why not fashion some cheap extension made of rectangular tubing with a hole and a nut welded for a holding bolt, and use those extensions when necessary. To be put on the forks. No fuss, no risk (if the load is as low as the OP says it is), no permanent modifications.
i
That makes it much thicker. I really don't understand what the disadvantage of a shoe is that gets slipped over the fork.
It has a U shaped cross section, with the two verticals pointing downwards. At the end where the bend of the original fork is (right), there is a rectangular / round closing the U. This prevents the shoe from slipping off. The shoe can only be installed when the other (left) end is lifted upwards. No big deal, no holes to drill into the fork, no other alternations. No tools to install / remove the shoe. And no lawyer needed. ;-) One even can do the math for the shoe and prove that it will not bend. Makes the fork about 10mm thicker and 20..30mm wider. I bet it still will go under any pallet.
A
From:
Nice that you probably won't be the guy who gets crushed if Karl's modified tangs fail.
Regards,
Robin
I am going to stick my neck out here. A 1,000# lift for a 5,000# forklift is way inside its safety limits
UNLESS
you get it way out on the tips of the tines, tilt forward all the way and drive around, or lift the load way up in the air and drive around.
I think that the OP could extend the forks, tilt back all the way once the load is picked, and safely place it on the truck if the truck would back under the load and not move the forklift.
I would further stick my neck out, and say that on level ground, he could make the pick, lift it to truck level, drive forward to the truck, lower the load, tilt forward, and place the pallet.
I WOULD FURTHER STICK MY NECK OUT by saying that I would drive the forklift IF it were on level solid ground of asphalt or concrete, and the bed of the truck was not more than chest high to a man.
The danger of bending of the tines would only be when an operator is attempting to lift a heavy load with the tips of the tines. I have bent good tines this way. But fully inserted in a pallet, the load is going to be on the good and thick part of the tines. The tipping of the load forward would only occur when the load is tilted forward past the centerline, the load limit is approached, and 20% of the load capacity is not critical.
ALL THAT BEING SAID, I recommend that the OP buy the correct set of forks, and use the correct set for the use intended. But you still got to watch. You can put too long of tines on any machine, but a 6" to 8" distance is not that much.
Steve, who has thousands of hours on a forklift.
I snapped a fork that I had set up to use on my backhoe. With the proper procedures, I welded it back together and put it to use for many years. It was snapped right at the bend. Since I never used it commercially I was nerver worried about it letting go and since I had tested it by lifting a heavy load right at the tip I was sure that it was better than new. It now lifted the load the had originally snapped it. There was a flaw in the metal when they bent it that you could plainly see. Maybe I should have sued them. :)
John
Having used both, I agree channel is far more convenient than rectangular box beam. Ours are slightly different at the rear, in that instead of a pin, it has a permanent bar welded (to the extensions, not the real forks) slightly higher than the top surface of the channel and several inches behind the end of the channel. The "higher" gets it above the curved portion of the back of each tine, and the "behind" is at least a good inch further than one would think it needs to be. A bit sloppy end to end and no front pins, but see below for why
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.Look maw, no greasy hands!
My set of forks has two tines?
"Steve B" wrote in news:2hrGg.2053$rT5.895@fed1read01:
Northern has long forks for about $450.00. Extensions are about $200.00.
How much is the worse possible outcome of welding on an extension going to cost?
Figure that out and take your risks from there.
Very nice site and great selection. Thanks.
dennis in nca
It seems obvious you've spent a good amount of time thinking about these ramifications. :) This is, IMHO, what separates the men from the boys when this type of subject comes up (includes me too when justified). The off-the-cuff answer to these types of questions (regardless of detail) is worth about what is invested, but the clear rational, reasoned and experienced approach, such as yours, needs to be considered before all else.
The ramifications of decisions in haste far exceeds the imagination of the inexperienced. Thanks for your comments.
As a professional rigger/machinery mover I'd like to suggest a review of your practices. You suggest, if a load shifted sideways off a skid: " we could very
trapped along side the load and unable to move out of the way; is this correct? This would be considered bad safety practice on a rigging crew and any foreman directing a crew member into such a situation would be considered a dangerous person to work for. It isn't only fork breakage which could cause an incident in this type of situation, there are other mechanical and hydraulic components to consider as well as operator error/distraction, foreign material on the floor, etc. The same holds true for standing or sitting employees along the path of the forklift; how hard would it be to ask them to move as a dangerous load passes their work area (or protect the work area)?
Why would you have to allow a person to expose themselves to harm in this manner? Does someone need to steady the load while it is being transported? There are other methods to accomplish this. Think of this as similar to a properly rigged 50,000# load passing overhead on a traveling bridge crane (of which I have thousands of hours of experience); no foreman of any rigging company would allow his men to stand beneath such a load because the consequences of the unforeseen (enabled by that old demon "Pride") far far outweigh the moments it requires to clear the path for the load. It only makes common sense. And much better than later on having to say to someone's loved one "I didn't think it could happen".
If you feel I'm overreacting you may be right. I take machinery moving and rigging safety very seriously. Sorry for the rant.
dennis in nca
trapped along side the load and unable to move out of the way; is this correct?
Not really. We have overhead bridge cranes up to 50 tons for that type of load (typically). The problem would be body panels (we make body panel dies) falling off a skid, cutting the victem. They're basically really large razor blades, and reasonably light. People are taught
*very* early on not to stand between a heavy load on a crane/forklift, and a stationary object. Someone died at a customer's plant doing that, between two ~40 ton dies.It's a matter of complacency. People move skids with panels around
*all* the time. I try and take an extra step or two back, but some people aren't so careful...So it goes. You have lots of good points in your post though. It's refreshing to hear from someone who appriciates the dangerous nature of his job.
Regards,
Robin
Sometimes, it's hard to completely avoid risk. We unload cargo from one of our ships onto barges or light amphibian vehicles. The ship can move, the barge can move, there's restricted space, nowhere to go etc. It's plain dangerous. Everyone takes care and the marine crane drivers are extremely good, but we've still had broken bones.
Lately we try to use helicopters more as, while the hourly cost is far higher, it's a lot safer and the rate of cargo movement (within the lift capacity of relatively small choppers) is quite high. When we need to recover a piece of heavy machinery, though, it's back to the cranes, barges and people working underneath a suspended load on platforms which can & do move. It's always very nervous work.
I don't think you're overreacting at all.
PDW
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