Snow removal with a forklift

Can't get your link to load.But no matter,forklifts are TERRIBLE in snow. They don't even do wet grass. Leave the truck inside. A scoop shovel would be faster.

Now, I bet you can find a great snowblower that only needs a minor repair for $50.

Karl

Only two real options. Plow mounted on the forks (did this at one shop) Building your own is easy just find an old P/U plow and make a set of rails that you can clamp/chain to the forks.

Other option - Hydraulic powered blower. Using either an extra pump OR since weight isn't a big deal make one up using a small engine and a high flow pump.

What Karl said.

Wes

Karl, try this link:

This is an outdoor forklift.

Right?

i

Fork lift won't work. You need a chicago snow plow complete with ice scraper on the back side.

Best Regards Tom.

That link works. Your lift is very similar to mine. Your unit will be worthless in even one inch of snow. If you need a reason the weight distribution is all wrong. Huge counter weight over the non driving wheel makes it far worse than those old rear wheel drive pickups.

Karl

So who else didn't see this coming? Just too funny, heh.

Proposing how to make money with a paved lot in the lake-effect snow belt area of Chicago.

Options include hiring a dependable service, or for the owner to be available 24/7 to clear new accumulations, but probably not very effectively with a forklift.

WB, just For Your Information, I have an arrangement with my neighbors, that they plow my entire lot in exchange for me allowing them to park their dump trucks on my property. But I like to explore all optionsm esp. if I ever want to kick them out.

i

I really needed the FYI.

You'll know how reliable/consciencious they are, wrt your needs, probably about April/May 2012.

Let us know, please.

This:

is an outdoor forklift.

No, that is a rough terrain forklift.

An outdoor forklift with pneumatic tires can operate on gravel, which is what I have.

i

Gunner Asch on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 21:18:57 -0700 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

I've been told that putting chains on forklifts is a good idea when "off road" - say in dirt, grass or pasture. Same reason - traction.

tschus pyotr

Well, kinda sorta...

A pneumatic tire forklift might be able to work outdoors, but it's going to be a battle to do it, and the area needs to be scraped clean first.

Like they said, the counterweight on the back is going to mess up your traction with the drive axle under the forks, unless you find a

4-Wheel Drive forklift (not likely) or put a big weight behind the snow-blower assembly. They have a hard time going creep slow for very long. And the forklift hydraulic pump doesn't have the sheer GPM volume to run a snow blower system

Unless that gravel is deep and well-packed the tire point loading on that "outdoor" forklift is still far too high and the tractive effort not enough to keep moving. That's why they make the Rough Surface forklifts.

Not to mention you should NEVER snow-blow a gravel surface unless you like paying off damage claims - Car paint jobs wrecked and window glass blown out, broken windows on nearby buildings... Get the areas you want to snow blow paved before you start flinging it around.

What you want for a gravel lot is some sort of a Wheel Loader or a Backhoe Tractor with a nice loader bucket on the front. Or a regular utility tractor with a Gannon box scraper on the back.

Tip the bucket forward and use it as a plow blade to scrape the snow into a pile, or use the Gannon to scrape the layer of snow off the top of the gravel surface. Scoop up the pile of collected snow (and gravel) with the loader bucket and go dump it in the back corners of the parking lot. Repeat as needed.

If it's a really deep snow storm, go get a tilt-bed Dump Trailer or a real Dump Truck for the day. You load it with the tractor and your assistant runs around back to the snow pile and dumps it. When it's all back there, then you can take the tractor and stack it better.

After the spring thaw, you'll have a nice pile of gravel in the back of the lot to spread around as needed.

When you get the parking lot all paved, THEN you can take the bucket off the front of the tractor and mount a snow blower. They usually have a large enough hydraulic system to run one, and low enough forward gearing to make use of it.

But you need places to throw the snow TO - in an industrial situation like yours there may not be a vacant lot next door to toss it into.

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I've been snowblowing over gravel for thirty years. No big deal. Set the shoes up, leave an inch. Point spout to open area - go.

What you should never do is blow an area where you haven't inspected it to be clear. My highlights - a cement block in a neighbor's driveway. A steel fence post in another neighbor's driveway. A slio stave in front of my spray water tank - my fault - and that sucker wedged in tight. But my favorite - still got shivers thing about it - was a can full of gasoline.

Karl

Same here. Only time I ever have a problem is when it hasn't frozen good yet and the shoes want to dig in.

I've made a few discoveries in the snow as well. Worst one was a hank of rope, it played out just perfect, wound the impeller a couple times that grabbed on the scrolls. What a mess to clean out. Was NOT happy. Sheared both pins, bent the scroll and the impeller..

Yeah, but that's on a farm or house with small areas to clear and plenty of open space to toss the snow - that might have a few surprises included. The gravel or the occasional larger rock or ice chunk isn't going to hurt an apple tree.

And remember, this is Iggy we're talking about. Forethought isn't an assured thing... ;-P " For every action there is an equal and opposite... Oh Shit! RUN!!" >_< (Love ya, man!)

I took the "Google Earth Tour" when he put up the address a while back

- Iggy's working with industrial land that has parked cars and trucks scattered around on it, and neighbors on both sides IIRC.

The side of the building you can't toss the snow over the fence or they'll just toss it right back - Onto the shop roof... Or worse, they send over Knuckles and Guido to make "a social call" and teach you not to do that The Chicago Way. :-P

I'm just saying it's a whole lot safer for everybody to scrape and scoop it up and dump it around back, or let someone with a few hundred hours of prior experience do any blowing in a congested area.

A Backhoe is a 4-seasons general purpose implement you can do many wondrous things with. It can be a rough surface forklift with a fork attachment, a small crane if you weld a hook or a D-Ring onto the back of the backhoe bucket...

A Snow-blower is only good for one season, and sits around taking up space the other three.

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Nothing, it didn't go off. This was just last Feb. Milady put the lawmower can in front of the barrels in late fall, "so it would be handy". The snow was three feet deep so I blew right up to the 2000 gallons of fuel so I could refill tractors. Then I seen a plume of gasoline and fumes and bits of gas can fly over the fuel barrels.

Karl

Den 30-10-2011 21:27, Karl Townsend skrev:

You got more luck than a cat has lives on that one. Glad that it went ok.

A genuine rough terrain forklift with a bucket would work well. A warehouse forklift not so much.