Was nosying by a new site near me and saw an excavator, 5T-ish with forks. Didn't realise that was a thing? Didn't see it in action but imagine it could be v useful, especially on mud.

Also tricky to control, the forks don't just remain level like on a telehandler.

Really needs to be coupled to one of those 360⁰ heads. But damn handy.

The 5T digger that I borrowed came with forks Dave says Tricky I’d say a nightmare for the inexperienced 

So handy in the right hands 

You can hire the forks Also 

Forks are not mega difficult to keep level, just take your time. If you get it wrong you can really make a mess of course!

 

You can sling pallets with two straps and a hook too. 

 

 

Beware though the pallets have no SWL in this config and it can be hard on the straps. If you're careful it'll be a cheap way to move stuff though. 

 

 

These are what you should really use in that situation.

Edited November 19, 20241 yr by Iceverge

I had forks on my JCB, not used much but a godsend when I needed them.

Yep i got a set of forks for our 2.7t machine. Darned handy but awkward to use, and on a smaller machine the weight of the forks does eat into the lifting capacity a bit.

/ the brickies thought it was great for getting the blocks up a lift of scaff...

 

If you've got a mini digger and you need to use forks occasionally this £55 set off ebay could help.

Just need to put your ditching bucket on in reverse and clip them on.