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Forklift for around the mill and shop

Started by Tree Dan, July 16, 2016, 01:10:53 PM

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Tree Dan

Im thinking of getting a used forklift for in the shop and around the mill.
I do have 2 skid steers and a JD tractor with a loader for moving the heavy or longer logs.

In the shop I want to get stuff up off the floor and put it on skids and then lift it up on some steel racking of some sort.

And for around the sawmill for stacking and loading the kiln.

I would like to hear what type you have and the size.
Im kinda thinking a #5000 unit would be a good size but wondering about the #3000 machines. I like the smaller trucks because they take up less room, and would be easier to move around in my shop :)
On more thing is the tires. my shop floor is concreat but the drying shed is A gravel...around the shop and mill is packed gravel.
Would you sugest the cusion tire, or the pneumatic tires.

Thanks for your input

Dan
Wood Mizer LT40HD, Kubota KX71, New Holland LS150, Case TR270
6400 John Deere/with loader,General 20" planer, Stihl 880, Stihl 361, Dolmar 460, Husqvarna 50  and a few shovels,
60" and 30" Log Rite cant hooks, 2 home built Tree Spades, Homemade log splitter

Percy

I have one of these. Most usefull piece we have out there. Everyone is fighting to use it. Will load 3000 lbs easily(5000 once you get the hang of it). It doesnt have the lift height of a forklift but will do near 11 feet with forks parallel to the ground. Does not tear up the ground or wear out tires in all wheel mode and can be swiched to skidsteer mode in a heartbeat(switch) when manouverablity is required.
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

ladylake




  Nice machine Percy but spendy, used forklifts can be picked up reasonable. I get  one with bigger tires for outside and at least 5000#.  Keep in mind the mast can be rather high on some and wont fit through a low door.  Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

bkaimwood

My neighbor has an A300 I borrow at times...it is, by far, the nicest skid steer I have used for the things we do. I, on the other hand, don't have an extra 30k for a nice low hour used one. I have a 1967 Clark, pneumatic tire forklift, 4k lb, will lift 5k... Wisconsin flathead 4 cyl gas. It's a tank, and has its quirks, like most relics...I paid somewhere around 2 grand for it?
bk

ozarkgem

I have an old clark 5k pneumatic. I don't use it a lot but I wouldn't want to be without it. My Bobcat will only lift about 1800 lbs. Doesn't take much of a stack of green lumber to weigh that. It is also handy to lift things when you are working on them. You can stand beside it and raise and lower what you are working on. Working height on a Bobcat makes it a pain to get in and out of.
Mighty Mite Band Mill, Case Backhoe, 763 Bobcat, Ford 3400 w/FEL , 1962 Ford 4000, Int dump truck, Clark forklift, lots of trailers. Stihl 046 Magnum, 029 Stihl. complete machine shop to keep everything going.

Kbeitz

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

plowboyswr

Like  bkiamwood  I have an old 60's model Clark 4000 rated but will lift a lot more if ya know how to work it. 14' reach, solid tires work great on concrete and hard packed gravel but if you get it in loose/soft ground forget it. I paid $250 for it from my work. The tyranny was slipping and had a bad valve in the engine. I drove it on the trailer hauled it home and changed the oil in the tranny not a problem since. Running on LP can be a bit of a pain always runs out right when you're in a hurry. I'd like to put the gasoline carburetor back on and be able to switch back and forth. But for the price I gave it can't complain. ;D
Just an ole farm boy takin one day at a time.
Steve

YellowHammer

I have a Cat P5000, late model, with solid treaded tires, LP engine, three stage mast, and side shift.  It will drive on pavement, packed dirt, gravel and asphalt, and will do it at speed and turn in a dime.  We use it for everything and anything, inside and out, and there are lots of good machines out there, but if you need a forklift, there is nothing better than a forklift, because that's what it does.  By our estimation, we moved better than 1.25 million pounds if wood with it last year, carrying lumber from the mill to kilns, to trailers, to the planer, in and out of the storage areas, stocking shelves, everything to keep the business operating, etc.   
We have other machines, but a forklift this size, not too big, not too small, is perfect for our operation.  It doesn't replace a loader or machine to use in the mud.  It also has lumber forks, special polished daggers that can slide right through the middle of a pack of 2x4's or stickered boards and drive off.


YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

paul case

I have a couple forklifts and they are real handy around the mill. Both of mine are on propane. that means they work cheap if you are fixed up to fill your own tanks, which is usually a tank and a fill hose. The lifts handle logs ok and lumber and slab bundles real well. They are the only thing  I have that will load bundles of ties and lumber in the size bundles the folks I sell to want.

I also have a few other loaders and a skid steer. They haul much easier and that means they aren't always at the mill, but the forklifts are always there. I have a clark 6k and a old yale 4k. They both only have about a 4' wide footprint and turn on a dime.

PC
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

autotomk

Hello all. Love those pics  we have a nissan 4000 a bit light  but not to sure a 5000 would work due to the limited space inside the mill.  We usually saw ties and grade,  the 7x9.ties need to be sticker ed and bundled  in 20 pc packs, so thay wiegh almost 5k with red oak . That is a little tricky with a 4k truck.  But we manage . Also we need to stack high out in the small yard where we load trucks.  By the time the truck is in backed in it's a challenge to load from both sides.  With out the fork lift we couldn't run ties.  Also we do not have side shift . Big mistake  we could  use side shift to align the ties on our rack to be bundled .  I'll have to figure out how to post.some pics  I have some running videos also  hope all is having a good summer of sawing
To God be the glory.

Tree Dan

The skid steers are fine untill you need to get out when the arms are up a foot or more... the fork lift , you just climb off :o
and i think the forklift  would be great for lifting a skid and useing it as a work surface.
remember I have machines to lift big logs, Im wondering if a # 3000 will be too small
Wood Mizer LT40HD, Kubota KX71, New Holland LS150, Case TR270
6400 John Deere/with loader,General 20" planer, Stihl 880, Stihl 361, Dolmar 460, Husqvarna 50  and a few shovels,
60" and 30" Log Rite cant hooks, 2 home built Tree Spades, Homemade log splitter

killamplanes

wouldn't live life without a forklift. I've got one small 5k with small pneumatic tires and one all terrain push button 4x4 with all options. it will go most everywhere a wheel loader will go and I love it.
jd440 skidder, western star w/grapple,tk B-20 hyd, electric, stihl660,and 2X661. and other support Equipment, pallet manufacturing line

killamplanes

both mine barely handle bundle of ties. 20 per stack. but both will load a semi with ties.
jd440 skidder, western star w/grapple,tk B-20 hyd, electric, stihl660,and 2X661. and other support Equipment, pallet manufacturing line

YellowHammer

Quote from: Tree Dan on July 16, 2016, 10:04:41 PM
and i think the forklift  would be great for lifting a skid and useing it as a work surface.
Yes, they make the best potable, adjustable height work surface possible.

I also use it every time I plane or clean up lumber (which is pretty much every day) by raising and driving the whole stack to the infeed and just sliding them off into the machine, with no real lifting.  I also use mine to straighten up packs of lumber by tapping the uneven sides of the pack into a heavy fence post or wall with the sideshift, like straightening up a deck of cards by tapping it against a table top. 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

paul case

I have never heard of stickering ties.
I think I figured that a 7x9-8'8'' RO tie weighed 280lbs. that makes a stack weigh 5600lbs. Heavy. That's forklift territory.

PC
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

Stuart Caruk

I have a 5500# Clark with a 3 stage mast. It came with side shift. Shortly after buying it I found a carriage with fork positioning. So know I can position the forks and sideshift without leaving the seat. I wouldn't have it any other way. At the very least, get side shift. It's super handy for shifting logs down the mill carriage for the longest cuts possible.
Stuart Caruk
Wood-Mizer LX450 Diesel w/ debarker and home brewed extension, live log deck and outfeed rolls. Woodmizer twin blade edger, Barko 450 log loader, Clark 666 Grapple Skidder w/ 200' of mainline. Bobcats and forklifts.

