expensive lesson

[rconkin]

so I blew a hydraulic hose on my 450b, the one nearly impossible to get to. The one up by the cab firewall that is tucked away. Ended up calling Stripling equipment. their guy almost had a stroke, but he got it out. Had nearly every tool on his service truck on my driveway. I think a crows foot and a hammer drill finally did it. no one near me seems to have any knowledge of these old crawlers. anyway, I had him replace both hoses on that side just for safety. Curious what the old techs did to remove these, is there one of those JD bent-up special wrenches? I am not much of a mechanic, but the guy making $150 an hour did not do a whole lot better.

[Jim B]

The old "techs" generally did about what he did. Go through your possessions to see what fit then bend, cut, weld something(s) you have to get the job done. Sometimes there might be a special wrench but generally not. And you find a way to get in there, sometimes painful, hopefully with minor bloodletting; at least that has been my experience in the last 50 plus years doing mechanical work. I have a number of "made to fit" tools in my boxes.

The guy may be making good money, but I doubt he gets the $150 an hour.