Blew a Boom lift hose, easiest way to replace

[DrLoch]

As the subject implies, I blew a boom cylinder lifting hose today. Bucket was most of the way up when it happened so some of you know the mess it makes.... that area certainly won't rust now as well as the back side to the bucket . Added fluid and rolled the bucket to get the teeth straight down and get the boom up so I can put some angle iron braces between the end of the cylinder and to rod eye end to keep the bucket off the ground so I can get from my property across the street to my garage and tools.

Whats the best way to get at the lines? I believe I have to pull the rear pins and get the cylinder out of the pocket to access the line connections. I'm going to change all the hoses on the lift and bucket now since none are in the best of shape. Any kind of weird/special wrenches needed?

Thanks

[shinnery]

Since this is posted under late model, I am going to guess it is some kind of hoe on your 450C?
Bryce

[DrLoch]

Sorry, it a 450C loader with a 4 in 1 bucket. Lift cylinders are what lift the bucket, bucket cylinders rotate the bucket.

[DrLoch]

Found the thread Labparamour (Darryl) replaced his lines. From his response and comments from 77 Ford I have to pull the cylinders forward to access the hoses... sounds like fun.

This is the thread. http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... ight=hoses

[Labparamour]

Saw your post. I only replaced the rubber lines for the bucket cylinders. That required moving the boom cylinder- I pulled the cylinder pins front and rear and slid the cylinder forward out of the frame...enough length in the rubber lines that I could leave them attached to the cylinder. There is a joint in the hardlines under the floorboard (between hyd tank/batt box and loader frame) and another joint at the inside bottom of the loader frame (behind the boom lift cylinders). I made a tubing wrench by using my angle grinder to cut out the end of a box wrench to allow it to slip over the tubing. I used it on the connections under the floorboard along with a regular open-end wrench. My homemade tubing wrench is thinner than a standard one so flexes/slips if you put a lot of stress on it. It did allow me to get a bite on the fittings however, as there isn't much room between the multiple lines running through the small space. I was able to use open end wrenches inside the loader frame- it's a slow go. I looked at my lift cylinders and it looks like you could reach them with an open end wrench. Not sure if they make a crowsfoot wrench that big (or how spendy it would be) to let you get at the fittings: it looks like the rubber line comes out of the hardlines at the top of the loader frame at an angle you can get at without too much difficulty. I broke the hardlines for the bucket cylinder so I could push the assembly out the top of the loader frame to get at the joint between hard and rubber lines. Keep us posted. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Darryl

[DrLoch]

I did remove the floorboards and found the hard line joints last night. I Figured I would need to break all those joints to try and snake some of the lines out if possible. Pressure washed all the fitting joints to clean everything up. I'm going try and get the boom cylinder to move forward with the front pin installed, should be able to do that by collapsing/retracting the cylinder.... hopefully. I have the bucket rolled all the way forward resting on the teeth. Boom is up about 36 inches or so, hopefully I can collapse/retract the boom cylinders to get the back end out of the pocket, worse case I open the clamshell to raise the boom further.

Let ya know of my progress and/or pitfalls.

[DrLoch]

Darryl, where the line the same length from side to side?

[Labparamour]

You've already discovers the joys of hydraulic fluid! So have I. Amassing how much drains out of one hose!!
That's why I opted to pull the front pin on the cylinder, too. I was able to run a small chain through the rod eye and over the loader arm to support it.
Best of luck.

[DrLoch]

You've already discovers the joys of hydraulic fluid! .

Thats what I do for a living..... Know all about it.

We are now developing hydraulic systems that use water as the fluid. Environmentally it's going to be the up and coming thing.

Thanks

[Labparamour]

The hoses where the same length-left and right.

[chirpy]

I replaced one last summer. Not a lot of fun. Ended up lifting the bucket up as far as it would go with another loader and using angle iron on the other cylinder to hold it up. Removed the boom cylinder entirely to get enough room to access the lower connection. The lower connection isn't too bad once the cylinder's out, but the upper one is really tight. I found a set of jumbo crowfoot wrenches on ebay and that's what I used, but a bent open end should work also. Unfortunately I don't remember the sizes of the wrenches needed, but as I recall the replacement hose (custom made) had different sizes than the originals anyway. Was gonna replace both hoses, but after doing one, I decided to wait until the other one goes. Make sure to keep good supplies of patience and beer close by...

[DrLoch]

Thanks. Going to be working on it this weekend. I already have the lines broken under the fender/floor on one side. I have the bucket turned teeth down right now. If I need more room I'll open the clamshell to raise it higher. Intent is to retract boom cylinder enough to get the rear out of the pocket.

I'm going to replace all of them so I won't have to go through this again while I have it.

Let you know how all this works.

[original possum]

I'm just curious why you couldn't plug the busted line under the fender/floor and raise the loader. Then block it up, relieve the pressure, and go to work. Wouldn't it be the same as lifting a weight on one end of the bucket?

[DrLoch]

I'm just curious why you couldn't plug the busted line under the fender/floor and raise the loader. Then block it up, relieve the pressure, and go to work. Wouldn't it be the same as lifting a weight on one end of the bucket?

That could be done.. and to be honest with you the thought never crossed my mind. Keeping the boom down lower makes it easier to get the bucket cylinder lines which I will be replacing. The bucket has always drifted forward, more so when I would open the clam shell, so while I'm replacing the line I'll be repacking those cylinders.

BTW, my idea of moving the cylinder forward wasn't as good as removing the cylinder completely. It's completely out of the way now. Getting the pins out on the left side wasn't an issue, hopefully it's the same on the other side.

I have so say getting at the lines is.... challenging to say the least... but I'm committed to changing them all so I wouldn't have to do this again. Need to go get some crows feet. For anyone contemplating this, you willl need them. The sizes needed appear to be 1-1/4, 1-1/8, and either 1-5/16 or 1-3/8, I'll confirm once I have them in hand. One of the hardest things so far is splitting the hard line tubing connections especially in the cylinder pocket area, I have one that is being a real PITA.

Improvise, adapt and overcome.

[Paul Buhler]

Need to go get some crows feet. For anyone contemplating this, you will need them.

I bought this set a long time ago, and every time I need them, I'm glad I have 'em. Good luck with your project. Paul

http://www.sears.com/grip-90150-grip-ju ... ockType=G7