Author Topic: Hydraulic hose (Read 2227 times)

chevytaHOE5674 · « **Reply #40 on:** August 23, 2021, 08:48:49 AM »

Yep hoses are just the name of the game on a processor (fabtek more so that others). Sometimes you will go a few months without wrecking a hose, sometimes you will kill 3 in a day. Just the way it goes.

Keep spares for all the common ones on hand so the downtime is minimal. Remember to get replacements made when you use your spares. Stock up on various adaptors so that you can splice 2 short hoses together, or put a 3/4" hose in place of a 1/2" to get you thru the day, etc.

mike_belben · « **Reply #41 on:** August 23, 2021, 10:13:31 AM »

me personally, i would weld a bracket for bulkhead fittings on any of these machines that have a stupid long hose thats always blowing at the same spot near the end. terminate them at a bulkhead or union bracket welded to the stick or boom and then put in a short flex joint.. junkgineer it so that all the commonly exploding flex hoses are one or two lengths, say 4 or 5 foot. then you only need to keep one or two spares that are multi-positional. i have no qualms at all about shortening a long hose with a hole at its end and unioning them back together.

it would also not both me a bit to be replacing straight hose segments with hardpipe or devising C-channel armor covers that bolt onto brackets welded to the stick. we have covers over track frames and thank god for that, why not stick plumbing?

i consider it rude of the manufacturers to worry about whats good for them more than whats good for the customer when they build a machine. theyre priced for a profit no matter if they build good or bad. why not build stuff that is good to maintain as a rule #1? the market will pay you back in generations of loyalty. be longsighted about this. i wouldnt know a fabtek if it bit me on the nose but i know if anyone asks me i will parrot what i read here.. dont buy a fabtek the hose layout will cost you. thats what it looks like when the market punishes the manufacturer for shortsightedness, making it good enough to sell today and leaving the owner to figure out a reconfiguration later to make up for their design shortcomings.

Al_Smith · « **Reply #42 on:** August 23, 2021, 01:19:35 PM »

I have a library of tech books,theory etc covering many subjects .The ones I have on hydraulics are Parker-Hannifin and Vickers to name a few .They cover the whys and where-fors on many design criteria .Plus we all obviously have the internet else this conversation would not be happening .Info is out there you just have to find it .

Plankton · « **Reply #43 on:** August 23, 2021, 07:36:16 PM »

This particular head might be worse then others I don't know. I do know that harvesters are just hose consumers. Nature of the beast out of the buncher and the forwarder and harvester our harvester is consistently blowing hoses.
Whereas buncher and forwarder are like 2 or 3 a year. That's on a logmax head. Lots of flexing they hang out there to get snagged and rip fittings off and you can over rotate easily etc.

barbender · « **Reply #44 on:** August 24, 2021, 01:02:32 AM »

All harvesters are tough on hoses. The Fabtek seems to be especially hose hungry, because all functions have seperate hoses running to the head from the base machine. Most harvesters have a pair of large hydraulic hoses that go to the head, and then solenoid valves from that divert the oil to functions.

Skeans1 · « **Reply #45 on:** August 24, 2021, 07:11:18 AM »

@barbender
You have to remember these heads were invented well before the valve banks were put out on the heads, even the old European dangle heads had a line running down for each function.

mike_belben · « **Reply #46 on:** August 24, 2021, 08:48:58 AM »

For the cost of replacing all the boom length hoses on a full hydrauluc processor head, i bet one can buy off the shelf DC solenoid banks and a pair of DC joysticks ..if theres room to weld a safe space on the back of the head's chassis.

Modulation control might be poor since theyll be on/off switch. Are the carriers using open center or compensating closed center systems to power the fabtek head?

Corley5 · « **Reply #47 on:** August 24, 2021, 09:27:19 AM »

Four Rollers are old school and the technology has come a long way. You can see the lineage in the new JP Skidmore 2 Rollers. And how they've attempted to get around the hose monster issue. There's still a bunch of Four Rollers out there putting wood on the ground and they are supported by JP Skidmore.
I got around the hose issue the best I could by making the areas they wear and break short with male JIC on both ends. Cheaper than female fittings

That included all the hoses from 1/2" 2-wire to the 3/4" four wire. Much easier and less time consuming to replace that short piece and cheaper

Having a hose machine I could make them myself from the existing hoses. Most hydraulic shops won't work on old hose due to liability. Having them all wrapped up in spirals and fabric sleeves etc. might have some merit. But you lose a bunch of time when replacing hoses that blow INSIDE all that protection. Getting a blown hose out of all that armor that is now soaked in oil and then getting the new one armored back up... Add in weather like 10 degrees and oil soaked gloves. Rainy with mosquitoes and black flies. Or 90 degrees with deer flies. Slapping bugs with oil covered hands isn't pleasant. And the added longevity of the hoses because of all that guarding to me wasn't worth it. It's all about production and changing an unguarded hose in 15 minutes and getting back to cutting vs. much longer for a guarded hose and the lost production. There's a reason so many Four Rollers have the hoses hanging free.

Corley5 · « **Reply #48 on:** August 24, 2021, 09:41:37 AM »

Short hoses take up less room in cab

barbender · « **Reply #49 on:** August 24, 2021, 11:04:48 AM »

Skeans, I realize that and I'm not making a dig at them. Just a statement of fact, more hoses= more problems😊

Firewoodjoe · « **Reply #50 on:** August 24, 2021, 05:17:09 PM »

Well I wait on a stupid electric fuel supply pump for the harvester. The last thing I want is more electronics. But not these old girls, out with the old old and in with the new old.

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