Re: Poor Man's Forklift

Kevin(Bluey) wrote:
Christopher Tidy wrote:

Bob La Londe wrote:

As I may have mentioned I used my boom (cherry picker) to unload my new welder, but I've been thinking. If you could figure out some form of regular set of forks to go on the end of the boom you could leave it shortened and have more lifting capacity because you would not have to reach up over the cargoe you are unloading.

The concept has been nagging in the back of my mind for a couple weeks now, but I just can't seem to come up with and visualize an easy to use and affordable to build mechanism that would allow you to keep the forks level or even close to level when raising and lowering your load.

Not many of us can afford a forklift for that once or twice a year load that could use one, so we wind up borrowing a loading dock down the street, begging a forklift, or improvising. I think it would be the coolest thing if you could come up with a set of 1000-1500lb forks that you could just push your boom upto and slide in a couple pins. Lots of folks have cherry pickers. Something you could build or buy in the $400 - $700 range. Want to get fancy? Put on an air operated hydraulic ram to raise and lower the arm faster.

I was gonna try and invent this gizmo, but the basic mechanics just slip away when I almost have it vizualized each time. I'll let one of you guys invent it and make a million dollars. I'll just buy one when you do.


I'm not sure I get this. Doesn't the platform on a cherry picker stay level automatically?

Chris


and further to that cherry pickers are rated for a one or two man lift .
Here in Australia it is illegal to use cherry pickers and backhoes to lift loads other than what they were intended for.
If you are caught or someone is injured because of your actions you face heavy fines and imprisonment.
Machinery inspectors are like under cover cops here ,you never know when one is likely to show up any where on a job site.

A backhoe is probably safer than a cherry picker. You just have to remember not to drop the load by opening the valve all the way. It is not uncommon to see a backhoe with a rated load sticker applied by the manufacturer, so they are not unhappy about them being used for lifting. Usually it's about 1000 kg on a medium to large backhoe loader. There's often not a lot of point, though, when you could just put pallet forks on the front.

Best wishes,

Chris

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Poor Mans Forklift
    ... If you could figure out some form of regular set of forks to go on the end of the boom you could leave it shortened and have more lifting capacity because you would not have to reach up over the cargoe you are unloading. ... The concept has been nagging in the back of my mind for a couple weeks now, but I just can't seem to come up with and visualize an easy to use and affordable to build mechanism that would allow you to keep the forks level or even close to level when raising and lowering your load. ... Here in Australia it is illegal to use cherry pickers and backhoes to lift loads other than what they were intended for. ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)
  • Re: Poor Mans Forklift
    ... regular set of forks to go on the end of the boom you could leave it ... and affordable to build mechanism that would allow you to keep the forks ... Not many of us can afford a forklift for that once or twice a year load ... you could just push your boom upto and slide in a couple pins. ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)
  • Re: Poor Mans Forklift
    ... bottom of the 'loop' flat, and you have a crane fork. ... The lift loop is ... lift is directly over the center of the load. ... forks go under the load; the frame loops up and around to the top-center ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)
  • Re: Poor Mans Forklift
    ... lift is directly over the center of the load. ... forks go under the load; the frame loops up and around to the top-center ... These things, as Lloyd described them, are commercially known as ... Pallet hooks are a catalogue item, ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)
  • Re: Poor Mans Forklift
    ... If you could figure out some form of regular set of forks to go on the end of the boom you could leave it shortened and have more lifting capacity because you would not have to reach up over the cargoe you are unloading. ... Lots of folks have cherry pickers. ... I was gonna try and invent this gizmo, but the basic mechanics just slip away when I almost have it vizualized each time. ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)