...

This blue-gum log is about as much as my FEL can lift, it could only just lift it and wouldn't go to full height:



(pulling apart my pallet cattle yard to use the pallets for a fence around my vegie garden)

[3RRL]

Thanks for the updates Matthew. Those are cool pictures.
I have a suggestion.
Now that you have those awesome forks, have you thought about replacing the top of the 4 in 1 bucket lip with a set of grapple jaws? You have all the hydraulics and controls, and would only need to make the connecting points the same as that bucket. The grapple with forks would be an awesome combination to move logs, sticks, fencing, and most of all brush piles. You could get twice as much brush per load as you could with your bucket. Brush is light so it wouldn't necessarily exceed your lift limitations. The grapples might end up lighter than the bucket and actually increase you net lifting capacity?

I think you could design them so they would be up, out of the way when moving stacks of pallets, unlike your bucket. You could make the jaws extra long for shrub and also to hold down the pallets when moving them. I have seriously thought about doing that for my tractors, just never got a round to it. I'm waiting for Scott to give me his forks.
Rob-