B21 Boom hoses leaking. Replacement

[davedj1]

The leaky hoses could have let water in no?
If both hoses are off the cylinder you should be able to slide it in and out without too much trouble.

 

[joea99]

The leaky hoses could have let water in no?
If both hoses are off the cylinder you should be able to slide it in and out without too much trouble.

Not much could have gotten in. The only hole I could find was a pinhole and I had to flex the hose to see a tiny wet spot show up in a bubbled area.

Anyway, as more leaked out of the hoses as I raised and lowered the boom, manually, the oil was more dark than cloudy. I may try to look at the hookups and put one end of the "return" into a bucket and extend the ram so as to empty that end of the cylinder. Then cinch it back up and do the same with the other side. That should pretty much clear out any old oil.

Just got to be very careful, go slow, or make a mess and invite damage.

 

[tjkubota93]

What I was getting at, and I think davedj1 too is: if nothing foreign was introduced, its fine. Unless you needed to change the fluid before. But you said it was just changed.
It's very hard to push contamination into that part of the system. You'd just about have to removecvthe cylinder in a pond.

But you need to do what gives you peace of mind.

 

[joea99]

What I was getting at, and I think davedj1 too is: if nothing foreign was introduced, its fine. Unless you needed to change the fluid before. But you said it was just changed.
It's very hard to push contamination into that part of the system. You'd just about have to removecvthe cylinder in a pond.

But you need to do what gives you peace of mind.

Thanks. This is my first "real" machine so do not want to rely only on my own thinking.

I'm probably going to replace two additional "external" hoses going to the bucket and let it go at that. As I was finishing up the "original six" I noticed some age cracking on the last two. Might as well just do them now.

 

[joea99]

I ended up replacing the two external hoses, wire wrapped, as well as the pipe on the outside of the boom. That was due to the hose end refusing to come loose. I did remove the entire pipe/hose assembly and got it loose "on the bench" but the threads must have been buggered somehow as it would not thread onto the new hose. Rather than trash the new part, just ordered the pipe. It had been bent at some point anyway.

No leaks, digs well and no injury to speak of. Purging the lines was astonishingly easy. Took no time at all. Thanks for all the hints.

 

[davedj1]

Congratulations!
I have not even tested mine, I haven't had any need and have been working my tail off.

 

[standup616]

This spring, I completely disassembled my entire 1999 model bt900 hoe on my L35, had a shop put new seals in the rams and make all new hoses after I went to dealer to see if they had a “hose package” that had them all, they didnt. I bought some cheap colored zip ties to put on the block, hoses and ram fittings, also used a metalic silver and black sharpie to denote colors, took pictures and made a sketch in event the zip ties broke and ink wore off. Many people gave me grief over fixing what wasnt broken yet but 18/19 years into the machine, and one (of 6) hoses inside the boom springing a leak, it was a matter of time before everything went so the near 40 hours labor I spent using jacks, harbor freight movers dollys, engine hoist will save me much time in future. Now Ive replaced every hose on the machine at least once, some twice and every cylinder rebuilt, except the leaky outriggers, some even new rods made. Its cost of ownership and not being a pampered princess.