Skid Steer Quick Attach on Excavator

Here's a model view confirming the dimensions of the hanger side plates:

Here is a front view of my final prototype configuration, & a close up of my "forward-dig restraint system":

Step 5, compute the weight of the custom hanger system to see if it is reasonable. Since the side plates of my quick coupler are 5/8"-thick steel, I opted for 5/8" steel plate throughout my hangers. The 2 external braces I felt should be 2"x2"x1/4" steel tube. So, using area's from my 3D model I computed the weight of my Multi-Hitch with hangers as follows:

• Multi-Hitch blank...........105 lbs
• Custom hangers............246 lbs
• Klac blank..................... 53 lbs

I wish the hanger was a little lighter, but I'm leery of backing off to only 1/2"-thick plate. That would only reduce the weight by about 40 lbs, some of which might be offset by more gussets.

Of course then I will add the weight of my pallet forks @ 230 lbs frame + 270 lbs forks = 500 lbs, for a total of 904 lbs.

All of that will replace the weight of my std. trenching bucket of 545 lbs, so it will be over by 359 lbs but will be way more versatile.

Step 6, fabricate the custom hangers, weld them up & weld them to both the Multi-Hitch & the Klac blank. Fabricate the lift hole ears, but do NOT yet weld them to the hangers. Fabricate the lift hole U-brackets, & cut the lift hole pin to 18" long.
I'm a lot of things, but alas, I'm not a welder or a machinist, so I took my plans, plywood prototype, & steel pin to my trusted fabricator/machine shop just yesterday. They expect it will take about 2 weeks to complete, given the July 4th interruption.

So, stay tuned for more as it develops...

That's cool!

Coastal said:

That's cool!

Click to expand...

Coming from you, who built his own outstanding excavator, I take that as a real compliment!!

Step 7, after the initial fabrication in steel (everything just tack welded together), get the assembly home from the fab shop & mount the assembly on the Klac quick coupler on the excavator. Then fit the lift hole pin ears with the pin & lift hole U-brackets, & clamp the ears in place. Here are photos of this step:


Step 8, Take the assembly back to the fab shop & have them "weld the snot out of it"!! I plan on doing that tomorrow AM.

Right on!

Step 9, Pickup completely welded contrivance from the fab shop, & mount it to verify that the restraint pin fits. Just got done doing that. Pheew...it fits perfectly!!! Here's proof...


Now, on to painting...

Looking good, Wally!

Step 10, prime & finish paint the entire contrivance. I used Por-15 for primer, then top coated with NH construction gray. Here's the final result...

Step 10, paint the complete assembly. I primed it with Por-15, top coated it with NH construction gray. Here's the finished contrivance....


Every time I really look at it, I see a spot I missed!! I certainly did NOT minimize corners & surfaces.

The 1st photo above demonstrates one of the uses of the 2" receiver tubes in the multi-hitch....a yellow eye in the middle tube & a blue chain grab hook in each outboard tube. These inserts also do double duty in my tractor's multi-hitch.

When the paint gets done baking a little in the sun (we're just coming off of a week of rain here), I will mount my pallet forks on the multi-hitch, & probably post another photo.

Finally, the cost of all this fun was about $2,760, not including any shipping or tax, broken down about as follows:

• Multi-Hitch.............................$895
• Klac Size F Blank.....................$641
• Fab & Weld Hanger...............$1200
• Lift Hole Pin (scrap steel)............$9
• 5/8" Bolts & Nuts......................$13

Looking good. The receiver tubes are a good idea, making it multi purpose.
Graham

Thank you...now, here are some more photos of uses....

The bucket is a 5' wide general purpose one from my tractor.

The pallet forks I can now share with my tractor, skid steer, & excavator.

If need be, I have a heavier duty 6' wide bucket from my skid steer that I can share.

Why not adapt a quick attach with bucket pins to match your machine.
Or fab from scratch. Surely for less than 4k.

Then any skidsteer attachment will work thumb stays on brooms yard rakes grinders mowers skyscrapers the limit

EvanM...First, it didn't cost $4k...."only" $2,760 per my post #29.

Second, I didn't have an old SS quick attach to use, so I had to buy one, & I chose the best one I could find from a great source that I had experience with.

Thirdly, why would I want a SS quick attach that would mount to my excavator with bucket pins??....when my excavator already has a quick coupler attached!! Never mind the fact that the mounting hanger & bosses for a pin mount would cost as much , if not more, than for the hanger welded to the quick coupler blank (a flat steel plate). Granted, I could have saved the $641 cost of the coupler blank, but at a significant loss of convenience of changing attachments on my excavator. That's false economy!!

So, in the end I have all the advantages you cite, "Then any skidsteer attachment will work thumb stays on brooms yard rakes grinders mowers skyscrapers the limit"...AND my SS quick attach comes off & on my excavator quick coupler in a breeze!!

That was the whole point...I don't know of any other SS quick attach that mounts to an excavator using the excavator's quick coupler....EXCEPT one from Engcon that mates with their rototilt system, which costs on the order of $50k or more!!

Great post, I'll be looking to do something similar to this for my KX-057!

That is well done!

Looks great! Very well thought out and fabricated too! Most importantly though for people that want this type of set up is to have a 9 ton mini which he does. We have pallet forks that can easily switch between our 8,500 pound mini and our 12,500 pound mini. It's important to note that lifting and reaching out over the blade and especially the side can get real limited in weight. For us it's great in the 1000-2000lb lifting weight range and not real good at all trying to move a 3000Lb pallet of wall block. At times we wish we had a bigger machine. Images show the forks being used on our Takeuchi TB153FR.

Just finished mine today





No pics of it in action yet. It was pouring rain all day today

Looking good! Where did you get your levers and hardware?

I think the left and right side blanks (with levers, etc) came from eBay. But I can't remember because it was so long ago that I ordered them! Been planning this project for a while.... Now we'll see how it holds up to the 85" bucket.

Still need to paint it

I'm a bit worried on the strength of yours as you're not using any huge side plates and materials from the excavator pins. A large skidsteer attachment can hold well over a ton especially when you include the attachment itself. Your steel material looks a bit thin to me too.