Once it is all built if I can lift 1000 pounds with it with the load all the way forward it will do most of the lifting I will need it to do. Until you said what it should be able to lift I had no idea how much weight the rear lift system could lift. When I build the fork set up I plan to make it so the load is only 6 inches or a little more behind the rear wheels. I now have the loader on the front and it can very easily lift that same log but I can no longer steer the tractor. According to a log weight calculator the largest log I could lift and still keep the front wheels mostly on the ground was around 1600lbs but that was with the load about 4 feet behind the wheels. I used to have the loader mounted on the rear of the tractor. You need to be able to lift up AND balance the load, to be useful. If you overbuild the face, and use heavier face and forks, it doesn't increase the machine capacity, instead, it REDUCES your capacity. a 5000lb 42' fork will weigh around 100lbs.

Keep in mind that your attachment takes away part of your lifting capacity. and don't be surprised if your lift gives up at 1600lbs.īuild the mounting face to be JUST STRONG ENOUGH to safely do the 2000lb job, and use SMALLER forks. I've found that using the tractor/3-point has it's disadvantages, but all in all, it's handy-as-heck. Now, I've been using MY forklift attachment on my WD and D17 3-point for years, and it's the greatest for moving pallets of shingles, bricks, and other stuff over terrain that my Hyster is just too heavy to traverse. If you go crazy adding more ballast, you'll find that the lift arms' lift capacity won't make that ballast worth anything aside from sinking the front tires into the ground. Next, the tractor will only balance SO MUCH weight aft of the drive wheels, without adding considerable ballast to the nose. not by design of size you make, but the fact that you'll only have so much lifting capacity. When you build it, keep several things in mind: I'll hafta go home and find the photo on my server.īut basically, I made my three point, and then fabbed a face that ordinary forks mounted on. Somewhere on here, I posted the three point kit and forklift attachment I made for my WDs and D17.

Homemade forklift mast