bent hydraulic lines...what now?

[ladracer]

i bent two of the four metal hydraulic lines on the front of my loader. those pesky limbs. lines do not leak at the moment but one is fairly mangeled.

anyhow have been told that OEM lines are costly and could be substituted with hoses for much less money.

what say you guys?

 

[kennyd]

Without knowing what machine you have, it's hard to give you great advice, but if it was me, I would want to fix it back the way it was. The hoses, unless fitted perfectly, will more prone to catching things than the steel lines.

 

[blueriver]

Same here, OEM but thats just me.

 

[gemini5362]

Those should just be stainless steel lines. I might try to find me someone that can run them for me and it might be cheaper than OEM.

 

[yankeerider]

OEM hard lines for my loader look to be about $115 each and there's four of them. They are not stainless- I think galvanized but only a thin plate because they are rusting.

 

[MrJimi]

I would go along with the other replies and fabricate some kind of cover for them and be very careful next time due to the cost of replacing them and just call it as a lesson well learned. Not what you want to hear but the truth
Think about this all of us.. we all learn the hard way
Jim

 

[Egon]

If you can find the steel line and some proper fittings you may just be able to cut out and replace the bent sections.

 

[jimmer2880]

Stop and ask your local (small) excavator. They will be able to tell you what local shop can make rigid hydraulic lines.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Steel lines are used for 2 reasons. First, is that for the factory, steel lines are cheaper than hose. Second is that hoses will expand and contract with pressure fluctuations, making your hydraulics feel "squishy" for lack of a better term. Stay away from stainless lines as stainless tube is very difficult to work with. Find a good hydraulic shop and they should be able to make your steel lines a little cheaper than factory, depending on what the factory charges. Are the lines crimped closed? If not, and if the hydraulics still have good speed and don't leak, just leave them on. If you try to bend them back to shape, they may rupture. You can bend them a little, but not much. You could replace them with hoses and probably never notice the difference. Your steel lines may also have male ends on them that may have to be brazed or welded on. They also may have tabs welded on them for a hold-down. For what it's worth, here's what I would do. Check the price from the dealer. Check the price for having steel lines made, check hose price. Compare them, and then make a decision.

 

[gemini5362]

I dont work with hoses so I am just asking questions. Why do you feel stainless steel lines are harder to work with. they bend them in all kinds of shapes on cars. I have replaced brake lines on cars with stainless and it did not seem to be that hard. the lines on my loader are basically just 90 degre bends. It would seem to me that a proper bender and flaring tool should make it work but I am sure you have worked with them so I am just curious why stainless is harder and where I am wrong.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

The stainless tube I work with (.049" wall thickness and seamless) is harder than the standard steel tube I work with. Both the same wall thickness. It is more difficult to bend and flare. I used to stock more stainless as the price difference is almost nothing, but it is definately harder to work with. Now this is just the stuff I had from my supplier, yours may be different. This is just my experience with the tube from my supplier. You may not be wrong. Believe it or not, brake line is of lower quality than the tube I get.

 

[john_bud]

There's stainless then there's stainless. Automotive grade is usually 400 series. Stainless tube is more commonly 300 series, IIRC. Stainless is harder to bend and MUCH harder to flare. OEM's use some fancy hydraulic tools that don't care what the material, they have power. Use shade tree guys are stuck with hand benders and hand flare tools.

Cheapest way to get the hard line is to buy a bender and some tube and do it your self. Then have a hose shop put on the brazed ends. Use standard steel tube (not brake line - too low of burst pressure). Then paint them up good.



jb

 

[dfkrug]

I have purchased and installed JD factory loader hardlines before.
My old JD955s had ridiculously vulnerable lines on the cross tube.

The interesting thing about the new lines was that each came as 2
sections with a compression fitting in the middle. That replaced one-piece
units for ease of installation, I am sure.

Yeah, absurdly expensive, and made of mild steel with what looks like a
nitride coating. I second jb and Wayne....have the new ones made or
make them yourself. I have yet to see any stainless lines on tractors.

BTW, I have noticed hardlines on my Kubota that have nearly worn thru at
support connections. They wiggled a bit, apparently.

 

[RickB]

The primary reason your replacement tubes came as a two piece deal is that FedEX/DHL/UPS would not be able to deliver them intact in one piece without huge, substantial packaging.

 

[PILOON]

I have bent a few lines.

What I do is take a length if angle (say 1" x 1" x 1/4), lay the line inside and using a sturdy 'C-clamp' and say a similar length of flat, I straighten the bent line by simply tightening the clamp.
Then I paint over the straightened areas with silver Tremclad paint to protect against corrosion.
Works for me.

Now I tend to work my loader hard and have never burst a hard line yet!
A hose or two, but never a hard line.

As someone mentioned, vibration can weaken the line due to friction and vibration, so what I have done is wrapped my lines with a rubber hose length (split to be able to slide over the line) and place under the rigid factory clamps.
This protects the hard lines from vibration wear.

Also every couple of years I Paint any rusty hard line and fittings with Aluminum Tremclad.
Looks better and prevents rusting and pitting!

 

[gemini5362]

The stainless tube I work with (.049" wall thickness and seamless) is harder than the standard steel tube I work with. Both the same wall thickness. It is more difficult to bend and flare. I used to stock more stainless as the price difference is almost nothing, but it is definately harder to work with. Now this is just the stuff I had from my supplier, yours may be different. This is just my experience with the tube from my supplier. You may not be wrong. Believe it or not, brake line is of lower quality than the tube I get.

It could be that you are working with thicker wall material. The brakelines I have replaced very well could have been inferior material. I do not work with this stuff that often and I was just curious why it is harder.

 

[dfkrug]

The primary reason your replacement tubes came as a two piece deal is that FedEX/DHL/UPS would not be able to deliver them intact in one piece without huge, substantial packaging.

Good point, tho mine were picked up at the dealer. With all the bends,
the factory pre-bent lines would be very hard to install if they did
not have a fitting in the middle. Hard to explain. It is very apparent
in the replacement process.

 

[RickB]

Good point, tho mine were picked up at the dealer.

How do you suppose they got there? A third party carrier was involved, probably several times before you saw them.

 

[Soundguy]

If they are crushed in, get some ball bearings that are just smaller than the line ID and put 5-6 of them in there, and then get a wood dowel rod and use it as a cue stick, and tap the lines out... ( this only works for lines that ae mor eor less straight.. ones with 90's you have to use a ball bearing size that won't get stuck at a bend if it is crushed there.. )

soundguy

i bent two of the four metal hydraulic lines on the front of my loader. those pesky limbs. lines do not leak at the moment but one is fairly mangeled.

anyhow have been told that OEM lines are costly and could be substituted with hoses for much less money.

what say you guys?

 

[dfkrug]

How do you suppose they got there? A third party carrier was involved, probably several times before you saw them.

Somehow the original hard lines made it to the factory, or were possibly
made there. There are a lot of hard-to-ship items out there. I lost
count of how may custom exhaust systems got shipped to me as examples.
The hard lines are different in that the manufacturer sells a different part
than they install on the tractor, from Day One.