channel iron strength

Should not be a problem. Is the tote weight 550 lbs, or 1,100 lbs?

i

Barely strong enough if the load is static and you apply the 1.7 factor of safety used in most structural applications. I've no idea what the appropriate FS is here, but 5:1 on ultimate strength is typical in lifting applications. (The 1.7 FS in structural work is applied to yield strength.)

A good bump with a full load may be enough to bend the channel.

standard 540 lb. apple tote bin you've probably seen in your local grocery

Thanks Ned,

This will be a "me only" operation then.

I had used a little fixture thing to lift both hand pallet truck and a bin for 30 years now. Then roll the hand truck back onto an empty pallet to take it back down. I almost fell off the truck this morning. Time to make one more consolation to aging.

Karl

So it is 550 lbs on TWO forks, right?

I've never seen a one fork truck. maybe they had that back in Russia.

Karl

I presume that's for the channel oriented with wide side up, flanges pointing down and that turning the 6"-wide channel on edge isn't an option because pallet openings are a couple inches less than that. Anyway, maybe orienting the channel with wide side down and flanges pointing up so the flanges are in tension instead of compression is better. Does that give a different result, or is it insignificant?

Those are used for steel coils.

But anyway, 550 lbs on two forks is 275 lbs per fork, nothing to worry about, it is really nothing.

i

What, you've never seen the unicorns the carpet guys drive?

;)

One local boat shop has a single fork with a trailer ball on the end which he uses to move boats in and out of the shop.

They're pretty common...even in Russia.

I'm with Ned here, with your static load you are at about 1/3 the yield strength of mild steel so very little safety margin. Don't jerk on the pickup and avoid potholes :-). As someone else suggested, if you can get four lengths of 3" channel, turn them so the 3" is vertical and put one on each side of a fork and bolt them together so you now have a 3" tall fork "sandwich", that would be at least 4x stronger even for the wimpiest 3" channel, and it should still fit under your bins.

Barely strong enough if the load is static and you apply the 1.7 factor of safety used in most structural applications. I've no idea what the appropriate FS is here, but 5:1 on ultimate strength is typical in lifting applications. (The 1.7 FS in structural work is applied to yield strength.)

A good bump with a full load may be enough to bend the channel.

This is all complete bullshit. He does not need such a huge safety factor to lift a box of apples into a truck. Karl, just make those fork extensions and use them for next 100 years.

i

The 'store bought' fork extension source I just found with a quick Google search recommends "Overall length must not exceed 50% of supporting forks." However unless your forks are 8+" wide your way over kill compared to what they are selling.

Last time I remember fork extensions being discussed here eight years ago I posted this cryptic idea. "Neat trick; drill / burn a good sized hole in the far end of each

*extension*, build a strong simple stand about three feet high with pins sticking out at the top, (Ours has two on each side) spaced at your most common fork spacing(s). Bolt the stand down in a convenient out of the way location. (Yes, I know this is a contradiction.) Now drive up to the stand, hook both extensions on a pin, lower the forks, and back out of the extensions. Think you can figure out the reverse."

Same source also sells something kind of like what I described back then only taller and with out the hole / pin arrangement. Theirs uses the bottom frame to keep the fork extensions from sliding. More elaborate and costly stand, however theirs takes up less floor space so might be worth it for some.

already finished, painted, and the truck is loaded for tommorrow. leave 0430

Karl

Follow up. Will be doing the third load this evening. Kind of hard to manuver in the tihgt space of my loading dock. But this is WAY easier than what i did for the last 30 years.

Not often an old dog learns a new trick.

karl