Hydraulic quick couplers

[CasCar]

Has anyone bypassed the couplers and hooked it direct, just wondering if you can gain anymore flow to the head, on a s300 bobcat running a magnum mulcher.

 

[fishfactor]

Never have, but I want to. I'm sure you would pick up flow, but more importantly you won't be replacing those expensive couplers all the time. Its on my list, but not the top. If things ever slow down I may get to it.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

I don't think you will pick up enough flow to justify taking away the versatility of being able to swap attachments. I ran mulchers on two s300's and got 37gpm on the flow meter.
I couldn't see much more coming through with the couplers bypassed. Without couplers, it would be difficult to hook up a flow meter to test unless you owned one and could modify it's input and output lines.

 

[KennyG]

With a well designed coupler (which I assume they are), you don't lose much flow capacity. Although the coupler may have a small passage, it isn't very long. The flow loss is related to the velocity squared and the length. If the flow area is reduced to 1/2 the hose size for one inch of flow length in the coupler, the loss could be as small as adding 4 inches of length to the hose. It may not be intuitive, but you will gain a lot more by increasing the diameter of the hoses than eliminating the coupling, unless you are already pump flow limited.