We had a crane dolly on the forklift and were cutting with torch, and an employee forgot where the fork was located and burned about a 3/16" in Diameter, by 3/4" deep hole into the fork... Is there a special welding procedure that can cure this, is it something to worry about? (hole is directly in middle of fork) or should we have the employee buy a new Fork? if so where?
-Thankyou
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As johnr_r says don't just change one fork they need to be replaced as a pair. I'm not certain what osha regs say in the states but Loler regs in the jk say they need to be a matched pair. Each for should have a number that matches to show they are matched. A hole in the fork means the fork is scrap the truck should be used until it's been replaced it's certainly against Loler regs in the uk
I would strongly recommend replacing the fork before weld as the hole in it has caused a weak spot in the fork and is now much more likely to break especially with the large weight you are likely lifting (not 100% but pretty sure that a hole in the fork is a OSHA violation) Recommending this also because of effectiveness of welding gases
I am certain you won't want to here what I am about to say, but if you only replace one fork there is a better than 50/50 chance that the fork tips will not line up as the forks are not always set at a perfect 90 degree angle. As I recall there is a manufacturing tolerance for the bend angle of + or -.5 degrees so forks are sold as matched pairs. The longer the fork the more difference in the fork tips. This difference cannot be adjsuted by bending.
And of course if you have wear on the other "good" fork there are other issues of strenght and the amount of wear should be verified. I seem to recall if the fork blade portion of the fork is worn 10% you loose 20% of the strenght of the fork. Your fork lift dealer should be able to help you determine how much wear you have with a set of fork calipers. I as a sales person always carried the calipers with me and got my foot in prospect's doors by offerring a "free" fork lift wear inspection analysis. Sure helped me sell some forks and a number of fork lift trucks too.
excellent point there Certifiedtech. thanks
As Ed stated there is no welding procedure. However I would strongly recommend replacing the fork as the hole in it has caused a weak spot in the fork and is now much more likely to break especially with the large weight you are likely lifting (not 100% but pretty sure that a hole in the fork is a OSHA violation). As for whose fault it is that is not for me to say. Hope this helps.
If the other fork is "like new" buy a new fork from MSI forks or you local forklift dealer.
There is no acceptable welding repair to be done. are the "heels" of the forks like new? forks wear out, it may not be fair to saddle your employee with the cost of a replacement fork if the company has already worn the forks out.
Who was supervising and instructing the employee as to the proper safe work methods?
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