Quick-Tach Pallet Forks "Better Than Deere's"

Quick-Tach Pallet Forks "Better Than Deere's" TRACTORS Loaders 23-4-25 "My homemade pallet forks offer all the advantages of Deere's forks but are built much heavier," says Ken Brecht, Moorcroft, Wyo., about the heavy-duty, quick-tach "pallet forks" he made for his Deere 540 front-end loader. The loader is mounted on his Deere 5500 4-WD tractor. Brecht, who got help from Jentry Eatherton, says he copied Deere's basic design but beefed it up. He used 10-in. channel iron and 3-in. sq., 1/4-in. thick steel tubing to build a rectangular frame that pins onto the loader arms. The frame's sides are made from 1/4-in. thick steel plate. The forks, made from 2 by 4-in., 1/4-in. thick tubing, are equipped with brackets that slide onto a rod made from 1 1/4-in. dia. solid steel. The rod is secured by two cotter pins. The forks can be positioned anywhere along the rod and are held in place by friction. He also made a pair of quick tach latches on back of the frame similar to the ones on the loader bucket. "We built it from scrap steel that we already had. Our total cost was less than $100," says Brecht. "We use the forks to handle pallets loaded with picnic tables that we haul to a nearby state park. We handle about 120 picnic tables each year. We also trim the park's trees and use the forks to haul branches away. We had tried adding brackets onto the loader bucket in order to accept a set of forks that laid against the front of the bucket. The problem was that we couldn't see the forks when loading and had to guess when they were parallel to the ground. With these quick tach forks the driver has a better view of the forks and can easily see the level indicator that's mounted on one of the loader arms." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ken Brecht, 353 A McKean Rd., Moorcroft, Wyo. 82721 (ph 307 756-9309).

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