Shop made forklift attachments thread

[sberry]

I bet in a parking lot a pair of 44k in the rear could handle 200k. One of those masts for containers would be neat. I was figuring how to store and rig it on the truck. The pic of that Mack with the crane could be outfitted, I was tempted to make a sketch. .
I was thinking heavy rigging, moving oil field comps etc. Would save a crane on each end of the trip,

 

[Monza Harry]

I figured as soon as I mentioned it you would remember.

I have to get my truck forklift setup and take some pictures for you guys. I think I have a picture of it installed, I will check, if I do, I will post it. Goes on the front like a plow setup, except not.

Strouty The front mounted forks could be REAL handy I feel with enough room, like SBerry said, you eliminate a piece of equipment at both ends of the drive [Crane or lift truck depending on weight etc.] you could also use it for additional ballast for your crane/boom for just a few more pounds at full reach. Just Thinkin' here, You will figure it for sure we are all in agreement on that!
Harry

 

[lis2323]

There are weight limitations of course but sometimes it’s pretty hard to beat a truck mounted forklift (depending on material to be handled)

 

[gtermini]

Roadrunner hay squeezes are very common around here. They're essentially a 12k forklift built on a semi truck chassis. Meant for chasing trucks from the field to the shed. They'll go 70mph with a 6 speed Allison and 300+HP. Essentially the most awesome, roadable forklift built.

 

[lis2323]

Roadrunner hay squeezes are very common around here. They're essentially a 12k forklift built on a semi truck chassis. Meant for chasing trucks from the field to the shed. They'll go 70mph with a 6 speed Allison and 300+HP. Essentially the most awesome, roadable forklift built.

FUN. I’m sure it’s stable but it LOOKS like it would be scary without a load at top speed with that short wheelbase. [emoji41]

 

[lis2323]

THIS is what we all should have......

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Maybe if I start commuting to work in a souped up squeez while wearing one of those wild assed T-shirts it would help me resolve my irritation with distracted drivers. It could work...

 

[strength_and_power]

Had some tight overhead clearances that required me to remove the headache rack and invert the forks.

Moved all 29,000#s of panels 12 miles and will start reassembly in the morning


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[bigguns69]

Companies that I have worked at, if a fork truck driver wore a t-shirt like that on the job, they would be asked to remove the shirt or find other employment.

 

[kald]

Nice job of making that rectangular tube deeper. I LIKE IT!!

I’m also a big fan of making items 4 way accessible. [emoji106]

Here’s the skid I made for my engine drive Lincoln

Nice skid and welder!

 

[lis2323]

Nice skid and welder!

Thank you, kald!

 

[sberry]

That 305 class might be something I would look at if I had to do a setup to hit the road and I didn't already have other machines. The fenders could be a bit better on this but it worked out. The skid on the little one forklifts.

 

[chickenfarmer]

I had this in the shop this week for some modifications.
Holding it is my favorite tiny hilo, the allis chalmers ft20. An awesome machine for the small shop

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[lis2323]

I had this in the shop this week for some modifications.
Holding it is my favorite tiny hilo, the allis chalmers ft20. An awesome machine for the small shop

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I like your little AC. I THINK there was one in my past but I can’t quite recall...

At first glance of your pic (using my phone) I thought the “modification” was adding that seat to the boom. [emoji23]

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Nice little AC chickenfarmer and an interesting boom attachment too. Definitely gives a lot more room under the boom than straight off the fork designs. Ed.

 

[chickenfarmer]

Since you guys liked the little one, here is my other forklift. This one stays outside to get things in the door for the the AC.
This one is rated for 3000lbs (I think) and lifts 29-1/2 feet, but like all the good old iron, it can lift a lot more than its rated for

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[lis2323]

Since you guys liked the little one, here is my other forklift. This one stays outside to get things in the door for the the AC.
This one is rated for 3000lbs (I think) and lifts 29-1/2 feet, but like all the good old iron, it can lift a lot more than its rated for

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Too bad you don’t have the matching AC rough terrain forklift. [emoji16]

 

[SilverJimmy]

Saw this in a welding shop, quick hitch setup. I still need to make my own.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Thanks for the pics SilverJimmy and welcome to the forum. That hitch attachment is a perfect example of making what you need from what you have on hand. A real mixed bag. What I like most about it is that the builder ran a bar back to the carriage to retain the hitch on the forks. In a OSHA or MSHA governed shop the Gov't inspectors really frown on any fork modifications including holes for balls. Of course they don't seem accepting of most shop made attachments either. They have no appreciation for inventive problem solving. Ed.

