The Hydraulic Nightmare Has Begun

[Recovry4x4]

Well, the nightmare is underway. Wednesday went out to lift the boom of the wrecker and the hose that provides oil to the valve bank burst. After my oil shower I found the problem and tried to remove the hose. No wrenches bigger than 1 1/4" so the day was done. On the way to work stopped by Harbor Frieght and got the cheapest set of big wrenches known to man. Thursday I set out to remove the hose. As luck would have it there are 4 hose in a bunch going to the swivel valve and I can't budge a one. Had to leave early for the Dr so the neighbor tried his best with a hamer and chisel to remove the thing. He encountered negative results. I returned home with 9" Sawzall blades and chopped the hose and crimp fitting off the end of the line and knocked it right out with an impact and 1 3/8 socket. Took the line to work and had the hose place make up another one for me. 3' line 1" with crimp fittings, $80. Friday morning after taking the son to school I install the hose, wash off al the oil from the truck and give it a try. Crane works fine in all directions. Saturday I went outside and was picking up my ATV to change the oil. Got it lifted up and was looking around. Just happened to glance under the truck and was greeted by a large puddle of oil. Thank goodness its in the gravel driveway where weeds can be a problem. Move the truck to a dry spot, crawl underneath and find a return hose burst. No valves to shut off the oil so I scrambled containers together and drained all the oil from the tank and removed the hose. Of course no one around here had hydrailic hose so the truck sits until tomorrrow at work. I have a sneaking suspicion that each one of these old hoses is going to go one at a time for the next few months until they are all replaced. Hey Devilman, did you say you could crimp up to 1"? Got a vendor to buy hose and fittings from? I need a hydraulic catalog!

 

[rizzo]

I had to replace one hose so far on two wreckers. alot of the hoses look like they have been replaced on both trucks so I only have 2-3 that are likely to break.
I had to pay 80 -100 for my hose too.

welcome to the club.

I bet the crane owners club and the broken hydro hose club has the same members in it.

 

[WillWagner]

See if this is of any help

http://hydraulics.eaton.com/synflex/

 

[Recovry4x4]

Thanks, working on it. Does anyone know if anyone makes and type of protective jacket for hydraulic hoses. Would love to find a way to protet these from UV damage. Guess I can't really complain, betting the mos of these hoses are 53 yrs old.

 

[rizzo]

they make a plastic wrap, for wear. it covers most of the hose.

I think they also make a bacl cloth type of cover. not sure what it is meant for. but I have seen it.

I don't know where to get any of this stuff

I'm super helpful. huh?

 

[Recovry4x4]

Sure are, at least I can shop for it instead of making it.

 

[WillWagner]

The local municipality that we are re-powering transit busses for, requested a "cover" to be put on all hyd. hoses. It shunts the oil down and out of the engine compartment, so it doesn't come in contact with hot things like turbos, catalysts, etc...ever seen a burnt up bus?...I'll snap a pic tomorrow and see where we are getting the stuff...but it's bright blue!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Thanks

 

[Jones]

Kenny, If you have a HIAB like Bjorn be prepared to hunt for metric fittings. We have two big hydraulic shops here in town and drew a blank at each. There are hose wraps both in coiled plastic and spring wire. Can get you details tomorrow if that'll help.

 

[houdel]

I bought some bulk hose and reusable fittings several years ago to replace some broken lines on an old Case tractor. The hose barb that goes inside the hose is threaded on the outside, and the ferrule that goes over the hose is threaded on the inside. You simply cut a piece of hose to the length you want, slide the ferrule down over the hose, clamp the hose in a vice and screw the barb into the hose until it seats on the shoulder. The barb expands the hose slightly so when you slide the ferrule up to the fitting the hose OD is now slightly larger than the ID of the ferrule. Then you screw the ferrule up over the hose until it bottoms out. Repeat on the other end and you hose is done. As I recall it was a little cheaper than buying custom made hoses and the fittings can be reused. As best as I can recall, the place I bought it from was named "Northern Hydraulics" or something like that. May even be a part of Northern Tool & Equipment. Try googling for reusable hydraulic fittings.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Luckily for me, all the stuff is SAE. Mostly 1" so thats not going to be a problem. I'm pretty sure that Devilamn can crimp the 1" stuff so I'm shopping for bulk hose and fittings. I've found a cheap source for some 1" NPT crim fittings and thats the ones I need most. If I buy 50' of hose I can get it down to around $4 a foot. If Dman does the crimping, I might be able to do most of the truck for around $350. We'll see

 

[rmgill]

Don't forget Surplus Center for hydraulic fittings.

 

[jasonjc]

recovry4x4 try www.waytekwire.com they have some stuff called Dura-flex to cover your hoses with. I worked for a company a few years ago with pole trucks and bucket trucks and they neve fix a line untill it belew OSAH would love to have a talk with these pepole.I was up in a bucket 30' over a road when a line belew there I was getting sprayed with hot oil and no place to go. Boy am I glade I don't work for them any more. Had a line on a pole truck blow and set the truck on fire it brunt to the ground in minite so becarefull. and keep a BIG fire ext handy

 

[devilman96]

I can do 1" but it has to be weatherhead... send me a digital of the fitting and a length on the hose... I know I need to order a few feet of 1" anyways!!!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Mike, can you get me a price on a 50' roll. Seems much cheaper by the roll.

 

[WillWagner]

Kenny, I checked on the covering. It is no longer in production. A "special" run was made for Orange County Transit Authority...squeaky wheel gets the oil! I believe it was a DynaFlex, Stratoflex, Synflex or Parker product. I'll keep checking.

 

[73m819]

cat has a cloth hose cover made from kevlar, i guess most equip. dealers have this, ive seen this stuff get draged for ever and show almost no were, at times the spring hose guards will were a hole in the hose

 

[mangus580]

Hmmm Parker? Maybe I should put the word out

 

[Mathias]

http://www.parker.com/hpd/literature/catalog/Parker_Section D - Accessories_7.pdf

page 18 of the PDF shows Parker's offerings for hose coverings, nothing for UV protection though...

 

[mangus580]

Alas, a coworker who actually knows the Parker stuff