Hydrolic Hose

[jboettcher]

Gentilmen
I'm going to post this in various sites so if you see it again thats why.
I ruptured a short hyd. hose on my John Deere 555A crawler loader. A more difficult place to get too would have beed impossible.

Question:
I purchased new hose. Its 1 1/4" and very difficult to get a wrench on. I cut down a 1 & quarter open end and got it on. I've got it as tight as I can get it from the only place I can get to it. Its the end with the tapered fitting not the o ring end. I'm worried it won't be tight enough, how tight does it need to be?

Myassitis from Missouri

 

[digger242j]

The crows foot wrench didn't work?

 

[jboettcher]

Reply to Digger

Hey Digger

I looked in my area for a 1 and quarter inch. crows foot. No body handels them that big but they could order me a set for $150.00 plus.

Myassitis from Missouri

 

[digger242j]

Way back when I got my first machine, a Case 580, the first time I had to change a hose, I had to buy one (1 1/4"). The Case dealer stocked them at the parts counter. (Because they know that's the only thing that'll turn some of their hoses, so they can sell them.) You might give the dealer parts departments in your area a try.

In answer to you question, I've always tried to turn them till they're pretty tight. Get them too tight and they're a pain to get back off the next time. I don't recall ever stripping any threads though, although I guess you could, if you were to get really athletic with it. The good news is that if one starts to work loose, it'll drip pretty good before it comes apart. If you need to use the machine, I'd go ahead, but keep a close eye on it, until you find a crows foot and get it good and tight.

 

[jboettcher]

Hyd. Hose

Thanks Digger

I never thought to ask the dealer. I'm going to go home tonite and give it one last turn and then button up. If she drips bad enought to cause me heart burn I'll find a crows foot somewhere.

Myasitis

 

[Wulf]

In the past to get out of trouble or take a shortcut I've purchased a cheap wrench, cut the end of it and welded it to a piece of bar exactly where it needs to be to get a good purchase on the fitting... may be worth considering.

 

[jboettcher]

Hyd. Hose

Wuff & Digger
Got er done! Cut off a open end 1 1/4" and worked good. The whole job was a big pain. I replaced every hose in that area. All were original and I didn't want to go through that again. Now I have to buy some of that golden oil to fill it back up and get the air out. My brother has about an acre of small thron trees to remove and that's where I'm heading. Thanks for all the help men.

Myassitis from Missouri

 

[Xcopterdoc]

I hate to admit that I bought cheap wreches from Harbor Freight but...
I bought 3 sets, 1 set was open at both ends with like a normal 15 deg at one and and 45 at the other.. 20 bucks. Then I bought 2 sets that were combo wrenches, box on one end, open on the other. I sat down with a hacksaw, a torch and a welder and came up with 3 sets of wacky wrenches that are priceless for hyd work in close quarters. All for like 60 bucks. If they wont work, I cut, bend and weld up one that will, on the jobsite. With the box ends I made wrenches for those pesky starter bolts and injector pump bolts.

 

[Bob Horrell]

Xcopterdoc, I did the same as you. Harbor Freight doesn't have the best quality tools, but for the price you can doctor up the cheap ones to do those special jobs at a real cost savings. If I was using them every day then I would want something better, but they work good for the few times I need them.
I bought their 1" air gun when on sale for $99 and some 1" drive sockets cheap. I don't use them very often but it has enough torque to do any job I have had to do and the price was right. Works great for rotating my dump truck tires.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I've got to come to Harbor Freight's defense. I've had a set of wrenches from them for 15 years. I've broken one side off a half inch open end, but that's it. I've got a 3/4 inch drive socket set I use a lot and broke the 15/16" after about ten years. I had a 7' bar on it at the time. The ratchet blew up a few years ago and I bought another Chinese one for $10. The socket set cost me $40 total.

I've always used Craftsman tools and have had failures with them too. Harbor Freight has a lifetime warranty on their stuff now too. This past weekend I was in a Harbor Freight store for the first time and spent $200 for a trunk load of tools. Not all their stuff is good, but the hand tools seem to work well for me.

 

[Dirt Dogg]

Loosing 20 sets of Harbor Freight tools working out in the dirt is still cheaper than one set of Snap-on

 

[Wulf]

From someone that has several thousands of $$$ worth of Snap-on and Proto stuff, I don't think the cheaper alternatives are so bad especially for ocassional use. Any wrench/socket hand tools by definition are almost impossible to break if used as designed

 

[woberlin]

Harbor freight hand tools have certainly come a long way in the last ten years. I am really impressed with their impact sockets, and for the price, how can you lose?

 

[digger242j]

Any wrench/socket hand tools by definition are almost impossible to break if used as designed

And who wants to limit themselves to that?

 

[Bob Horrell]

Exactly, digger, I have misused many tools with great success.