Home Built Forklift Tractor

Home built forklift tractor TRACTORS Made-It-Myself 14-1-33 Richard Everhart, Clark, Mo., built his own "forklift tractor" to use around his welding shop by salvaging the tires, axles and engine from an old Cleaner E combine. "It's a great load handler," notes Everhart, who uses the rig's platform to haul tools, implements and other materials into the shop where he can work on them. "I've lifted huge loads 9 1/2 ft. straight up, including a corn head weighing more than two tons and a horse trailer that I stood on end so I could replace the floor. It's handier to use than the ceiling-mounted chain hoist I had been using, and it's more versatile. For example, I can tip the platform up on its edge to push gravel, loose dirt, or snow. The platform is equipped with stake pockets so I can use it to carry firewood. By removing two bolts I can slide the platform off and use the forks to haul big round bales or logs. I can also drop a 2-in. ball hitch into either of the front stake pockets to pull trailers around the yard." The 1/8-in. thick metal platform, 7 ft. wide and 31/2 ft. deep, is welded to 3 by 4-in. tubing that slips over the forks. The platform is lifted by two hydraulic cylinders and tilted or leveled by a separate pair of cylinders powered by a belt-driven hydraulic pump. Everhart used 7-in. I-beam to build a frame between the old combine axles. The 40 hp. 4-cylinder, belt-driven engine is mounted crosswise just behind the driver's seat - which came from an old school bus. There's a large storage compartment under the driver's seat and steps on each side of it. The steering wheel and driver's platform also were salvaged from the combine. There are 600-lb. counterweights on the rear of the tractor with a 20-gal. gas tank mounted on top of them. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Everhart, RR 1, Box 46A, Clark, Mo. 65243 (ph 314 641-5773).

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