Should I get a forklift or a tractor with forks? Gravel driveway use.

[bigais]

In my years of selling Forklifts, if you can find a used Clark Mod. IT40, while they have a larger footprint, are one of the best all around trucks for this type work. you can load up the counterweight cavity with lead and get close to 5K capacity but do so at the price of traction when unloaded.

 

[FredC]

If anyone wants a forklift attachment for a farm tractor, I have one to give away. I thought I could lift hay bales with it and stack them. Could not get them off the ground. The fellow I bought it from said he used it to lift a platform an operator could use with a chainsaw for higher cuts. This one has been sitting outside for 15 yeas so it will need to have the chains replaced. Location is about 50 miles south of San Antonio.

 

[Scottl]

100% agree with those who advise against using a tractor to routinely lift non agricultural loads. A lift truck is designed for loading and unloading and once you set the mast angle the load will stay level while lifting. Also, a lift truck aka forklift holds the load much closer to itself than a tractor does. I would look for a small pneumatic tired lift truck, especially one that has dual wheels or can accept them.

 

[Michael M.]

The background- we are in a rural area, our drive is gravel. We have a paved pad in front of the shop. Normally when trucks come in we use a liftgate and pallet jack to load. The problem is our crates going out are not especially heavy, but they are large-
Today I have a 2x4x8 600lb crate going out. That is tricky to get on the liftgate.
Plus I keep getting older......

So I have kicked around the idea of buying an old forklift, which will sit 99% of the time (somewhere, space is a problem too) or a 30hp Kubota or the like with a fork attachment, mower, blade etc that can be used for multiple things-like grading the drive..

Occasionally we rent a forklift, having seen the rental guy get one stuck real good offloading from the trailer I am dubious about a solid tire lift on our drive- he got off to the side on softer ground. Is a pneumatic tire lift, essential for softer ground?

your thoughts ?

I think because of the gravel I would go with the tractor. Also since you are in a rural area there should be many other things you could use the tractor for. The forklift would pretty much be limited to the shop.

 

[matt_isserstedt]

Imo, unless you can find a YardLift (pneumatic tired version) your best bet is to pave (with concrete) an area large enough to load and unload trucks with a common cushion tired unit, Past the pad, it could be as something as simple as a heavy duty sidewalk if you have a ways to goto the shop. Forklift is outstanding in all aspects of handling and positioning the load. I *might* have 12hp in my little avatar unit that will handle 3000+ lbs. I'm going to guess here that you'd need a 60hp tractor that cost (new) twice what my entire shop building did to do the same job. I'd build a little shed to keep your forklift in, it doesn't have to be large, just enough to keep the weather off it, you don't want condensate rust-flaking the chrome or getting down to the bottom of the mast seal gland. I like tractors too, have 4 of them, but its not the tool I want to use unless I'm lifting something out on a lawn.

 

[dana gear]

Want to have a fun time, here ya go, if you have a certain number of employees that require forklift operation in the Nazi state of California, not that it matters, then have OSHA come out for your forklift training and have an old farm tractor with a leaking hydraulic system with a front end loader and a pair of semi bent forks mounted to it and be sure and have two different size front tires as well. Near flat even better. Oh ya no seat belts or overhead protection. I probably could not afford the fines, but it would be a lot of fun................................

 

[86turbodsl]

I struggled for years with a tractor and front end loader on my stuff. Last fall i finally gave in and bought a rough terrain forklift. It's been a total game changer. The PROPER tool for my work. Can use it outside on gravel/grass, inside the shop if needed, capacity 5000lbs, a little larger than a typical 5k lift truck, but just does it SAFELY.

 

[Garwood]

I'm a bit shocked to see any recommendations for forks on a tractor here. I can't imagine anyone who has ever used both suggest that the tractor would be better at forklifting or more versatile than a forklift. Tractors utterly suck as forklifts. A loader on a tractor is a conflict with what the tractor is actually designed to do. Loaders on tractors suck.

A 4x4 tractor is made for pulling stuff behind it. That's what it does OK. A skidsteer is made for loading stuff. A forklift is made for lifting anything.

