The design of my 3PH fork frame started with the forks themselves - I needed to know the rough dimensions of the "ears" that keep the forks attached to the frame. I wanted to keep at least the top horizontal rail as thick as possible - in this case 3/8" works just about perfect.
The main horizontal rails (3/8" angle iron) were found *as is* - no cutting required (other than the notches I cut into the top rail). I only had to measure the *inside* dimension of the fork *ears* - and then cut the two, outside vertical members (3" x 4" x 1/4" tube) so that the distance from the top edge of the top rail to the bottom edge of the bottom rail would fit between the forks' ears. The forks can be easily slid along the rails - and the *detents* snap into the notches I cut.
The center, vertical "C-channel" was cut to maintain the vertical separation (@ 18") of the top-link connection to the two bottom links.
I needed to modify the design to accommodate the different mounting system of the hydraulic cylinder in place of the rigid top-link rod.
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