# forks for front end loader



## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

I just got a pollination contract from a strawberry farmer - he needs 8 hives. I want to convert my JD front end loader to a fork lift so I can load and unload my hives on pallets.

Anyone ever do this? looking for a cheap answer... I found this place

http://www.budgetforklift.com/tractor-loader-pallet-forks.html


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

*Those look like skidsteer fork frames*

They would work welded up properly. Don't get the ones that hook onto your bucket and lean against the cutting edge. They hang lower than the bucket edge and the bucket makes it very hard to see the slots on the pallets. Also, a front end loader usually doesn't level the bucket as it raises, makes it hard to keep the pallets level as you lift them up.


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## Gary L (Jan 24, 2007)

*forks*

Your John Deere dealer has forks made for John Deere by Frontier. If you were closer I could make you a set in less than a day. They're not very hard to weld up.


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

ok thanks guys


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Thought about putting the forks on your three point hitch? you would have more control over that as long as you did not need to lift the hives way up off the ground.


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

*Update*

Well the forks on the web were priced out of sight, $850 plus shipping. Right! John Deere dealer too busy to talk to a little guy like me...

But I found a junkyard mechanic with pleny of old towmotors who is fixing me up with a set of forks and a back up plate for $125. I just need to get a little custom welding done and I should be in business.

Bluegrass: yeah I thought about that, it would work ok probably. But the front end will give me more control so I can tip it down and so forth. If I didn't already have the front end loader I would be doing that for sure.

I have built my pallets so the pallets are only a single hive deep (24 inches) so I am getting 24 inch forks, hope that will be ok. I am running two hives per pallet so they are 48" by 24" pallets. This leaves space between. WOuldn't work for a big operator but I think it will be ok for me since I am not stacking them up on the trailer, only going one hive high.


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## shepherd (Feb 1, 2006)

*forks*

look at www.NorthernTool.com they have forks that clamp onto a bucket for $299 and up. Great stuff in their catalog!


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

Thanks Shep, I saw that. I ended up getting a carriage off an old forklift with a set of forks. Forks were $40 and the carriage $75. I need to weld on some ears to fit the loader and I should be set. I think it will come in below $200. FOund an old timer with a forklift junkyard out in the middle of no where. (yes his dad had bees when he was a kid, never used a veil...) Wish I had taken a box and my veil, he had a feral hive in an abandoned warehouse they are going to tear down this summer. Anyone near Plymouth, Ohio who wants it send me a PM I will hook you up.


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## paulka (Nov 14, 2006)

*example of an implementation*

Take a look at what this Beek did with this frontend loader.

http://orsba.proboards27.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1176007307

Paul


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

Nice link Paul. That is a very nice set up.


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