What are you doing to your hoe?

[NH575E]

Some of the hard line anchor straps were missing on my machine when I got it. A couple of lines were gouged up from unsecured movement. The rivet nuts to hold the straps were missing and the only place I found them was a China dealer on eBay. The holes in the boom are 11mm hex shape and the rivet nuts are 8mm with a 11mm hex base. It took several weeks to get them from China. At least they are easy to set without a tool. The hex base holds them so all it takes is an 8mm bolt and flat washer to secure them.

One of the crowd cylinder lines cracked on the outside. The line is listed at $550 and showing backorder. I Mig welded the crack and it sealed good enough for cylinder travel but as soon as I applied digging pressure it leaked again. The damage was less obvious after I cleaned it up so put a layer of brass over the whole section with a flux coated brazing rod. After brazing it didn’t leak and stayed dry even after digging and tugging on a stump some. I think the leak is fixed for now. BUT the rivet nut for the strap holding the line near the pivot popped out. I don’t think I put enough tightness on it when I set it so I have to replace that again tomorrow. I may loosen them all and tighten all the replaced rivet nuts in the boom a little batter if that one will tighten all the way down without breaking..

Every time I removed the line strap anchor bolts another one of the factory rivet nuts would break off and fall in the boom. I would have to chisel the top crimped part out and set a new one. If you have a New Holland you probably want to source some of these to have handy. I don’t know how common they would be with any other brand?

Edit: Found some of these on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Bronze-Carbon-Hexagonal-Nutserts/dp/B01MS63NZ7/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2ROKGQA8KMYJA&keywords=8mm+hex+rivet+nut&qid=1656384423&sprefix=8mm+hex+rivet+nut,aps,260&sr=8-3

 

[Welder Dave]

O/A welding usually works for repairing hyd. lines because it basically stress relieves the line being it turns red hot. Brazing works too but you have to put it on about 3 times thicker to handle the pressure. Mig or stick welding can crack in the heat affected zone beside the weld. Heating just under red hot after welding and wrapping it up so it can slow cool would probably help prevent it from cracking. A good hyd. shop could make you a new steel line for far less than a factory line.

 

[NH575E]

O/A welding usually works for repairing hyd. lines because it basically stress relieves the line being it turns red hot. Brazing works too but you have to put it on about 3 times thicker to handle the pressure. Mig or stick welding can crack in the heat affected zone beside the weld. Heating just under red hot after welding and wrapping it up so it can slow cool would probably help prevent it from cracking. A good hyd. shop could make you a new steel line for far less than a factory line.

Yeah I got away with mig welding one of my stabilizer lines but the crack on it was right at the face seal flange. That's been holding 4 or 5 years. Even though I removed and flushed out this line there is no way to get all the oil contamination out so I figured brazing the surface would be easier than O/A welding and trying to penetrate the metal. I put a fairly thick layer of brass on and let it cool nice and slow.

I called all the local hydraulic shops and none were building hard lines.

If it breaks again the next step will be ordering a piece of tube, face seal flanges, and a bender to try and duplicate a new one. I could buy all that for about half the cost of the unobtainable line and have the bender left over.

Or I could replace it with a hose but that would make for less flow because it would need to be half the inside diameter to fit in the confined area at the base of the boom. May not be a bad thing to slow down the flow.

 

[colson04]

I have two, reputable hydraulic shops very close to where I live (father owns one, son owns the other). Both shops can make almost any hose you can imagine, but the son's shop doesn't do hard line, and the fathers shop only does hardline up to 3/8", so hardly any of that. I asked why not, given both companies have made serious investments in tooling for their shops, no real answer. I replaced the two hard lines that rotted out with hoses. Cost of ordering, and waiting on dealer, wasn't worth it on an old machine.

 

[Swetz]

I think (just a guess) that the reason that no one wants to get involved with hard piping is the fact that the tubing comes in 20 foot lengths, and is therefore hard to handle. The company I work for has the tools to make the lines, and can get the tubing from one of our hydraulic suppliers, and does make them occasionally, but it is an investment that is not used everyday. There is no substitute for hard piping tho.

