Telehandler headstock

[Farmer Bob]

I’m considering changing forklift in the near future and was wondering what people would consider to be the strongest headstock.
Im currently on pin and cone but had a problem last year where the headstock broke at the welds using a 5m grain pusher. This is on a 540 70 jcb. Brother used the pusher on his forklift (also pin and cone)and same thing happened, (though his was repairable.)
Neighbour has same grain pusher on jcb headstock and has had no bother with it. I wouldn’t consider myself or my brother rough with machinery either.
Can anyone shed any light on which kind might be stronger?

 

[quattro]

Jcb takes some beating for strength in my opinion

 

[Horn&corn]

Manitou gets our vote by miles but if running jcb then might as well go with Q fit jcb.

 

[Sharpy]

Bad batch of headstocks perhaps?

 

[Horn&corn]

Matbro headstock was designed to 70hp and 2t lift max. His jcb will be 150hp lifting 4t+. Matbro cones are too far apart and the force is all in the wrong place

 

[aidan]

Jcb takes some beating for strength in my opinion

Volvo or Euro hitch as its know, 60mm hook, 50mm pin i think the dimensions, makes jcb look like a childs toy in terms of strength

 

[cousinjack]

Jcb q fit gets my vote ….. although if using pallet forks a lot, get a set that fits on the qfit rather than the standard…

it’s a big/ wide headstock that offers a lot of support for the implements

 

[snipe]

Manitou. The hooks on the head stock are really handy when hanging straps or chains on. Plus can pick up and shunt trailers around with them

 

[cousinjack]

Manitou. The hooks on the head stock are really handy when hanging straps or chains on. Plus can pick up and shunt trailers around with them

I’d agree to a point, but counter argue that the Jcb centre hook is ideal for chains and lifting, and that I’ve seen many a bent manitou hook and trailer ring from moving trailers with them 🫣

it is handy though

In my view…

manitou is too narrow
Pin and cone is hugely overrated and too short,
CAT is again too narrow,
Merlo …. Too short and don’t like the single latching pin
New Holland and Kramer are not common enough, but ok I guess ??

I may be a bit biased towards JCB 🫨

 

[quattro]

Volvo or Euro hitch as its know, 60mm hook, 50mm pin i think the dimensions, makes jcb look like a childs toy in terms of strength

Our Jcb is a 6ton and never been a problem
he’s wanting one for a telescopic not a loading shovel

 

[ACEngineering]

hands down the best hitch has to be the volvo/cat euro hitch, not common to telehandlers but there are a few about with it.

 

[ACEngineering]

Our Jcb is a 6ton and never been a problem
he’s wanting one for a telescopic not a loading shovel

no reason they cant be a on a telehandler, got 3 x 541-70 near me on the euro hitch, a 4cx and 2 x old 3cx, its a nice strong headstock and a good shape/size.

 

[milkloss]

I’m considering changing forklift in the near future and was wondering what people would consider to be the strongest headstock.
Im currently on pin and cone but had a problem last year where the headstock broke at the welds using a 5m grain pusher. This is on a 540 70 jcb. Brother used the pusher on his forklift (also pin and cone)and same thing happened, (though his was repairable.)
Neighbour has same grain pusher on jcb headstock and has had no bother with it. I wouldn’t consider myself or my brother rough with machinery either.
Can anyone shed any light on which kind might be stronger?

Hard work to change to a different fitting. Have you considered a headstock from a different manufacturer such as cherry? Worth a conversation with them I should think.

 

[ollie989898]

I’d agree to a point, but counter argue that the Jcb centre hook is ideal for chains and lifting, and that I’ve seen many a bent manitou hook and trailer ring from moving trailers with them 🫣

it is handy though

In my view…

manitou is too narrow
Pin and cone is hugely overrated and too short,
CAT is again too narrow,
Merlo …. Too short and don’t like the single latching pin
New Holland and Kramer are not common enough, but ok I guess ??

I may be a bit biased towards JCB 🫨

Merlo can be had with 1 or 3 pin attachments if you request it.

 

[Planttech]

I’m considering changing forklift in the near future and was wondering what people would consider to be the strongest headstock.
Im currently on pin and cone but had a problem last year where the headstock broke at the welds using a 5m grain pusher. This is on a 540 70 jcb. Brother used the pusher on his forklift (also pin and cone)and same thing happened, (though his was repairable.)
Neighbour has same grain pusher on jcb headstock and has had no bother with it. I wouldn’t consider myself or my brother rough with machinery either.
Can anyone shed any light on which kind might be stronger?

That size grain pusher will twist any headstock. I have a customer in a grain store and merlo won’t supply him a machine to use on his pusher now As it’s too much for the machine

 

[Blue.]

Volvo or Euro hitch as its know, 60mm hook, 50mm pin i think the dimensions, makes jcb look like a childs toy in terms of strength

Fairly sure it’s 40mm lower pins,doesn’t make much difference because all the weight should be on the stops not the lower pins.

I’ve a q-fit adapter on a L70 Volvo here it’ll take anything you throw at it.

Matbro headstock main fault is operator error of not dropping the cones out of the ring fully and bending the rings,seen loads bent and broken over the years,you can’t do that with q-fit-euro hitch.

 

[ProDrive]

You’ll soon fall out with JCB Q-Fit headstock once you’ve pushed the pallet forks round the yard a couple of times!!!

 

[Blue.]

You’ll soon fall out with JCB Q-Fit headstock once you’ve pushed the pallet forks round the yard a couple of times!!!

My mrs can hook them up,there’s drivers and screwdrivers.

 

[Farmer Bob]

Thanks for your replies everyone.
I do think pin and cone is too short compared with some others to cope with the strain, though I do see that using a big pusher is a big ask for a 4-4.5 t machine. Some manufacturers certainly beef them up more than original design.
If I stick with JCB I would probably just go with their q fit. Looking at Kramer too, though if I change headstock there’s about 5 other attachments to change.

 

[ollie989898]

You’ll soon fall out with JCB Q-Fit headstock once you’ve pushed the pallet forks round the yard a couple of times!!!

I loathe JCB pallet forks for that exact reason.