Blew the left side power steering hose on my Branson 4520

[bradheiter]

I reread my post and I want to add A) I'm sorry this is so long B) I really like my tractor. C) The service has been great till this. D) I was supposed to dig the trench for the electric service and do several loader/backhoe jobs at the same site this weekend but lost those jobs. E) I'm a bit frustrated with this experience.

I blew the left side power steering hose at only 132 hours of use, on my 2003 Branson 4520. When I bought the tractor this forum had warned me of the danger and I contacted Branson to make sure my tractor had the improved hoses. They assured me it did, IT ACTUALLY DID NOT. They were very nice about sending me a set at no charge, even though my tractor is out of the 2 year base warranty. It did take a few talks with the warranty department and the service department and my closest dealer, all very nice people to deal with (I bought the tractor from another dealer, farther away, but he is no longer a dealer, my current closest dealer didn't have Branson when I bought mine) In trying to follow Branson's request that I go through my closest dealer, nothing constructive happened on Thursday. In the past, when I went through the dealer I bought from, he just had Branson drop ship me what I needed and we sorted out the bill later. Minimum down time. NOT this time, even though I offered to pay shipping or for everything and sort out later if Branson would/could cover a known issue on an out of warranty tractor...nothing shipped Thursday. When they did ship on Friday it went out overnight BUT NO Saturday delivery. I was very clear that I would pay for shipping or everything I just wanted the parts tommorrow SATURDAY. I obviously don't use my tractor/loader/backhoe very much (140 hours spread out over 2 years 8 months) but when it broke I was on a paying job to put in a 6 foot deep 120 foot long trench for a water line. So I could finish the job before the plumber arrived, I had to pick the front end off the ground with the loader and push the front wheels to the right every time I needed to turn right. Slows progress down a 'bit'. Nothing like having the home owner and the plumber watching me do this and telling my why I should have bought a JD product. sigh One of the most frustrating things is, I was warned by this forum and I checked with Branson so I would NOT have this problem. Sorry for the rant.
Brad

 

[snoboy]

Man that blows. What would those plumbers have said if you had been on a broke JD? Shoulda bought a NH? Sounds like you dealt with it pretty well.

 

[Egon]

If in dire need hydraulic hoses can be made up at shops equiped for this. The costs are not that bad. Hoses are not specific to name brands. Just make sure you get the right fittings on the end.

And oh - John Deere and Case backhoes do break hydraulic lines too.

I have a spare hydraulic hose for my little Kubota B7100 loader as One has failed in the past. The spare is long enough to replace any hose on the loader.

Egon

 

[bradheiter]

If in dire need hydraulic hoses can be made up at shops equiped for this. The costs are not that bad. Hoses are not specific to name brands. Just make sure you get the right fittings on the end.
Egon

I tried to have the hose made local but no one had the correct fittings. The shops local stock SAE and JIC fittings and they think these are JIS but can't be sure since they don't stock that series.

To get my tractor back up and turning I cut the hose ends off the broken hose and hose clamped a piece of hydraulic hose to the old ends. I don't like patch jobs but it'll have to do till Monday.

I suggest anyone with a 4520 take a good look at the steering hoses, specificaly the one that goes to the left side. The hose that failed comes from the steering valve is then routed behind and under the hydraulic pump, goes under the frame and then attaches to the left side of the front axle. As best I can tell it failed because it is too short and as the axle pivoted is was pulled from too tight to WAY too tight. Does anyone have a better routing on their tractor? I added an inche to the hose I made and now that I have it installed I should have added one more. Also, it took three strokes of a hacksaw to cut the failed hose, it took 15 strokes plus to cut a piece off of the hydraulic hose I bought at Fleet Farm.

Good idea, I'll look at the loader and backhoe hoses and see if I can get a 'one size fits everwhere' back-up hose.
Brad

 

[chasp]

Brad,

Sorry to hear about your blown hose. I had a steering hose break on my 3510 and was not impressed with the quality of the factory hose. I made the decision to not install a factory replacement hose and had one fabricated at a place called Hyspeco (www.hyspeco.com). They were very helpful and had all of the proper fittings that I needed. I kind of lucked out because one of their stores is within two miles of my office in Wichita, KS. I wish I could provide you with a parts list. (I cannot find my receipts to get the part numbers for the fittings.) Hyspeco set me up with a 5000psi hose as well and I believe my total cost was under 25.00. The cost would have been less but I did not like the way the hoses were installed at the base of the steering column (too hard to remove any of the inner hose fittings with out removing an outer hose first) so I added a couple of fittings to make future maintenance easier. My tractor did have to set out in the hayfield for a couple of days.

Charlie

 

[bradheiter]

My tractor is back steering again. The hoses cost 149.50. By using an adaptor from the steering valves BSP with oring seal to a more standard male JIC you can use a female swivel JIC with a 45* bend this 'cleans up' the hose routing by the steering valve and lets you replace any one hose without having to remove the outer hoses. If I had it to do over I would make the left and right steering hoses one piece instead of the two piece way Branson did it. That would save about $20.00 in fittings but if you some how damaged (not sure how that would happen) the short hose by the front axle you'd have to replace the hose all the way back to the steering valve.
Brad

 

[mediocrates67]

i did a search on a similar problem and found your post. i have a century 3045 (Branson 4520) and blew my hose from the bottom of the steering column that goes to the pump. i can't for the life of me get the fitting out of the steering column. do you remember which direction is on and off? i can't tell if it is reverse threaded. also it is one of the middle ones, so i'm assuming i'll have to take the outer one off first?
thanks!

 

[Zork]

i did a search on a similar problem and found your post. i have a century 3045 (Branson 4520) and blew my hose from the bottom of the steering column that goes to the pump. i can't for the life of me get the fitting out of the steering column. do you remember which direction is on and off? i can't tell if it is reverse threaded. also it is one of the middle ones, so i'm assuming i'll have to take the outer one off first?
thanks!

Hopefully, your tractor hasn't been sitting in the field since June 2013. Did you get yours fixed?

I like the idea of a two piece run, that way if you damage the lower hose you do not have to remove it at the column.

 

[Yalerider]

I get hoses made at my local Napa

 

[tacdeftx]

I have the Century 3045 and just blew one of my steering hoses. I have a major problem..I hired a guy to do the work for me and he was going to replace all four hoses at one time. He took it all apart this past Monday morning. He died that afternoon after he went home. I haven't seen my tractor since he started the work. I live out of town. I will see it today... I am trying to figure out how to get it back together. I know the 4 hoses are in line with each other at the steering column but I have no idea on where each one goes. I am guessing there are 2 high pressure hoses and 2 return lines. Any suggestions?