Home-Built Forklift Makes Vineyard Work Easier
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Gary Gradek of Ukiah, Calif., does a lot of cane cutting in his small family vineyard, which means he has always had to spend a lot of time putting the machine on and off the front of his tractor. He decided to convert an old forklift to fit his New Holland 4430 4-WD tractor.
“It works great. Besides cutting canes we use it to haul pallets and to do many other jobs. It can lift loads 10 ft. high. We can’t imagine how we would get along without it,” says Gradek.
The forklift came with a 10-ft. high lift carriage but no forks or mast, so Gradek borrowed a big mast off an old piece of equipment equipped with a lifting attachment. He removed the tractor’s front weights and bolted hinged steel mounting plates in their place. Big 6-in. dia. pivot bearings are welded onto both sides of the mast, allowing the forklift to tilt forward or backward.
He also built a mechanism that supports a pair of 48-in. steel forks. Two hydraulic cylinders are used to raise and lower the forks, and two more to tilt it. The tilt cylinders attach to brackets that bolt onto the tractor.
The cane cutter came equipped with a pair of 5-ft. long sicklebar heads and was designed to bolt onto the tractor. Gradek converted it into a freestanding unit with forklift tubes at the bottom. He kept the machine’s original sicklebars, hydraulic motors and hoses. Homemade mounting brackets connect the machine to the forklift.
“It normally takes about 4 hrs. to take a commercial front-mounted cane cutter on and off, but with our forklift it takes only a few minutes. We just unhook the hydraulic hoses and go,” says Gradek. “We can still attach a mower on back of the tractor, if we want to mow and cane cut at the same time.”
Gradek says he spent less than $1,000 to build the forklift and to modify the cane cutter, with most of that going for hydraulic hoses and steel.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary Gradek, Ukiah, Calif. 95482 (gradekconcepts@gmail.com).
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Home-Built Forklift Makes Vineyard Work Easier MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Forklifts Gary Gradek of Ukiah Calif does a lot of cane cutting in his small family vineyard which means he has always had to spend a lot of time putting the machine on and off the front of his tractor He decided to convert an old forklift to fit his New Holland 4430 4-WD tractor “It works great Besides cutting canes we use it to haul pallets and to do many other jobs It can lift loads 10 ft high We can’t imagine how we would get along without it ” says Gradek The forklift came with a 10-ft high lift carriage but no forks or mast so Gradek borrowed a big mast off an old piece of equipment equipped with a lifting attachment He removed the tractor’s front weights and bolted hinged steel mounting plates in their place Big 6-in dia pivot bearings are welded onto both sides of the mast allowing the forklift to tilt forward or backward He also built a mechanism that supports a pair of 48-in steel forks Two hydraulic cylinders are used to raise and lower the forks and two more to tilt it The tilt cylinders attach to brackets that bolt onto the tractor The cane cutter came equipped with a pair of 5-ft long sicklebar heads and was designed to bolt onto the tractor Gradek converted it into a freestanding unit with forklift tubes at the bottom He kept the machine’s original sicklebars hydraulic motors and hoses Homemade mounting brackets connect the machine to the forklift “It normally takes about 4 hrs to take a commercial front-mounted cane cutter on and off but with our forklift it takes only a few minutes We just unhook the hydraulic hoses and go ” says Gradek “We can still attach a mower on back of the tractor if we want to mow and cane cut at the same time ” Gradek says he spent less than $1 000 to build the forklift and to modify the cane cutter with most of that going for hydraulic hoses and steel Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gary Gradek Ukiah Calif 95482 gradekconcepts@gmail com
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