So a while back I asked for input on building an unspooler. I got both software {ideas} and hardware {steel} donations.
Here's an update.
So the first plan was a clamp for the forklift tines, to hold the axle. Powering this was a old York forklift. It loves to stall, thus you need three feet, not two, on any slope, but.....
But the duct suppliers sabotaged me; both the 1.5" gray and
2" orange arrived on reels too large in diameter for the tine length. We have fork extensions, but they eat into the spacing such that the reels wouldn't fit in-between. %^&@#$%
So Plan B adapted an orphaned trailer of unknown parentage. It has a 7" tall/5" wide I-beam, and a ~6" dia tongue. At some point, it had a 1_7/8" ball receiver pasted on.
We added vertical 2" sq. stock with 3" dia. pipe couplings holding the axle. We gusseted it with more 2" sq. stock, and a few added pieces. {Care to guess we found lying around the shop?}
The height was an issue. Bitten once, we wanted it big enough to hold the largest reel we might get. But THAT was ~1" too tall for the York to lift the reel over the vertical and drop it down.
The first time, with the gray, we backed the trailer, straddling the verticals around the reel; then lowered it into place. That was very tricky considering the York's propensity to stall when you most needed it.
So to swap to the orange, we flipped the trailer backwards, rolled the reel out, and rolled the new one in. Then we flipped the trailer down, carefully. We might have made the rear arms shorter.
The third gadget was a trailer hitch bar for the Kubota. It clamps onto its forks, and has 1_7/8", 2" and pintle ring connections. Originally, we were going to use the pintle hook adapter seen on the van; but that blocked the balls, and we needed it on van. So we made a plate for a large clevis pin that's not shown.
It does tend to slide off the forks, and we might add a arm to the rear.
Added the photo array are some of the other toys around. The flatbed is hardly stressed with that PVC pipe. The winch was used to haul both the yellow trencher, and after it burnt a valve or two, the rented RT45's, up the slopes. The bulldozer was not needed, but there were times I'd have loved to have driven it over the Midmark. Lastly, the IH 3840 would have been a big help with its 27 ft reach, but it's in need of repairs. To get some idea of the size of the beast, that's a portrait of George Washington you can see.