Blew a Hyrdaulic HARD Line!

[avc8130]

I took the L39 over to a buddy's house to help him run some leader drains and dig a dry well. I got done with 1 trench and started on the dry well. About 5' down and 6' x 4' and suddenly I was in a cloud of smoke with the smell of burnt hydraulic fluid!

I limped the machine back onto the trailer pouring hydraulic fluid all over and brought it back to the shop.

I pulled the right fender and found the problem instantly. The pressure line from the swing pump to the valve body failed right at a mount. It is rusty and must have chafed the paint off and started rusting.

I called the local Kubota shop, $95 for the line. The REAL unfortunate part is that it runs from just under the throttle pedal the pump to under the left side of the seat at the valve body. It looks like it is going to be a ROYAL pain to replace.

ac

 

[lhansman]

Sorry to hear about your trouble ac. How old is your L39?

Lauren

 

[Egon]

Can you use a hose for replacement?

 

[avc8130]

Sorry to hear about your trouble ac. How old is your L39?

Lauren

I think it is about 6 years old, 655 hours. The line runs through a clamp and then elbows. Right where it comes out of the clamp is all rusty and where it blew through. I think the clamp wore the paint off and left a spot vulnerable.

ac

 

[avc8130]

Can you use a hose for replacement?

I'm not sure how reliably. The pump side has a 3 bolt o-ring flange on it. The valve body side is a simple flare.

ac

 

[avc8130]

The big question is: Is $100 worth having a brand new line to put in, or do I ask around to try to find someone to repair it? It looks like just about everything has to come off from the steering column back to the backhoe to change this line.

ac

 

[OrangeBeast]

I guess the questions you need to ask yourself is "Do I have the tools, time and know how?" If so why not do it yourself.

 

[Egon]

Another option may be to reroute the line.

 

[wwinter]

NAPA does a great job with new hoses with higher ratings.

 

[Cpjlube]

Anyone who is willing to partially disassemble a tractor can certainly make the hard line. If its a hole in the line brazing may be an option. Or find an accessible area and splice the line. A flaring tool and fittings and you could make it a two piece line. If the end line fittings are still good, just reuse them on a new piece of line.
It's only 600 hours so I understand wanting to keep the tractor in tip top shape. Just can't see buying a hard line from a dealer unless the flares are hard to reproduce or the line is odd sized.

Chuck

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

If you can get to the hole and you have torches I would braze it. I have brazed a lot of hard lines without any problems.
Bill

 

[avc8130]

I've never brazed before, and I think to be able to clean it up and get proper access to work I'd have to pretty much remove the line. It's in one of those spots where it took 10 mins to "see it", but probably another 2 hours to "touch it".

My thought right now is that if this STEEL line failed in this spot now, if I repair it how long will it last until it fails in the next spot? If the line was easy to get to on the loader or something I think I would be more willing to repair it.

I don't think I want my first brazing experience to be THIS line.

In NJ it seems to be tougher to find these local shops that do these types of repairs/fabrication. $100 is CHEAP for anything around here. Labor rates are usually close to that per hour. I will definitely try to pull the line and call around Monday to see if I can find a place to make a line cheaper.

ac

 

[Kubota 2007]

Braze Rust? Fix it right the first time, then your done with it. A patch is a patch.I just replaced four steel lines on a Case buldozer, they rusted from sitting in dirt,looked to be a real job,belly pans dropped,dirty greasy,all done laying on my back outside.Paid $140.00 per line X 4, it's done. I have no regrets, FIXED RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!!

 

[Tags]

If you put on a new line, put a piece of rubber hose over the section that has the clamp and then install the clamp, that way it will stop the chaffing.

 

[avc8130]

If you put on a new line, put a piece of rubber hose over the section that has the clamp and then install the clamp, that way it will stop the chaffing.

Fully plan on doing just that. It looks like the Kubota clamp had some rubber on it, but I plan to add more!

ac

 

[SDT]

Hydraulic lines nearly always fail at supports because the clamps are allowed to loosen causing vibration induced wear. It would be a good idea to check/tighten all other such clamps.

Replace the line. DO NOT even think about brazing it.

SDT