bent hydraulic lines...what now?

[ladracer]

i bent two of the four metal hydraulic lines on the front of my loader. those pesky limbs. lines do not leak at the moment but one is fairly mangeled.

anyhow have been told that OEM lines are costly and could be substituted with hoses for much less money.

what say you guys?

 

[kennyd]

Without knowing what machine you have, it's hard to give you great advice, but if it was me, I would want to fix it back the way it was. The hoses, unless fitted perfectly, will more prone to catching things than the steel lines.

 

[blueriver]

Same here, OEM but thats just me.

 

[gemini5362]

Those should just be stainless steel lines. I might try to find me someone that can run them for me and it might be cheaper than OEM.

 

[yankeerider]

OEM hard lines for my loader look to be about $115 each and there's four of them. They are not stainless- I think galvanized but only a thin plate because they are rusting.

 

[MrJimi]

I would go along with the other replies and fabricate some kind of cover for them and be very careful next time due to the cost of replacing them and just call it as a lesson well learned. Not what you want to hear but the truth
Think about this all of us.. we all learn the hard way
Jim

 

[Egon]

If you can find the steel line and some proper fittings you may just be able to cut out and replace the bent sections.

 

[jimmer2880]

Stop and ask your local (small) excavator. They will be able to tell you what local shop can make rigid hydraulic lines.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Steel lines are used for 2 reasons. First, is that for the factory, steel lines are cheaper than hose. Second is that hoses will expand and contract with pressure fluctuations, making your hydraulics feel "squishy" for lack of a better term. Stay away from stainless lines as stainless tube is very difficult to work with. Find a good hydraulic shop and they should be able to make your steel lines a little cheaper than factory, depending on what the factory charges. Are the lines crimped closed? If not, and if the hydraulics still have good speed and don't leak, just leave them on. If you try to bend them back to shape, they may rupture. You can bend them a little, but not much. You could replace them with hoses and probably never notice the difference. Your steel lines may also have male ends on them that may have to be brazed or welded on. They also may have tabs welded on them for a hold-down. For what it's worth, here's what I would do. Check the price from the dealer. Check the price for having steel lines made, check hose price. Compare them, and then make a decision.

 

[gemini5362]

I dont work with hoses so I am just asking questions. Why do you feel stainless steel lines are harder to work with. they bend them in all kinds of shapes on cars. I have replaced brake lines on cars with stainless and it did not seem to be that hard. the lines on my loader are basically just 90 degre bends. It would seem to me that a proper bender and flaring tool should make it work but I am sure you have worked with them so I am just curious why stainless is harder and where I am wrong.