 

[lis2323]

Saw this in a welding shop, quick hitch setup. I still need to make my own.

They did a really nice job on that[emoji106][emoji106]

I too like the idea of the bar to secure to the mast.

What I have done in the past is make full length fork pockets that **** up again the moldboard to accommodate heavy PUSHING. Then a safety chain can keep it in place for PULLING.

 

[dkmc]

Saw this in a welding shop, quick hitch setup. I still need to make my own.

I'm in NO way saying stop.....but DANG you guys are posting enough cool attachments to keep me busy copying for a year.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Thanks for the pics SilverJimmy and welcome to the forum. That hitch attachment is a perfect example of making what you need from what you have on hand. A real mixed bag. What I like most about it is that the builder ran a bar back to the carriage to retain the hitch on the forks. In a OSHA or MSHA governed shop the Gov't inspectors really frown on any fork modifications including holes for balls. Of course they don't seem accepting of most shop made attachments either. They have no appreciation for inventive problem solving. Ed.

That was why I liked it so much. I used to work at Navajo Generating Station, the world’s largest coal fired power plant. You had to be certified to use a forklift and the first thing you did on a pre-use check was inspect the forks. If the forks had any damage, including any “improvements” the lift was red tagged until it was repaired and inspected. A quick vacation without pay was yours for blowing a hole in a fork!

 

[lis2323]

I can totally understand OSHA’s frowning on holes for balls on forks. Their stance is no mods or damage to forks and they have to make a stand somewhere to protect all the stupid people from harming us and themselves.

That said, before I ever had a mag drill I torched holes in one fork of every shop lift I ever owned. ( there was never a need for the other machines.). No harm could ever come from a hole in the tip of a fork unless someone got their d*ck stuck in it.

 

[Richard D]

No harm could ever come from a hole in the tip of a fork unless someone got their d*ck stuck in it.

We have holes in ours too, but I HAVE seen forks with the tip broke off, and a half round hole at the break...

 

[lis2323]

We have holes in ours too, but I HAVE seen forks with the tip broke off, and a half round hole at the break...

Well you have to admit the operator was most likely prying with or trying to pick something up with the tip. Kind of a dumb thing to do no matter how you look at it. JMO though. [emoji3]

 

[Ton ton]

Here’s a shopbuilt man basket on my telehandler with forks.




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Nice telehandler.

 

[lis2323]

Nice telehandler.

Thanks Ton ton. The caption should have read “ How many dumb farmers does it take to change a light bulb?”

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I haven't been making any more forklift attachments but am getting good use out of the ones I already made and this thread could use a bump. The last couple weeks I started working on expanding my shop by adding on a woodshop. It is going on a part of the shop that is already a deck so I've had to set some steel posts and beams to extend what I had. I'll fully enclose about a 25x25 ft area and leave an 8x25 ft covered but open deck on the South end for working outside.

The boom extension is getting quite a bit of work packing and setting poles and beams where I couldn't otherwise reach. I've needed the man basket as well, it is very handy for getting up to where I can weld it all together. Working completely alone so I definitely needed the attachments.

I'm using some pallet rack beams for the floor joists but had to cope one end to fit in the fabricated main beams. The beams are just a 7" channel welded flange down to the web of a 9" channel. I think they were originally used as form bracing in a precasters yard. I picked the beams up several years ago from a scrapper for $.06 / lb. Down to two left now. I'm about halfway through building the deck now. Then comes the roof.... a few pics of recent progress. Ed.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Here are a few more pics of the shop project including one or two from when I started the deck shop about 20 years ago. Ed.

 

[lis2323]

Looking pretty awesome.

And nice job on coping and repurposing those load beams![emoji106]

 

[bimmer1980]

Nice work on the steel decking project! I've been following along on this thread.

I have thought about building a boom for my forklift, but haven't had a driving need yet....

I did build a simple 3'x5' wood platform that I used extensively for the garage build.

 

[Strouty]

OregonRC, do you have a dedicated thread for your shop project? If not, you need one for sure.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Looking pretty awesome.

And nice job on coping and repurposing those load beams![emoji106]

Thanks lis, these kind of projects I really enjoy working on. Building mostly with what I already have or can get pretty cheap means it's mostly just my free time getting consumed. The saw worked great for coping in the floor joists several at a time but it would be a lot easier if the Milwaukee saws heel plate angled. I added a pic of the guide I used to get the angle cut. Ed.