They do make high pressure compression fittings for hydraulic tubing, too.

 

[NH575E]

I think (just a guess) that the reason that no one wants to get involved with hard piping is the fact that the tubing comes in 20 foot lengths, and is therefore hard to handle. The company I work for has the tools to make the lines, and can get the tubing from one of our hydraulic suppliers, and does make them occasionally, but it is an investment that is not used everyday. There is no substitute for hard piping tho.

They do make high pressure compression fittings for hydraulic tubing, too.

McMaster Carr sells 3' and 6' lengths. The line I am working on measures right at 6' with the 7 bends it has.

I found the braze on ORFS flanges at one of the discount hydraulic places online.
https://www.hydraulicsdirect.com/ORFS-Braze-Sleeve-p/fs319.htm?1=1&CartID=1

Bending can be an art form and may take some practice screw ups.

Mechanical benders rated for the diameter and wall thickness can be had for $150 - $170 on Amazon. This one is rated for up to 1" and .080" wall. The tube on the machine is 20mm OD so it could be made from 3/4" and it measures a little under .080" wall.
https://www.amazon.com/Mophorn-Bender-10-25mm-Manual-Tubing/dp/B074GN49KF/ref=sr_1_10?crid=1QQVSGUZ01PJV&keywords=tube+bender&qid=1656430066&sprefix=tube+ben,aps,633&sr=8-10

Right now my brazing fix is working. I went out and dug up a stump and separated two big piles of brush into smaller piles to grapple and no leaks.

 

[Welder Dave]

I'd be more inclined to look at tubing benders for heavier wall thickness. These type are heavier duty. 20mm is 7/8" so you should use the proper size dies. Reading a review of the bender you linked, someone said it was very difficult to bend 1" tube. 7/8" isn't much smaller.

Geared Ratchet Tube Benders | RIDGID Tools

PEPortable Hydraulic Tubing Benders TB-22 range 18 to 78 inch iGeelee

 

[NH575E]

Finally rewired my friggin radio.

The radio in my hoe would just cut off. I traced wires and cleaned connections until I was blue in the face but the problem persisted. I could just wiggle the gang plug it's wires were in at the fuse box and it would come right back but I had to start over on the MP3 sequence that was playing. Sometimes it would go a month or so and other times it would disconnect 3 times a day. Yesterday was the latter and the last straw. I'm thinking it has a cold solder joint in the panel the fuses are on. The fuses are mounted on a circuit board with diodes, resistors, and relays.

I didn't want to go that deep into it so I finally decided to run new wires.

The fuse panel has 3 posts at the bottom marked 15V, 30V, and GRD. This was always a bit confusing but the service manual made more sense of it. It was supposed to be labeled 15A, 30A, and GRD. Testing I discovered the 15A post was switched and the 30A was constant. I ran two reds and a black up the pillar and over and down the other side to the radio. I installed inline fuse holders at the fuse box and connected the wires with proper fitting eyelets. I taped the new wires together and labeled them "RADIO" for future memory. At the radio end I labeled them +, ign, and grd.

Hopefully this is the end of that issue.

While working on it I also found a couple of fuses getting hot and melting but not blown. Both were circuits I don't need or weren't working so I just pulled the fuses. This wreaks of issues I found many years ago when working on Fiats. Damn Italian electricals are worse the the British.

 

[colson04]

My 310A is scheduled to get an LED light package upgrade, when I get my Bobcat out of the shop. Only 2 lights on the tractor work and very poorly at that. I found some aftermarket 4" LED flood lights that should make a marked improvement in lighting performance. I don't regularly dig after dark, but I do plow snow quite often in the dark. I'm debating on fixing the heater while I'm at it. It usually only takes 30 minutes or so to plow so I don't think it'll make enough of a difference to be worth adding.

Or, I could just put a plow on my pickup and not worry about the backhoe, but where is the fun in that?!

 

[Welder Dave]

The LED lights I put on are 1000 times better than the halogen I had on my skid steer. Whiter light and turn night into day.