ozarkgem

Quote from: Stuart Caruk on July 16, 2016, 11:37:36 PM
I have a 5500# Clark with a 3 stage mast. It came with side shift. Shortly after buying it I found a carriage with fork positioning. So know I can position the forks and sideshift without leaving the seat. I wouldn't have it any other way. At the very least, get side shift. It's super handy for shifting logs down the mill carriage for the longest cuts possible.
Wish I had fork positioning on mine. Seems like the forks are exactly in the wrong position 95% of the time I go to pick something up.
Mighty Mite Band Mill, Case Backhoe, 763 Bobcat, Ford 3400 w/FEL , 1962 Ford 4000, Int dump truck, Clark forklift, lots of trailers. Stihl 046 Magnum, 029 Stihl. complete machine shop to keep everything going.

4x4American

I recently picked up an old clark forklift, no idea the weight rating or load capacity or anything, but it's got a 6 cyl, runs on LP gas, has dual front wheels, and it does great on rough terrain.  I had it down in a gulley the other day picking up a lift of slabs because my tractor wouldn't start and I can't believe it come out of that hole
Boy, back in my day..

tacks Y

Forget solid tires, no go in the snow. I bought a Massey Ferguson 2500 for less than 3K to build a building. Used it for every thing going up, all rafters (green) metal roof. Built all myself, my dad said hire some Amish. This did the work of 2 men, kind of big but a great work platform. 

Brad_bb

Mine lifts 2500.  Picked it up for $4400 plus hauling.  Does 90-95 percent of what I need around the shop with my milling and timbers.  It's just when I get a larger white Oak that this one gets outmatched.  You must get a rough terrain model for uneven ground, soft ground etc.  Even then it is possible to get stuck if you're only 2WD.  A man's got to know his limitations!


 
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

4x4American

It's a long story, Harold.


Went up to the NEK to look at an edger and pickup this forklift.  Didn't wanna get it hung up on the belly when loading it, so he had a friend down the road with a rollback to come and load it onto my trailer for me.  Figgered that unloading it, I'd just drive it fast and let gravity do the rest.  Usually getting it off is easy.  Anyways, went to load it, and then thing fell right through the shaky hemlock deck that the previous owner of my 1988 spanked trailer had on it.




So wadda we do...it's sunday, not many truckers are out and about...I need the dang forklift...the guy with the rollback offered to truck it home the 3 hrs for $600.  I said yes sir lets do it.  We winched it off my trailer and onto the rollback and I called the guy who was gonna show me his Thomas Edger (I was 10min away from him) and said I can't make it and we set our sails for the Fort.


Going through the mtn roads I thought for sure it was gonna flop off.  But we made it.  When it come time to unload it, that rollback did a nice wheelie.




And here she is.  I gave $1800 for it which I didn't think was bad.  The thing so far has lifted everything I've asked it to without so much as grunting.  I was unloading white oak logs the other day with it and I filled the forks with as many as it could grab and it handled them no prob.  So far I'm pretty happy with it.  It does leak propane though and I've filled the tank twice now because I forgot to turn the valve off after a long day.


Boy, back in my day..

paul case

4x4,
I like it. Most of them have a sn tag that tells how much they will lift. If you can get the sn clark can tell you all the particulars about it.

As for the solid tires and the mud or snow, a friend of mine put snow chains on his and it does real well.

PC
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

Tree Dan

Thanks for the input,
I did have my eye on a 4000# clark - standerd trans, double mast
no side-shift, and i do agree the side shift will be very handy loading the mill and the kiln.
my shop has 16' walls so a 3 stage mast would be good for stacking some junk up high and out of the way.
Im now looking for a #5000 with side shift and hopfully a auto trans.
Keep the pictures coming ;D
Wood Mizer LT40HD, Kubota KX71, New Holland LS150, Case TR270
6400 John Deere/with loader,General 20" planer, Stihl 880, Stihl 361, Dolmar 460, Husqvarna 50  and a few shovels,
60" and 30" Log Rite cant hooks, 2 home built Tree Spades, Homemade log splitter

4x4American

I almost got it stuck the other day and my neighbor came and gave me chains said he dont have a use for em anymore  8)
Boy, back in my day..

Kbeitz

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

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