Nice work on the steel decking project! I've been following along on this thread.

I have thought about building a boom for my forklift, but haven't had a driving need yet....

I did build a simple 3'x5' wood platform that I used extensively for the garage build.

Thanks bimmer, This project was mainly why I built a few of the attachments. I could see the need. I like a rolling platform for working a height as well, especially once I get a floor established. I have two that get used a lot. Ed.

OregonRC, do you have a dedicated thread for your shop project? If not, you need one for sure.

So far I haven't started a shop thread Strouty. I thought about it but am not sure I have the time to devote to keeping up with it. I'm lucky to get a few posts a week in. Maybe once I get a little further ahead. Ed.

 

[Strouty]

We can be patient, I am sure it would be worth the wait.

 

[ClappedOutBport]

Thanks lis, these kind of projects I really enjoy working on. Building mostly with what I already have or can get pretty cheap means it's mostly just my free time getting consumed. The saw worked great for coping in the floor joists several at a time but it would be a lot easier if the Milwaukee saws heel plate angled. I added a pic of the guide I used to get the angle cut. Ed.




Thanks bimmer, This project was mainly why I built a few of the attachments. I could see the need. I like a rolling platform for working a height as well, especially once I get a floor established. I have two that get used a lot. Ed.



So far I haven't started a shop thread Strouty. I thought about it but am not sure I have the time to devote to keeping up with it. I'm lucky to get a few posts a week in. Maybe once I get a little further ahead. Ed.

One of those metal blades in a worm drive saw works pretty good. But the chips go everywhere. We had one of the Milwaukees but sold it as we didn't use it enough.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I've tried a few different blades in my skilsaw too C O B but it''s like you say, quite a chip shower. I like a lot of things about the milwaukee but they made it purposely difficult to see the blade which makes it harder to get a dead nuts cut freehand. I usually just clamp on a guide when I break it out and mostly use it on plate. I probably wouldn't have tried it for the coping cut one at a time but by clamping several beams together it was much faster and easier. Now I've got 19 more to do. Ed.

 

[dr_clyde]

Mine is nothing special, just a reach extension boom.

We made it last summer when we needed to rig some 12' diameter hexagonal frames we were building. My old shop didn't have a crane, so we needed to use the forklift to get the frames out into the parking lot, flip them, finish welding, and then deliver them to the customer. Fortunately they went to the brewery a few doors down so we were able to just drive them down.

Unfortunately these pics are all I have of that project. These are tank bases for wooden beer aging tanks that needed to be kept off the floor. They got a few more braces welded in, and extreme duty leveling feet. I think we made 12 of these frames all told.

As you can see my old shop had 10 pounds of **** in a 5 pound can, so it was VERY helpful to have this boom to facilitate rigging of large weldments and machines.

I had load tested this boom to at least 2000lbs, as it would easily move my Bridgeport. It is made of heavy wall rectangle tubing and an 8' length of 6" schedule 40 pipe. The plate on the end for the hook is 1/2" plate, and is sized to take a 1" pin shackle or that old crane hook that I have on it right now.

We had to add a second set of fork pockets when we got the new forklift. My old hilo had class 2 forks and the new forktruck has class 3, and they wouldn't fit in the old pockets. So we cut some lengths of 8" x 3" x 1/4" tube and welded them on the bottom of the old ones. Now it can run either size forklift.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Nice boom attachment Dr. Clyde. It looks like it was exactly what you needed and I like the stacked stake pockets so you can use it on either lift. Nice shop layout too. It seems there's never enough room for all the tools and equipment we all seem to accumulate but it's nice to have it around.

I spent the last few days adding a storage container outside the deck shop for extra storage so I have enough room to add on. I didn't need any attachments for this job but it was nice to know my little lift can handle a 40' high cube....one end at a time anyway. The man basket came in handy for trimming up a tree that was competing for space though. Ed.

 

[dkmc]

Nice sea can, and really nice floor. Man, I could use 2 of those at my shop. If you don't mind, can I ask what that cost you?

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Thanks dkmc. I got three quotes from area dealers on a container. The cheapest was for $2600 delivered. I passed on that one because they wouldn't let me pick or see it first. The next best was $2900 and I could pick but for that price they couldn't show me one without roof patches and quite a few side wrinkles and bruises with fairly rough floor. The one I bought was delivered for $3150 and was by far in the best condition. Straight frame rails and minimal side dings along with a really fresh interior. Today I was working at fastening 2" polyiso panels in the ceiling before I load it. Ed.