Toyota 2FGL7 forklift tines or forks

[forhire]

I thought they used to say if it's got -its or tires it will give you trouble. Now it looks like if it has tires with -its it makes things better.

Pneumatic tires are more maintenance day to day but give a more comfortable ride. If your on concrete all day solid tires are a lot less trouble. I drove it to the house today, down the alley and around the block, to move the concrete mixer, and the ride was a LOT better than the last time.

[Lis2323]

You can always foam fill the tires.


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[forhire]

You can always foam fill the tires.

Good point. I suppose if I have issues that would be easy enough. I normally have to air up the neighbors big forklift every time I use it. Maybe he should foam fill his tires?

I finished machining the first side of the hanger based on the FEM/ISO Class 1 specification this morning. Now I need to check the fit.

[smithdoor]

Nice forklift
If was not retired I would want one.

Dave

Last week I picked up a clean little Toyota 2FGL7 forklift. It's clearly a gray market import as all the markings are in Japanese. I picked it up cheap because the clutch was stuck. It took all of 30 minutes to pull the cover, slide the throwout bearing back, unbolt the pressure plate, and pop the disk free. Yeah! Of course it's taking a LOT longer to sort the brakes. After rebuilding the master cylinder and adjusting the brakes I discovered one side was adjust all the way out. New shoes are on their way. Aside from a stuck clutch and brakes it runs strong and is darn cute. It's only rated at 450kg (1000 lbs) but it's super maneuverable in the shop and doesn't take up much parking space.

It has a D mast, for dumping, which is really neat except the installed forks are very short. They appear to have started out as 30" forks and the dumping use has worn them down a few inches under that. Short forks are fine in the shop but they are proving too short to use with standard pallets. I hung a set of 36" class 2 forks today and moved a few of my typical pallets around, 36" is fine but 42" would be better. Yeah I know it was sketchy but it was for science.

At first glance the forks appear to be FEM/ITA Class 1 with one small exception, unlike a typical class 1 fork that has 13" hook spacing, this one has 9" hook spacing. Hooks and everything else are correct for class 1 aside from the spacing.

The manual lists a 1070mm fork (42") but I am having a real problem finding these forks. Heck, I'm having trouble finding any class 1 forks. Does anyone know of any forklift junk yards that may have some of these small machines rusting away? I have quote for some custom forks but they are not in the budget.

I'll post some pictures of the machine tomorrow. I know boostjdm and a few others have messed around with these small machines. Maybe someone with some experience will chime in.

Attachment 1729013

[farmersammm]

Coming along really nice. You have some nice machines to work with

[forhire]

Coming along really nice. You have some nice machines to work with

Thanks. Unfortunately, after I milled off the carrier and checked the fit on the machine I discovered that it wasn't a 20 degree taper as specified in the FEM/ISO/ITA standards. Everything else looked right so I assumed everyone used 20 degrees from the dawn of time. Turns out the Japanese were doing their own thing in the early 80s. I never could find a JIS standard from the 80s to compare. I suspect this is why my local Toyota dealer wasn't helpful. I had received quotes from a couple places and nobody ever suggested the hooks would be anything other than 20 degrees.

I used a simple plastic angle gauge and discovered it was actually 25 degrees. Doh!
You really should look at the patent for this simple parallel arm protractor: https://patents.google.com/patent/US4766675A/en


The new part fits well. Both the angled face and the base now make contact.


I created a modified version of the FEM/ISO class 1 hook with a 25 degree taper. I verified the spacing by measuring over a pin, in this case 0.62" (sorry no metric gage pins). I then simply changed the angle. This should give the forks about 1 mm of space to facilitate moving them. My drawing is kinda messy but this should give you an idea of the design.


I clamped the hooks top and bottom to a chunk of cribbing and the hooks appear to hang properly, and most importantly, you can slide it on the carriage. I can now see just how worn out the old set of forks really are.

[Lis2323]

Wow. Not a pleasant way to find that "you learn something new everyday"

I've bought replacement forks before and never even thought to verify the hook angle.

I do know that height varies for pin style hanging forks though.

Nice job!!


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[whtbaron]

Nice forklift
If was not retired I would want one.

