An apparatus for lifting and transporting material, said apparatus designed to be operably carried by an agricultural implement and comprising a lifting component comprising:
- a generally planar rectangular frame having an upper end and a lower end when said lifting component is being carried by said agricultural implement, said frame including two parallel side columns with respective column ends adjacent said upper and lower ends of said frame, said columns having apertures adjacent each end, said frame further comprising at least one cross member fixed to said side columns and extending generally perpendicularly therebetween, said cross member being between said column ends and carrying a hitch, a lower axle generally parallel to said cross member and rotatably received in the apertures adjacent the lower end of the frame, and an upper axle generally parallel to said cross member and rotatably received in the apertures adjacent the upper end of the frame, each said axle having two opposed ends and extending through said apertures whereby the ends are outside said side columns;
- an upper material contacting fork including two generally parallel upper tines, each said upper tine being fixedly secured to a respective one of said ends of said upper axle whereby each said upper tine lies in a plane outside and generally parallel to said side columns, and whereby, when said upper axle is rotated, said upper tines are movable in said planes from a storage and transport position to open and closed positions;
- a lower material contacting fork including two generally parallel lower tines, each lower tine being straight and shorter than said upper tines and each comprising a tine tip slidably received in a tine sleeve, said tine sleeves being fixedly secured to a respective one of said ends of said lower axle whereby each said lower tine lies in a plane outside and generally parallel to said side columns, and whereby, when said lower axle is rotated, said lower tines are movable in said planes from a storage and transport position to a deployed position generally perpendicular to said frame, said lower fork further including a stop means for controlling the movement of said lower fork, said stop means having a first end fixedly secured to one of said tine sleeves and a second end fixedly secured to the other of said tine sleeves and being generally parallel to said cross member;
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- a fluid driven actuating means for moving said upper and lower forks relative to said frame and to each other, said actuating means comprising a double acting cylinder and piston, said piston being retractably and extensibly received in said cylinder and having a free end operably coupled to said upper axle, said actuating means further including a connecting rod having a first end connected to said cylinder and a second end operably coupled to said lower axle whereby, when said piston is retracted, said connecting rod is pulled toward said upper axle thereby first moving said lower fork to said deployed position and whereby continued retraction of said piston secondly moves said upper fork toward said open position.