Last week my skidsteer died out in my field. I didn't want to troubleshoot it in 100 degree sun so I walked back to my shop, hopped on my Hyster H80C, drove it out into the rough field, picked up the whole damn 5500 lb skidsteer and drove it back into the shop. No pavement involved.

I bought my H80C last winter for scrap value, $2000, to load one machine on a semi. It was a 10,000 lb CNC lathe. I drove it out of the shop, through a mud hole with rubber mats tossed on it, over 200 yards of gravel in various conditions and loaded the lathe on a semi in the road. H80C weighs 14K. Try doing anything like that in a 14K lb tractor with loader. Not a chance in hell.

 

[dkmc]

I have genuine fear of getting a rough terrain forklift as that would allow me to store all matter of junk spread over 4 acres as opposed to the limited space just around the shop where the pneumatic tire forklifts can operate.

 

[Freedommachine]

I haven't read through this whole thread so it may have been covered already. Are these any good? Looks like a tractor with the operating controls mounted backwards. I've seen many different makes and models but I'm curious if anyone has first hand experience with them.

 

[Garwood]

I haven't read through this whole thread so it may have been covered already. Are these any good? Looks like a tractor with the operating controls mounted backwards. I've seen many different makes and models but I'm curious if anyone has first hand experience with them.

View attachment 370169View attachment 370170

They are good for what they're designed to do- Move pallets and totes up to about 2 tons around outside. Lots of turf farms around here. They love those things for moving the pallets of turf rolls on packed dirt. I think they afford lower ground pressure compared to a normal pneumatic tire forklift and they are built off a regular tractor chassis so they are cheap and farms might perceive they are easier to fix or maintain because they are a tractor?

IMO, an offroad forklift is useless without 4x4. It should also have hydraulic leveling, crab steering and might as well throw a shooting boom on there as well. Oh shit, that's not a forklift anymore, it's a Telehandler!

Skip the "offroad forklift" class of machines and go right to a telehandler if that's what you need. A decked out late 90's era 8042 Skytrak with a Cummins is on my equipment bucket list.

 

[dkmc]

Neighbor's have had one of these for years they let me borrow.
It does the 2 or 4 wheel steer, crab, side-to-side leveling thing. Choked up it'll just pick about 9500lbs. Pretty good at plowing snow too, but wish they'd install the cab they got for it 20 years ago.

 

[DDoug]

I've put a few forklift mast's on 3-point hitch's for friends (and one for myself)

 

[john.k]

The back to front factory RT 4x2 forklifts here start at around $25k well used.,and due to the large tyre diameter,wont lift more than 3 ton.

 

[86turbodsl]

I have genuine fear of getting a rough terrain forklift as that would allow me to store all matter of junk spread over 4 acres as opposed to the limited space just around the shop where the pneumatic tire forklifts can operate.

I identify with this statement.... lol.

 

[86turbodsl]

I haven't read through this whole thread so it may have been covered already. Are these any good? Looks like a tractor with the operating controls mounted backwards. I've seen many different makes and models but I'm curious if anyone has first hand experience with them.

View attachment 370169View attachment 370170

Yeah, most rough terrain forklifts that are older are tractors flipped around. Mine is an Oliver 551. It's an Oliver 550 tractor with the bull gear flipped and all controls flipped around. It's a 5000lb lift machine and it does a great job at it anywhere on my property and is still small enough to go in the shop and run around if needed.

 

[86turbodsl]

They are good for what they're designed to do- Move pallets and totes up to about 2 tons around outside. Lots of turf farms around here. They love those things for moving the pallets of turf rolls on packed dirt. I think they afford lower ground pressure compared to a normal pneumatic tire forklift and they are built off a regular tractor chassis so they are cheap and farms might perceive they are easier to fix or maintain because they are a tractor?

IMO, an offroad forklift is useless without 4x4. It should also have hydraulic leveling, crab steering and might as well throw a shooting boom on there as well. Oh shit, that's not a forklift anymore, it's a Telehandler!

