Pallet fork frame

[Rubin]

Hello I'm new to the forum and I'm looking for some plans for a pallet fork frame. I have a nice pair of 48" locking forks and a quick attach plate. I've searched through the threads and haven't come upon any prints or dxf files. If anyone has a pdf or anything I would be able to get started with I would really appreciate it. If you can't figure out how to post something here please email me the files to [email protected]. Otherwise, if you can send or post closeup pictures with detailed steel sizes it would help me also. I'm a mechanical and computer savvy person but I don't work with dimensional materials so I know that there's an easy solution to what I want to put together.

 

[flyerdan]

I had a massive reply that took about an hour to make, and the damn forum logged me out and I lost it.
Since it sounds like you have the same type of forks I do on my Hyster, the top and bottom channel on the back of the fork is what you need to measure, should be about 1/2", so a stick of flat bar 1 1/2" wide should cover the top and bottom slides and the standoffs. Cut the stops for the pins on the top rail, and cut a relief in the middle of the bottom one so the forks can be removed/installed.
A stick of 1/4x2 flatbar should make the outside frame of the backboard, which will also help to stiffen the whole framework, run it from the bottom outside of the quicktach plate to however high you want it, probably no more than 40" or so for visibility.
Once you have the dimensions of the forks and plates, it should be easy to sketch up the design, it's fairly simple as projects go.
Al always, once things are tacked up do a test fit and see if any changes need made, its much easier then.

 

[Rubin]

I had a massive reply that took about an hour to make, and the damn forum logged me out and I lost it.
Since it sounds like you have the same type of forks I do on my Hyster, the top and bottom channel on the back of the fork is what you need to measure, should be about 1/2", so a stick of flat bar 1 1/2" wide should cover the top and bottom slides and the standoffs. Cut the stops for the pins on the top rail, and cut a relief in the middle of the bottom one so the forks can be removed/installed.
A stick of 1/4x2 flatbar should make the outside frame of the backboard, which will also help to stiffen the whole framework, run it from the bottom outside of the quicktach plate to however high you want it, probably no more than 40" or so for visibility.
Once you have the dimensions of the forks and plates, it should be easy to sketch up the design, it's fairly simple as projects go.
Al always, once things are tacked up do a test fit and see if any changes need made, its much easier then.

Thanks for the post, I'm going to fire up the furnace today and dig through my steel.

 

[flyerdan]

Thanks for the post, I'm going to fire up the furnace today and dig through my steel.

I was out today and got some measurements on my forks (Hyster H50H 48" 5000lb forks). I was right about the chamfer, not sure if it's only Hyster or across the platform, but here are some rough dimensions.
Go by the forks that you have, you'll want as much face contact as you can get on the slides. When you're laying things out, make sure the forks can rest on the ground with the boom lowered all the way, my forks rest on the ground with the bottom rail about 5" up, hopefully the quick attach plate is big enough that you can get the positioning right.

 

[Tazza]

I was out today and got some measurements on my forks (Hyster H50H 48" 5000lb forks). I was right about the chamfer, not sure if it's only Hyster or across the platform, but here are some rough dimensions.
Go by the forks that you have, you'll want as much face contact as you can get on the slides. When you're laying things out, make sure the forks can rest on the ground with the boom lowered all the way, my forks rest on the ground with the bottom rail about 5" up, hopefully the quick attach plate is big enough that you can get the positioning right.

Another thing you may want to do is make it so the bottom is pushed out a bit too, it means you are able to get more back tilt than just having it vertical when you tilt the forks backwards. Even 2" at the base will mean you can keep a load vertical on uneven ground.
As flyerdan said, make sure you make it so they sit on the ground when the arms are lowered, nothing worse than a simple mistake that means you can't actually pickup a palette cause the tynes are too high

 

[Rubin]

Another thing you may want to do is make it so the bottom is pushed out a bit too, it means you are able to get more back tilt than just having it vertical when you tilt the forks backwards. Even 2" at the base will mean you can keep a load vertical on uneven ground.
As flyerdan said, make sure you make it so they sit on the ground when the arms are lowered, nothing worse than a simple mistake that means you can't actually pickup a palette cause the tynes are too high

So are you saying that I should shim the bottom of the fork frame out 2" from the quick attach plate? Thanks for your advice and patience

 

[flyerdan]

So are you saying that I should shim the bottom of the fork frame out 2" from the quick attach plate? Thanks for your advice and patience

You might not need to shim out 2", but you will need some to get the fork tips up when it's rolled all the way back.
If you look at the bucket, the back wall and bottom are at an acute angle, probably around 75 degrees. This is so the bucket can be rolled back and not spill when transporting with the boom lowered, as you want to do with forks as well. Chances are that the bobtach would be at 90 degrees to the floor with the bucket off, so you need to figure in some tilt factor, as you can't bend the forks. That's something that can be mocked up in pre-fit to get about 5" tip elevation when it's fully back.

Keep in mind that on a forklift the whole mast moves fore and aft, so when you are lifting a heavy pallet with the mast all the way back the center of weight moves toward the back of the machine the higher you go. That is not the case on a Bobcat, in fact it goes forward and raises the tipping potential greatly.

 

[Tazza]

You might not need to shim out 2", but you will need some to get the fork tips up when it's rolled all the way back.
If you look at the bucket, the back wall and bottom are at an acute angle, probably around 75 degrees. This is so the bucket can be rolled back and not spill when transporting with the boom lowered, as you want to do with forks as well. Chances are that the bobtach would be at 90 degrees to the floor with the bucket off, so you need to figure in some tilt factor, as you can't bend the forks. That's something that can be mocked up in pre-fit to get about 5" tip elevation when it's fully back.

Keep in mind that on a forklift the whole mast moves fore and aft, so when you are lifting a heavy pallet with the mast all the way back the center of weight moves toward the back of the machine the higher you go. That is not the case on a Bobcat, in fact it goes forward and raises the tipping potential greatly.

Flyerdan is correct, the bobtach does sit back at an angle, I have had machines that were quite worn in the linkages, so they didn't tilt back much at all, it's just something to consider.