The other device to enhance safety looks like a metal pallet, with four upright posts. At the top of the each post is a chain, which loops through the strap on the bag. This holds it upright. The fork lifts this metal support, which has a square hole in the middle. With this handler holding bags over the bulk seed conveyor, Sanders doesn't have to lift bags nearly as high as before.
Sanders ponders the lifting capacity of tractors and forklifts.
That means the top of the bag is 13-14 feet up in the air.'' Lifting bags just by the straps worries Sanders, who says he's heard of straps ripping off bags. Too many guys go out on rough terrain,'' he says. After the mast on Sanders' forklift collapsed, he called the company from which he bought the used equipment. He found out the mast had a piece of steel missing. Sanders says most seed dealers buy used forklifts because new ones cost too much.