Dave

That's when you need it the most. Tired of lifting heavy stuff...

[Lis2323]

That's when you need it the most. Tired of lifting heavy stuff...

I’ve been spoiled. I grew up always having a forklift on the farm. Had seven here when I packed it in not counting all the sets of forks for the wheel loaders and telehandler.

I kept one.


Here is a typical example of getting the barbell rack I built from my shop to my home gym…








Without a forklift I will cease to exist.







I will cease to function without a forklift.


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[whtbaron]

I'm thinking skid steer with quick attach's .... that gym would be a tight fit for my CAT loader...

[Lis2323]

Yeah. I just placed it inside the door with the forklift and used the pallet jack to put it in place. After 60 years of working alone
there’s not much I can’t move IF I take my time and think it out.


I’m gonna miss the telehandler with Q/A forks and attachments though.







If I ever won the lottery (which ain’t gonna happen cuz I refuse to buy tickets) I think one of those mini JCB telehandlers the rental yards have would be sweet.


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[whtbaron]

I used to think skid steers would be too small to be of any use, but after borrowing a couple, I changed my mind in a hurry. Once you get up in that 70 to 90 hp range they can do a lot of work in a hurry and the front entry is easy access.

LOL... couldn't figure out what a car was doing on top of your garage until I realized I was looking at the top of your cab! Might be overdue for a new set of grandpa glasses... or at least put the ones I have on...

[Lis2323]

I used to think skid steers would be too small to be of any use, but after borrowing a couple, I changed my mind in a hurry. Once you get up in that 70 to 90 hp range they can do a lot of work in a hurry and the front entry is easy access.

LOL... couldn't figure out what a car was doing on top of your garage until I realized I was looking at the top of your cab! Might be overdue for a new set of grandpa glasses... or at least put the ones I have on...

Forks on any loader are so versatile with the range of motion. Nice being able to get the forks pointing down near perpendicular.

I've never run a big skid steer. Our Case Uniloader was only 37 HP. LOL.


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[forhire]

I finished the bottom hooks today. They are similar to the top hooks but 10 mm narrower. A narrower hook on the bottom makes it easier to install and move the fork. I then laid out the hooks and decided on a final cut length. I milled the forks to a the final length. I'm into this way too much to risk a poor bandsaw cut. I ended up with a 1/2" more drop due to the thicker fork but the top of the fork is the same as the originals. Overall they actually look pretty good on the machine. I am definitely ready to have real forks, using extensions is getting old.

[forhire]

I welded the hooks on with 11018. I used a ~300 degree preheat and tried to keep my interpass about the same. I peened the welds with the needle scaler between passes and generally took my time. I welded the sides first, then the top, and finally the inside of the angle. I fretted over the weld order as I was really concerned it might close up on me making them impossible to install on the carriage. In the end my worry was unfounded. Everything welded out fine. I then wrapped them in k-wool until they normalized to room temperature. Tonight I move a few pallets around and they work a LOT better than the extensions. I still need to make the pins but they are good enough to use. A truck is coming on Monday so we'll see how it goes.

To setup the lower hook I cut a piece of scrap that measured 200 mm and then spaced the hook on a 5mm hex key.


One of the forks has a chip in the end. I am planning on cutting them down a few inches. They are 52" long right now. I definitely need to round the corners. I haven't decided what shape I'd like the ends to be.

[Lis2323]

Truly nice work!


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[KenO]

There is a forklift fork junk yard near me that sells new and used. They have an add on Facebook marketplace:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...c-653afdd85aa7

[forhire]

There is a forklift fork junk yard near me that sells new and used. They have an add on Facebook marketplace:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...c-653afdd85aa7

Thanks for the FB marketplace link. I did some poking around, unfortunately this little machine uses some weird forks. Too bad they are so far away, shipping would kill me.

Tonight I "load tested" it with twelve 80lb bags of quickcrete. Definitely the limit for both the little forklift and the little pickup. I really like the extended carriage, I can get a good bite on the pallet without pulling it out past the bumper. It unloaded the truck and made it down the driveway no problem. For good measure I threw on three more bags and lifted it. 120% and the forks didn't snap off.