Smalljobs
Gold Member
My self imported HW04 frame mounted hoe is finally debugged and has given me good service, especially with the BRO-TEK thumb. Last year I used the BH a lot, including building a wall with the thumb.
The one complaint I have is the control valve assembly and I don't know if the problem is me or the valve. The extensive stone work involved a lot of bucket curling/uncurling which entailed plenty of lateral joystick movement with my right arm. In late summer an old tendonitis problem resurfaced with that arm and, after physical therapy and all that, the problem persists. This summer and fall, I plan a lot more BH work and am thinking of replacing the entire valve assembly.
I have the ability and knowhow to change over all the hose connections to mate with JIC on a Prince (or other brand name valve assembly) but have some questions about this project:
1) Has anyone had any experience with making the valve assembly change?
2) Can anyone recommend an assembly other than Prince?
3) Are the assemblies such as Prince likely to require less effort on the joysticks than the Chinese valves?
4) What other benefits might I see with improved valves?
If I do go forward with this, I will be selling the Chinese valve assembly complete with a boxful of extra spare parts for the joystick linkages.
The one complaint I have is the control valve assembly and I don't know if the problem is me or the valve. The extensive stone work involved a lot of bucket curling/uncurling which entailed plenty of lateral joystick movement with my right arm. In late summer an old tendonitis problem resurfaced with that arm and, after physical therapy and all that, the problem persists. This summer and fall, I plan a lot more BH work and am thinking of replacing the entire valve assembly.
I have the ability and knowhow to change over all the hose connections to mate with JIC on a Prince (or other brand name valve assembly) but have some questions about this project:
1) Has anyone had any experience with making the valve assembly change?
2) Can anyone recommend an assembly other than Prince?
3) Are the assemblies such as Prince likely to require less effort on the joysticks than the Chinese valves?
4) What other benefits might I see with improved valves?
If I do go forward with this, I will be selling the Chinese valve assembly complete with a boxful of extra spare parts for the joystick linkages.