Skip the "offroad forklift" class of machines and go right to a telehandler if that's what you need. A decked out late 90's era 8042 Skytrak with a Cummins is on my equipment bucket list.

Do you live in a swamp? I have never been stuck with mine. Since they usually come with ag tires, unless you are REALLY in the mud, you're not getting stuck. You aren't pushing anything, you're just moving the machine and load weight. And when you're loaded, you're adding traction.

 

[Garwood]

Do you live in a swamp? I have never been stuck with mine. Since they usually come with ag tires, unless you are REALLY in the mud, you're not getting stuck. You aren't pushing anything, you're just moving the machine and load weight. And when you're loaded, you're adding traction.

Not getting completely stuck and being able to control and steer the machine are two totally different things.

I have never needed a light capacity offroad forklift. 5K lbs is a cake job for a crane or even just tilt deck trailer with a winch behind a 4x4 pickup, or if the truck won't get there, hook the trailer to an excavator or dozer and it will for sure get there and back out again.
In fact, just a couple months ago I had my 9500 lb Hardinge SP42 on my 4k lb tilt deck trailer chained to my excavator and I pulled, turned around, then pushed that trailer with the deck sunk even with the mud. The tires were doing nothing. I've done the same thing with a machine like that on the forks of a Skytrak and the Skytrak went right through it with total control.

When I have to move and load things I usually have a schedule to keep and a $250/hr semi and driver waiting on me.

I have been in a situation with a normal 10K dual air tire forklift where it took me an extra hour to get through a mildly muddy spot with 10K on the forks because I had to turn and I couldn't. I chained a 2000 lb weight to the counterweight to get through and all was fine, but I know full well 2wd vehicles have limitations.

 

[Freedommachine]

They are good for what they're designed to do- Move pallets and totes up to about 2 tons around outside. Lots of turf farms around here. They love those things for moving the pallets of turf rolls on packed dirt. I think they afford lower ground pressure compared to a normal pneumatic tire forklift and they are built off a regular tractor chassis so they are cheap and farms might perceive they are easier to fix or maintain because they are a tractor?

IMO, an offroad forklift is useless without 4x4. It should also have hydraulic leveling, crab steering and might as well throw a shooting boom on there as well. Oh shit, that's not a forklift anymore, it's a Telehandler!

Skip the "offroad forklift" class of machines and go right to a telehandler if that's what you need. A decked out late 90's era 8042 Skytrak with a Cummins is on my equipment bucket list.

What if I need to move heavy-ish stuff around off-road and load / unload flat deck trailers at the road - but I cannot justify the cost of a telehandler?

I don't have a dozer, excavator or skid steer either lol.

I've put a few forklift mast's on 3-point hitch's for friends (and one for myself)

That sounds like an interesting solution. Do you have any pictures?

Yeah, most rough terrain forklifts that are older are tractors flipped around. Mine is an Oliver 551. It's an Oliver 550 tractor with the bull gear flipped and all controls flipped around. It's a 5000lb lift machine and it does a great job at it anywhere on my property and is still small enough to go in the shop and run around if needed.

With regard to flipping the bull gear, that answers another question I had. It wouldn't seem useful having a machine with 2 forward and 8 reverse gears. I'm glad to hear it works well, this might be the best solution to my needs.

The 3 point mounted forklift mast might be a decent alternative. I'll have to look into that further.

 

[Garwood]

Just so we're on the same page, the advantage those flipped around tractor things have over a forklift is they have tractor tires.

Compared to a real forklift they are very light duty for their size. They are not geared the same as a forklift, they are typically stickshift with a dry clutch. Good for doing 20MPH down the road, not so much for careful positioning.

I've seen a lot of those flipped around tractor things with low hours and in real nice shape for sale compared to a real forklift.

IMO, if you think a flipped around tractor is a good forklift for you then a mast mounted to your tractors 3 pt is probably a good idea. Atleast then you can still use the tractor for tractory stuff that it's good at.

If you need a forklift and need to load stuff on trucks, like heavy stuff, get a forklift. That's what they're really good at believe it or not.