Fork carriage for my Ford 755

[Frank S]

Here is why to build things plenty stout

[C-Bag]

True dat! It's really nice to have the equipment to take advantage deals when they come up. There have been times when just the fact that it is so heavy/long/high up that it's either penny's on the dollar or free. A foundry closed down in the valley and they were giving away the electric 5ton overhead hoist to whomever could safely take it down. I think it was 20' up. A guy I knew had a portable crane and got it and all the I-beam frame he could could cart away for free after they had tried for over a year to sell it.

And to have the trailers, trucks, loader and most of all, the space to be able to store it is just the best. You've got a helluva set up Mad Frank. Seems like the only limititaions are time and effort.

[rendoman]

Impressive construction! you're a pro!

[Frank S]

Thanks Rendoman, I've been called much worst

[DIYer]

Thanks Frank S! We've added your Fork Carriage to our Heavy Equipment category,
as well as to your builder page: Frank S's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Fork Carriage by Frank S

tags: mount

[KustomsbyKent]

Thanks to Jon for posting this in one of the newsletters, as I missed this the first time around.

Frank,
Great to read the background and it fills in the gaps on what/where you were coming from. Nice looking Leblonde Lathe in that one pic, I have a similar lathe, the Leblonde Regal lathe in my shop.
There is something immensely satisfying about having the material that you bought/acquired long ago, and then get to repurpose it into a useful tool that just happens to then come in really handy! That's priceless.
The corporate company I work for has implemented LEAN & 5S cleanup... It has a time and a place, but I'm not a fan of it. One "rule" of 5S is that if you haven't used it for 6 months, you should get rid of it. What a load of crap, I've had some stuff sit for 5 to 10 years, and then it just works dandy for a project. I have to imagine you have a similar mindset!
Having forks is so handy, I am also not a fan of the clamp-on forks for buckets, they just seem like an accident waiting to happen. I have a set of forks for my old Bobcat that just need a carriage made for them. Altho seeing you use them on a backhoe makes me think maybe I'd be better off putting the forks on my tractor to replace the bucket. The bucket on the tractor is almost useless for any dirt work, but forks would be real handy for me. Once I get my old (1960's 600) Bobcat hydraulic leaks fixed, I know that will be much better for the dirt work I need to do next year.

Overkill is awesome, that fork unit turned out great!
Later,
Kent

[Frank S]

Kent it is never overkill as long as there is no detraction of operational usefulness.
there is always underkill though which usually leads to destruction injury or worse
the forks and carriage are strong enough that I can slide 1 fork all the way over to one side and at 2 ft out from the hock confidently lift anything the 755's loader hydraulics has the power to lift but to do that I would have to rotate and extend the hoe as far back as it will go with a bucket full of dirt. for an old machine it still has a lot of life left in it.
the loaders on AG tractors are there for cleaning out the muck in the feed lots moving sand and gravel piles and general hauling of loose materials tons better than a shovel and a wheel barrow though.
One word of caution about the tractor since I don't know what tractor you have I'm going to assume it is not a row crop tricycle. If you don't have weights on the rear axle have your tires filled with water, antifreeze + a rust inhibitor. the extra 1000+ lbs will be a real help.
those little bobcats are handier than zippers the Keller brothers introduced the first skid steer loaders in 1960 2 years later they made the first bobcat branded skid steer
the 600 came out in 1965 or 66 does your' shave the kohler or the v4 Wisconsin have you adapted it to the quick change carriage if so you may be interested in my skid steer hammer attachment
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/s...3159#post77558
While you are at it check out my back hoe bucket quick disconnect
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/b...0424#post72458

[KustomsbyKent]

Hi Frank,
Thanks for the links, pretty interesting!
I don't believe my tractor has liquid in the wheels, it is far to light back there. I may make a weight platform for the 2-point. It fortunately has the wide front, so it's pretty stable.
my skidsteer has the original V4 wisconsin engine. My brother and I rebuilt it in our high school engine shop class, so the engine has good internals. It will need a tune-up again though.
It still has the original bucket, with a grapple fork added on. The ends of the forks got broken off when we were young... I'm not sure how that happened, wink, wink! We might have been using it a wee bit too hard!
A quick tach is in the long term plans, but short term is just to get the oil leaks fixed and get some use out of it.
I was originally thinking the axle seals were bad, but as I have the wheels off and up on jack stands, it looks like the oil is coming from somewhere in the center. I'll know more once I get the engine pulled out.
Hopefully later this fall I'll get more time to work on it.
Later,
Kent

[Frank S]

HI Kent. adding weight to tractors can sometimes be a bother. any time you can add it directly to the rear wheels either by bolting to the rims in the case of small fords like the 8n on the axle stubs like on John Deere or adding liquid in the tires puts the weight to better use than just hanging it off the frame the rear end or the draw bar. since having the weight rotating with the tires means it adds to the kinetic energy having it static mounted while it adds downward force on the tires to help the lugs bite in the soil, it really is dead weight by being more resting mass that has to be set in motion..
Talking about skid steers. I have an older Toro Z master 60" lawn mower with a 23 Hp Kubota diesel that I just got the engine running on I am planning on removing the mower deck relocating the drive wheels about 18" further back on the frame then making a crawler undercarriage for it. Then make the loader arm assembly with a quick plate to accept modern skid steer attachments. this will make the machine just a little smaller than the current Bobcat T110 track steer or similar in size to your machine but on tracks since I will not be using the PTO to drive the mower I will mount a 2nd hydraulic pump there for the power to the loader or attachments. I also have a 72" hydraulic flail mower I plan on adding the attach plate on then I will be able to use it on my Frankenstein loader