Stubborn Quick Connect after winter??

[4000su]

Can't get my grapple aux hose quick connection to engage. It's a straight connection so no way to bang on it to fully engage. The tractor side ball is free but I'm thinking maybe the grapple cylinder hose end ball is frozen or too much pressure on that end? Tried hitting the male ball with wooden handle to see if it might be frozen. Still no luck. It was really hard to get the other hose to connect as well but I was able finally do it using a wrench up against fitting and hit with a hammer. Can't quite do the same method on this side. Any other ideas to free it up?

 

[tmrosen]

Loosen the hose fitting connecting that coupler and tighten again. This should relieve any pressure in the system.

 

[J_J]

You need to remove some fluid ever how you do it.

Most people just press the male QD against a hard surface or use a brass rod or wooden dowel and use a rag over the fitting and tap with a hammer.

As a last resort, loosen the QD on the attachment side and release some fluid.

You could make up a dummy QD with a short piece of PVC and a rag stuffed inside the PVC to plug into the attachment QD when you remove it from the tractor, and your trouble will go away.

 

[4000su]

thanks, I loosened the cylinder end to drain some fluid and then whacked the ball and that did the trick. Went easily together. Will do this every spring before hooking up the grapple to save time and a bunch of cussing!.