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New forks needed

macgyver

Stainless
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Location
Pittsburg, KS
I just got an old 12,000 lb capacity lift and it has 48" forks on it right now. I'd prefer some 72" forks at some point. What am I looking at to get that length and retain the capacity? Intended use would be to move some machines as well as general use if it makes a difference.
Mine mount on a bar at the top, I don't know how tall they are or the diameter of the bar at the moment.

Thanks,
Jason
 
so I'm not the person to answer this accurately, but a 6 ton rating is not much. 72 is quite a lever arm, I don't think you have enough mass to handle anything out that far. Your load for 6 tons is on the tower, not out at the tips. so if you already know this, then I guess you are aware of what you are doing.
 
I need to read the tag again, but I think the rating is actually at 24" from the mast. I didn't and don't expect to do anything like that out at the end of the forks, but I wouldn't want to get forks that were undersized. Would rather have higher rated forks than I might need.
 
I found some 72" forks for my 6k lift so I could easily reach past the center of a truck and they work great for that, they came off a 8k lift. I was really supprised the first time I picked up something about 2k out on the last 2 feet of the forks that I didn't have enough back tilt to get it flat, they are kind of rubbery out there. I had a choise at the time I bought them and am very glad I got the 8k over the 6k but 10 or 12 would have been better.
 
I have some 6,600# forks 8' long. IIRC they are 6" wide 2" thick at the heel. The long forks are great outdoors, not so good inside. And yes, even with relatively light loads the forks are pretty springy at the tips. It is amazing how much droop they have loaded and still straighten when unloaded.
 
The bigger lifts with 8ft forks are usually around 4" thick at the heels. They still flex, but you can lift 20K on the tips.

Consider fork extensions too. It is real nice to NOT have all that fork hanging out often. I use 72" extensions on 42" forks regularly. 80% of the time forks that long would be a nuisance.
 
We have a set of 8' forks on one of our 12k lifts. They are great when you need them, in the way when you don't. We keep a set of shorter forks around for that lift and swap between the two, depending on what we need.

Here is where we buy all our new forks- Material Handling Equipment | Forklift Forks & Attachments
Resonably priced, they are great to work with, and a good product. We've bought everything from 48" forks for a 5k lift, all the way up to 8' forks for a 60k lift. Just give them your measurements and they will make you whatever you want.
 
The bigger lifts with 8ft forks are usually around 4" thick at the heels. They still flex, but you can lift 20K on the tips.

Consider fork extensions too. It is real nice to NOT have all that fork hanging out often. I use 72" extensions on 42" forks regularly. 80% of the time forks that long would be a nuisance.

I'm not a big fan of fork extensions. They work, but you'd be pretty hard pressed to find a used set lying around that wasn't bent. What extensions are made for is picking up wide items, where a good protion of the weight of what you are picking is still on the forks. What happens is somebody goes to pick something up out on the tips, where almost all of the weight is beyond the forks, and the extensions bend.
 
We use a stick of 2x5 0.120 wall tubing for extension forks. 10 feet long. We unload metal trucks at our loading dock frequently with them and have no issues. They're bouncy but don't seem to bend.

As for capacity, forklifts are typically rated at 24" from the face of the forks. Measure that distance to your axle, and compare it to the 36" on the fork distance to the axle. That ratio is how much load rating you lose. For example, our lift is 3600 pounds rated at 24" on the forks. The axle is 18" back from that, so a load to axle distance of 42". Using our extension forks with a load centered at 72" from the face of the forks results in a 90" load to axle distance, so 3600*42/90=1680 pounds safely.

If you try to go the other way (less than 24" on the forks) you won't tip the forklift over but you will increase the hydraulic pressure and overall system load higher than ever intended.

I do wish our lift had 60" forks. Pallets of 5x10 metal tend to have the third board just out of reach of 4' forks, or they just barely grab, and it makes it pretty unstable.
 
The 72s are nice.

You have a machine on the centerline of an 8'6" wide semi trailer and you stand a chance of getting past it to lift it, even if its just one side at a time.

As I think was mentioned, long forks definitely have their uses and are my personal preference, but get to be a pain in tight quarters.

There could be choices as well on the cross-section, I like the 2" x 6" versions, nice and stable. Not great for stabbing pallets but that's not what I typically do with it.

Not sure if its even still possible but I picked up my Cascade forks at a plant in Findlay, Ohio.
 
I contacted Arrow who is just north of me 1.5 hrs, they kicked out to an outfit in IL. Anyway he called me and 2x6 x 72long 13k rated will be $1,600 shipped. I was hoping they would be less, but not surprised. I will have to wait for now. I haven't even picked anything up with it yet.

I have 2 other lifts, my baby 2K with 36" forks and a 5k with 48" forks. This old Hyster is a monster and is already too big to really do anything inside the shop, so adding 2 ft to the forks isn't going to matter there but would make it better for what I intend to do with it.
 
I contacted Arrow who is just north of me 1.5 hrs, they kicked out to an outfit in IL. Anyway he called me and 2x6 x 72long 13k rated will be $1,600 shipped. I was hoping they would be less, but not surprised. I will have to wait for now. I haven't even picked anything up with it yet.

I have 2 other lifts, my baby 2K with 36" forks and a 5k with 48" forks. This old Hyster is a monster and is already too big to really do anything inside the shop, so adding 2 ft to the forks isn't going to matter there but would make it better for what I intend to do with it.

Going by new forks I've bought in the past, that price doesn't sound out of line. Still, I agree that's a lot of money to sink into an old lift. Keep your eyes open, you can run accross a used set from time to time.
 
Get ahold of Taylor Crane and Rigging in Coffeyville. I was over there a few months ago, got permission to stroll through their shop (where they store a lot of the bigger items they sell, and noticed a large number of forks. When asked if they were for sale, the man in charge said they were. At the time I was just starting to work on my wheeled loader and was curious where I was going to find forks... and there they were.

They have an online retail store called Irontime Sales, and their Ebay store name is Irontime1. Just browsed their Online and ebay store and no forks listed on either one.

They have a whole office dedicated to their online retail service... had 6 or 7 girls in there, taking pix of items for the online and Ebay listings, picking items from stock that had sold and were packing them for shipping. They've got stuff for sale you didn't even know you needed. Looking through their Ebay listings is an hours long endeavor. Wide variety of stuff.
 








 
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