7320 crossover fuel line torn out

[Sierraau]

I was hooking up my backhoe to my 7320 by lifting up the backhoe frame with the hydraulics and I then backed the tractor up so the "C" connector under the tractor would support the backhoe frame, but apparently my frame was too high near the middle of the tractor and as I was backing up, the backhoe frame tore out the fuel crossover hose underneath the tractor. I didn't know it until the engine of my tractor just died. The fuel gauge was at empty, I tried cranking it a few times and nothing happened, so I turned it off, climbed down and saw diesel fuel draining out of both my tanks onto the ground (it happened about 20 feet from my household water well). I'm going to replace the crossover hose and re-hose clamp it to the tank outlets, but I was wondering what I will need to do to restart the tractor since I am pretty sure the fuel lines at a minimum have air in them and possibly are empty. Is there a special proceedure to get the fuel back into the injectors? Once I get it running, I will need to clean up the soil near my well to make sure it didn't go too far down and contaminate my water supply. Big Fun. I wish I knew that could be a problem, or I wouldn't have parked the backhoe next to the well. Word to the wise, be careful to not do as I did.

 

[Sierraau]

Ok, a friend of mine who is familiar with diesels, helped me replace the hose clamps on either end of the cross-over, and we screwed in the plastic cover back on (even though both the bolt holes were ripped out) with oversized washers. After I got everything together with the cover bolted back on, I - once again tried to put the backhoe on again, and I - AGAIN- Ripped out that plastic piece; so in the short term, I may have to use some plumbers tape to run between the bolt holes to make the cover a bit more resistant. I called the local dealership to get a replacement plastic piece, and they quoted me $195. I about fell over. $195 is ridiculous for that little plastic piece. Is anyone interested in fabricateing something that covers that hose with steel, as I am sure I am not the onlyh person who will have problems with this. I find it ridiculous that something as important as fuel lines are located at the lowest section of the tractor and "protected" by a wimpy little piece of plastic. If anyone drives that tractor into brush, one stick could rip that cover off and drain all your diesel in a moment.

 

[Sierraau]

Ok, a friend of mine who is familiar with diesels, helped me replace the hose clamps on either end of the cross-over, and we screwed in the plastic cover back on (even though both the bolt holes were ripped out) with oversized washers. After I got everything together with the cover bolted back on, I - once again tried to put the backhoe on again, and I - AGAIN- Ripped out that plastic piece; so in the short term, I may have to use some plumbers tape to run between the bolt holes to make the cover a bit more resistant. I called the local dealership to get a replacement plastic piece, and they quoted me $195. I about fell over. $195 is ridiculous for that little plastic piece. Is anyone interested in fabricateing something that covers that hose with steel, as I am sure I am not the onlyh person who will have problems with this. I find it ridiculous that something as important as fuel lines are located at the lowest section of the tractor and "protected" by a wimpy little piece of plastic. If anyone drives that tractor into brush, one stick could rip that cover off and drain all your diesel in a moment.

My first attempt at modifying it will be making a 3/16" steel strap to cover the plastic flap that bolts on the front go through, and hopefully that will prevent it from getting ripped off again.

 

[ArchonOSX]

Kioti doesn't seem to do a very good job guarding the fuel lines under the tractor. I recently posted about damaging the fuel tank on my NX5010 while brush hogging. Kioti should have better skid plate protection underneath. Good luck hacking your tractor to improve the design.

 

[Sierraau]

Has anyone come up with a steel cross-over guard that I could bolt on? If I have to, I'll farm it out to someone locally, but if someone has already resolved the problem, I'll buy it. I ripped it out again, but this time I only tore out and destroyed the guard, but didn't injure the actual hose.

 

[thclimer]

Oh my, that's not good.

Do you happen to have any pictures of what is happening?

 

[Sierraau]

There is a little plastic shield protecting a 2" fuel line that connects both fuel tanks on the underside of the tractor. I've got a backhoe for that tractor, and I have to be really careful attaching the backhoe, or it tears off that little shield and I have diesel all over the ground.

 

[thclimer]

I have a subframe mounted backhoe for my TC33D. It too has the "C" channel near the rear of the tractor which matches up with a plate on the sub frame.

Connecting the backhoe takes time to align everything, sometimes I can do it in 5-min others its a little longer.

With the subframe flat on the ground I drive over it getting the plate on the subframe within a few inches of its mating "C" channel on the tractor, then hook up the hydraulics to raise the subframe, then back up so that the "C" channel and the plate are mated. I've found that using a large pry bar to nudge the subframe can help with aligning but I guess there is just a lot more clearance under my TC33D than your Kioti.

I hope you are able to find someone to fabricate the guard for you.