Hose protectors

[RNeumann]

I'd like to hear from folks who use hose protectors. What type? I'm assuming you use them anywhere a hose touches anything other than air- or am I paranoid?

 

[Captain Dirty]

I have a snowblower with hydraulic chute rotation and hydraulic deflector. As the motor that rotates the chute is fixed on the frame, the motor's unprotected hydraulic hoses just sit there . Admittedly there is probably some vibration and some slight change when the snowblower is lifted that I have decided to tolerate. The piston that actuates the deflector, however, is rotated with the chute, and the piston's hoses are moved quite a bit. My first concern was that the hoses might get caught between the frame and the toothed flange of the chute and damaged. Installing some sort of wand and spring device to support and route the hoses seemed like too much trouble. I fabricated a "railing" to prevent the hoses from drooping into dangerous areas. I then wrapped the hoses with hard plastic spiral covers to guard against chafing on the rail. So far, three winters, no problems.
The protectors were described by i.d., and your hoses have an o.d. larger than their nominal size; measure. I bought the protectors on the net after finding considerable variation in price. Look at similar spiral wraps for electrical or computer cables. I went cheap; part of the savings was probably the supplier sending only an e-mail invoice that I can no longer find and using plain cardboard boxes, so I cannot provide a source name.
Captain Dirty

 

[Gary Fowler]

My backhoe has them covering all hoses completely.

 

[California]

Double wall hydraulic hose is incredibly tough. Its near indestructible if you can route it to avoid crushing, kinking and especially to avoid any twisting (a motion as if you were screwing the fitting into something) which is about the only thing that will overstress it. I still have some original 35 year old hoses on my loader where the outer rubber layer has rotted off, they still work fine.

I tend to destroy hoses getting snarled rasseling a downed apple tree etc so I haven't replaced the old ones, assuming I would likely destroy them from abuse before they ever leaked.

Protecting hoses with spiral wrap is good, more important is to control where they are routed under all conditions to avoid damage. I like zip ties for this. Some hoses are tied together in bundles, some are tied to the hydraulic cylinder they actuate, etc. The power steering hoses underneath are tied up where they can't snag in brush. One hose on the backhoe looked mangled when I bought the hoe and sweats a little. I should replace it but its a long one snarled up in inaccessable places (without removing several other hoses) so I've just lived with it as-is for some 10 years now, it hasn't gotten worse.

Summary get them routed correctly then don't worry about it. There's nothing to be paranoid about.

 

[oosik]

All my hydraulic hoses have protection. One type is the heavy duty nylon sleeve that covers the hose. The type I've installed is the heavy duty spiral wound nylon covering. Looks a lot like the old spiral wound telephone cord. It a bit tough to install because its rather hard to separate and wind over the existing hydraulic hose.

The other thing - just as important - is proper & correct routing of all hoses. Properly done, hoses should seldom get snagged, pinched or anything else that could lead to damage.

 

[IceStationZebra]

There are two reasons to wrap hoses. One is to protect people from potential leaks. These are full coverage like fabrics or plastic loom. The other is cut protection and are often metal or plastic spiral, but there are other options.

If you dont need them I wouldnt because they add cost, weight and can bring there own problems like soaking up oil and fueling fires. Like others say I would consentrate on routing first, but sometimes you have no option.

ISZ

 

[RNeumann]

Ok thank you for the input. I've posted a few 2' videos that I won't bore you with here but I did snap a few stills of some areas of concern.



This shows an area along the frame where hoses have been added for the 3rd function. I have zip tied them away from all moving parts but they are touching the frame etc.



This shows the lines coming off the top and tilt controls. Is this an issue or in need of protection?



This shows the two lines that go to the 3rd function. I can run these inside the loader arm like the rest of the lines. Note the factory lines are in the nylon sleeve for protection. I could add the nylon sleeve prior to running them down the frame. Is that needed?

Thank you for the advice.

 

[not2old]

The power steering hose on my GC2610 sprang a leak due to rubbing on something after it wasn't positioned quite right after a warrany repair. After I replaced the hose, I slit a piece of heater hose lengthways and put it over the new hose where it might rub again. It's held in place with a few zip-ties. Cheap, Quick and Easy

 

[Gary Fowler]

Any area where hose encounters a sharp edge needs a heavy duty hose protector if you cant route it to avoid these areas. Hoses flex and move with applied pressurization so any rub area will wear thru the hose pretty fast. An old water hose or other thick rubber is excellent protection for these areas but even those need to be checked from time to time to make sure that they aren't worn thru.

 

[California]

My backhoe has a plastic shield where all the hoses exit the 'dashboard' and chafe as they turn 90 degrees down over the pivot pin. Its an obvious wear point. The original curved plastic shield (red in this photo) was disintegrating when I bought this 1980 model backhoe. I cut up a plastic dishpan and made a replica of that shield. Works fine.