 

[NH575E]

It was grease day. I can't imagine anyone hating this task more than I do. Sure glad I bought a cordless grease gun. I need to order a new case of grease. Loaded my last new tube when I put the gun up.

 

[aighead]

I'd dang near fight you for being the top greasing hater, but I saw your big, tough guy hands on the first post of this thread and I determined I'd lose. You got lock-n-lube?

I have a few zerks that really don't want to take grease that I need to fix. I haven't been too worried about them because they are on the stabilizers, but I should probably pull them off and replace them after I dig out whatever is stopping flow inside.

If I were smart I'd do one little thing, like that, every day or two and my machine would be even more a champ.

There are other things I'm just neglecting, and I know I shouldn't but I haven't done them.. Injectors probably need rebuilt, they contribute to blue smokin' don't they?

 

[Welder Dave]

I need to look into a cordless grease gun. Forget the track loader and backhoe, get a grader if you have a love for grease fittings.

 

[Swetz]

It was grease day.

I am going to have one of these real soon too. Gotta grease everything...both machines and my grass cutting tractor.

I dont mind the greasing so much as getting the grease all over myself...LOL

I am not sure why I cannot grease the machine without getting it on me too, but I cant. That is what I hate!

 

[NH575E]

Welder Dave,
When I was shopping for grease I saw the Dewalt gun on sale for $170 on Amazon. That's about as cheap as I've seen it.

Aighead,
You didn't see any tough guy hands on me. I do have a loc-n-lube. We have a love hate relationship. It was mostly hate out of the box but after I installed the rebuild kit supplied with it it's about neutral. It is a pain to get in some spots and it doesn't always seal. Overall I like it better than not having it but it's not as good as it could be in my opinion.

I usually use Amalie Pro Tac+ with 5% Moly. Can't find it anywhere near what I paid the last time.

Anybody ever try Republic Oil brand?

 

[Swetz]

Anybody ever try Republic Oil brand?

LOL, I was just looking on Amazon today and found the 5 gallon pail for cheap. Never herd of them, but was thinking about going for it. I have been using Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. 02212-040 Moly Ultra EP Grease, NLGI #2, 40 lb. but it is almost $400 and the Republic Oil Extreme Duty 5% Moly Heavy Duty Grease 35lb is $130. Big difference!

 

[NH575E]

I was impressed that they said they were putting protective caps on the pull tab end. I was concerned they showed the other ends all open on the tubes.

 

[aighead]

I have the Milwaukee grease gun and I'm happy with it but it was a sight more than 170 bucks.

I've had similar experience with Lock-n-lube but I like it much more than I don't, enough that I bought it a second time after I lost the rebuild kit or the actual coupler. Now, I store all that stuff in the grease gun case.

I'm also using Schaeffer, but I didn't realize it'd gone up that much $, I thought the last time I got a case for like $230 or so and that felt expensive.

 

[Swetz]

I was impressed that they said they were putting protective caps on the pull tab end. I was concerned they showed the other ends all open on the tubes

I read the reviews. Many complained that the tubes were crushed on arrival. The company responded to many that they were now using thicker packing and the caps you spoke about.

I was looking at a 5 gallon pail. It looks to be steel. I doubt that would get destroyed.

 

[NH575E]

I have the Milwaukee grease gun and I'm happy with it but it was a sight more than 170 bucks.

I've had similar experience with Lock-n-lube but I like it much more than I don't, enough that I bought it a second time after I lost the rebuild kit or the actual coupler. Now, I store all that stuff in the grease gun case.

I'm also using Schaeffer, but I didn't realize it'd gone up that much $, I thought the last time I got a case for like $230 or so and that felt expensive.

I didn't look closely at the DeWalt deal. It may have been tool only. $170 is about what I paid for mine but I got Tractor Supply to price match a ad then apply a coupon on top to get it that low. My grease gun is one of the few tools I keep in the case it came with.

The Amalie grease I've been using was staying around 5 bucks a tube and works way better than the Valvoline 3% stuff I was using. The Valvoline is also rated for wheel bearings so I have to keep a separate manual gun to squirt the hubs on my trailer. I switched to the Walmart brand marine grease for that.