“Thunder Buggy” Forklift Tractor

“Thunder Buggy” Forklift Tractor MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Forklifts Allan Isaac has been semi retired for a while but occasionally the Farmington British Columbia man still starts up the heavy-duty forklift tractor he built from scratch more than 30 years ago “My family calls it the Thunder Buggy It doesn’t have a muffler so it makes a lot of noise ” says Isaac “It’s low to the ground so it’s very stable I don’t have to worry about tipping over ” says Isaac “Also with the big tires on front I don’t have to worry about getting stuck “I built it after my brother and I quit farming and logging and I started a welding shop ” says Isaac “We built a lot of portable bandsaw mills in the shop and often carried supplies or equipment in and out of it I decided I needed a heavy-duty forklift to make the work easier ” The forklift is powered by a slant 6 engine coupled to an automatic transmission off a Dodge car It rides on big 18 4 by 30 combine tires on front and 7 50 by 18’s on back The front axle is off a 1964 IH tandem axle truck and the rear axle off a 1958 Ford 2-ton truck The tractor’s frame is also off the truck The controls and steering wheel are off an Oliver 1850 tractor The mast on front is supported by a single loader arm that extends diagonally all the way to the back of the tractor It’s made from 6 by 10 by 1/2-in thick steel tubing and can lift loads up to 10 ft high and handle up to 5 000 lbs The forks measure 9 in wide and are made from 1 1/4-in thick T1 steel and are tilted up or down by a 5-in dia hydraulic cylinder One fork is welded to a 5-in O D by 3-in I D heavy wall pipe with a 3-in dia pin going through it to serve as a hinge The other fork is welded to a movable bracket that hooks over the top of the pipe allowing Isaac to adjust fork spacing from 2 1/2 to 4 ft apart     “I’ve used this loader tractor to haul engines load and unload trucks and do many other jobs There’s nothing it hasn’t done ” says Isaac “The big tires on front provide good traction The tractor’s automatic transmission drives through another 4-speed transmission to slow the wheels down If I want I can remove one fork and use the other to dig trees out of the ground I can also replace the forklift with a bucket to scoop dirt “It cost very little to build My only expense was $250 for a single big hydraulic cylinder that’s used to tilt the forks ”     The forklift is powered by a 2-stage hydraulic pump that’s driven directly off the engine crankshaft “One stage of the pump does the lifting and the other stage operates the power steering ” says Isaac He used 2-in tubing to make a rollbar that extends over the operator A big yellow flashing beacon is mounted on top of the tractor “My sons added the beacon years ago as a safety precaution but I work by myself now so I don’t use it any more ” notes Isaac Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Allan Isaac 4031 Old Alaska Hwy Peace River Regional District Dawson Creek B C Canada V1G 0J4 ph 250 794-1416; adisaac@telus net

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