Hi peeps. I got a set of Hilo forks. Was wondering if anyone knows what material they are normally made out of? What there good for? And if anyone would like a chunk.  

By Hilo do you mean a forklift? If so may I commend to your attention: http://www.marco-borromei.com/fork.html

The alloys used are chosen by the manufacturer for the use they are intended for and can change over time.  I have some that are 5160, old 1070 ones and even 4340.

So were these heavy load capacity forks? Light load?  How big and thick are they?  Are they recent or 60+ years old (Like the ones in that link).

Now if you mean table forks from the city of Hilo; that is different.

(And if you think I'm being fussy, google hilo and google forklift and see which one gets the item you want to find out about.  I just ran that test and found that some of the new forks are fairly low in carbon but contain Boron for toughness and abrasion resistance.)

I have seen powerhammer dies made from large forklift tines.

Hilo ... the first night after the new moon ... Hi-Lo forklift ... 

Hello = Moin

Sorry. Yes they are forklift forks. Don’t know too much about them yet. If I was told correctly they have been under a rack for 20 years or more. I haven’t looked too closely at them yet. Plan on bringing them home on Monday. I’ll do some checking and see what I find out and pass it along. Is there anything I should look for to help id them? 

You can check for manufacturer markings but even then Manufacturers are often loath to tell folks what their products are made from; especially in these days of copy-cat or even "forged" items...

I would do the spark test and perhaps cut off the thin tip and do the heat quench and---wearing PPE----break test.

They make for good anvils allegedly. Never tried myself.

As for testing the steel, I would say it has been tested by the forklift and if they did not bend, they must be good enough for improvised anvil. 

I was told that they make good blades. Axes and such. 

Some might, some won't. You have to TEST!  The older probably the better; but 20 years is not old...)

(You ever notice that all forklifts are not made by the same company? You ever notice that the forklift tine replacement market offers different grades of tines? Why would someone assume tines were all made from the same thing?  Shoot nowadays you even have pickups made from Al for some brands and others steel...)

They're probably worth more to someone wishing to use them as forks, ... than as unidentified scrap.

 

This whole notion of destroying useful things, ... just because you can, ... strikes me as short sighted.

 

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 Some jurisdictions have limits on that maximum number of hours that forklift tines can be used before they must be replaced, so that metal fatigue doesn’t lead to breakage and accidents. Also, sometimes tines sustained damage that end their usefulness for their original purpose; this is why a good relationship with an equipment rental place can help you pick up damaged pieces for low to no cost.

And may require that they be made unusable for the original purpose.  When we got a lot of welding tanks that had failed hydrotest; they required us to cut them in two pieces before they left the test facility yard---they even donated the gas to do so!

My big tine, 180# iirc, was still on the ancient forklift that the company had just driven off the bluff onto their trash pile...

If you know of any one looking for a set of forks send them my way. 

More likely to get a bit from one of the 3 ABANA affiliates in Michigan as the fork lift tines can be rather a pain to ship.

The forklift manufacturers that got back with me said that they use 4140 and 4340 steels on their standard lifts and the really big ones used another alloy.