Another PSA - HST Hose clamp issue

[cphilip]

Put this in wrong place. Mods feel free to move to owning operating....


This one was my first actual problem and it was for a little bit dangerous because of when it occurred. Its avoidable too. I waited to post this until I had a complete outcome of the issue.

I do not know what models this may affect. Probably all CK Hydrostats.

Wednesday I was doing a little bit of bush hogging and was running a bit low on fuel as I finished. I decided to run down to the local fuel station which is about 1/4 mile away and fuel up before I put the tractor away. This requires me to travel about 150 yards on a smaller highway. I do that in high range with all flashers going etc. When I cranked back up after fueling, apparently (I now know in hind sigh) a hydrostatic line blew off under me and unbeknownst to me a catastrophic leak began. I made it about 100 yards when suddenly the tractor stopped moving forward. I was stranded out on that highway about 50 yards from my turn off to my house and perhaps 250 yards from home. Traffic racing by. Im stuck. A guy slows and tells me Im trailing fluids. I am trying to dial and think what to do. realize I am in danger out there and low and behold a local DNR officer backs up to me and starts pulling out a tow strap. A god send for sure. He's a neighbor and he gets me off the highway and tows me to my property. I call the dealer and he plans to come to me the next morning. I don't want to run it because it will keep pumping fluids and I cannot load it on my trailer as it won't move on its own accord (give me thoughts to maybe put a winch on the trailer now). I cannot really tell then where the leak was coming from at this point but I quickly locate it the next morning before he gets there.

What happened was that apparently at the factory they failed to properly place the clamp on the hose. It is a traditional hose clamp. But it was clamped tightly onto the shoulder of the fitting rather than clamping the hose itself. You can see in my picture that the hose itself has never been "squished" and deformed by being clamped. And you can clearly see the clamp sitting on the Black hex shoulder of the hose fitting rather than it should have either come off with the hose or fallen off had it simply been poorly tightened. So someone failed to line up the clamp onto the hose and clamped it to the fitting. A ticking time bomb. Lasted 53.5 hours before it blew off. No leaks at all prior. Just happened exactly right there at start up.

So I waited until the dealer arrived in order to document the problem. And we collected pictures and such to report back to Kioti that the issue happened and to guard against anything in the future.

We refilled the axle and everything worked as new. It took about 4.5 gallons to return it to full. And I used it a half hour to be sure everything was golden.

But please crawl under there and check that clamp and any others you see. Not for just tightness but for placement.

I had to go back up to the gas station and put down 2 bags of oil dry and sweep that around and then bag that up. It wasn't hard for me as I keep that stuff around because I do spill clean ups anyway. I felt bad for making a mess and wasn't going to leave him with that mess.

Hose is located directly above the large filter that sits near the step on the left side of the tractor. Get on down on the ground and look up. Two hoses run through there up tight against the platform. The hose clamp nearest the axle was the one you see in the picture. The picture is exactly as I found it. You can clearly see what they did wrong.

Coincidentally the DNR agent tells me the similar thing happened to him on his Kubota but it happened a few miles back into a logging trail. It blew a hydraulic line when it was newish. He had to walk out and go get a gator and go back in there and tow it out to the nearest road he could get a trailer into. So it happens.

 

[UpstateSC_Papi]

Wow. Hate that happened to you but glad you had the right people show up at the right time! I prefer the manual to the HST but I will definitely look over any other clamps more closely than I probably did when I first got it!

I'll tell Randy you said hey!

 

[cphilip]

Having had manual shuttle last I much prefer the HST for the kind of stuff I am doing around my place. But... even my old Ford would refuse to lift or do much other than move forward when its fluids got low.

Yep... even a blind chicken pecks a kernel of corn every once in a while.

By the way, he and Paul are all about this thing. Apparently they never seen one before until they saw mine and really like it a lot. But they keep forgetting the name of it. Tractor Caddy - Ask Tractor Mike

 

[UpstateSC_Papi]

Can't get the link to work here at work but googled some pics. I might have to buy one of those next!

 

[Grateful11]

I zoomed in on it and it looks like the hose was once under the clamp but because the clamp was tightened up on the hex of the fitting there very little if any clamp pressure put on the hose itself. Looks like someone goofed up at the factory.

It can happen to any brand and not just hoses. My wife still remembers her Dad coming in from working some fields a couple miles down the road and his almost new CaseIH Maxxum 5140 just stopped dead in the road, it would run but it wouldn't move at all. She had to tow him back, tractor and 15' disc, with the IH 686 to get him out of the road and back to the equipment shed. The dealer found a loose relay or solenoid inside the dash, said she not exactly sure which one it was but that all it was. It's been pretty bulletproof once they fixed a couple electrical problems, knock on wood.

 

[cphilip]

I zoomed in on it and it looks like the hose was once under the clamp but because the clamp was tightened up on the hex of the fitting there very little if any clamp pressure put on the hose itself. Looks like someone goofed up at the factory.

Yep. There is no evidence that the clamp ever really bit into the hose. It was just barely slid underneath the end of it. Was a ticking time bomb. They are going to send the pictures on up to Kioti so they can tighten the QC on that one. Someone will likely be inspecting those... including the dealers I imagine. I know Im going to spend some time today poking around looking for clamps and making sure they look proper.

But your right. It happens to them all. Hopefully not while in the middle of a highway! What were the odds? And how that hose held on there for 53 hours of operation is a mystery. That hose probably gets a big surge of pressure each time you start up.

 

[s219]

I have seen other failures like this across all sorts of equipment and appliances. I have used hundreds of hose clamps myself with no known failures, but it seems like they are problematic on an assembly line. Maybe the workers just don't pay attention to what they are doing. I mean, a hose clamp is a pretty low tech simple item and you'd think it would be hard to mess up. But it has a flaw -- it actually needs to be tightened down onto the hose, in the proper position over the fitting, to work!! If you can't get those two simple details right, it's just a decoration.

 

[countrybumpkin]

A better hose clamp would help also, I use these made for higher pressures such as automotive fuel injections. May check at Napa or O reillys or such and see if they have one in the size you need.

 

[Grateful11]

All the better hose clamps in the world won't help if they didn't put in on in the right place. They clamped the hex in this situation and not the hose. Someone was probably just distracted when putting it on or, and I hope not, didn't care.

BTW: That's a good looking clamp countrybumpkin!

 

[countrybumpkin]

Ah yes your correct, I read through a bit fast and missed that the clamp was actually tightened down on n the wrench shoulders.