Quick disconnect, my ***

[canoetrpr]

I've had my hydraulic top link off the tractor for a couple weeks now as I've been working on harrowing - harrow hooks up to draw bar. \

I have connected and disconnected the hydraulic top link to the remotes at least two dozen times with no trouble at all. I have the Parker Pioneer QDs.

Today I go to put the HTL on and for the life of me, I cannot get either of the hoses to hook into the QDs????. The male end would go in as far as it normally takes for the spring jacket on the female end to normally pop back and lock it in place.... this time - no go! I pushed and pushed and screwed around with them for about 40 min - finally gave up.

I decided that the male ends were the problem as I could hook in my side link hoses into the female QDs for the top link spool no problem.

I had two new male ends spare so I replaced the ones on the hoses and voila! they now fit in.

I don't quite understand this. I've done this about two dozen times with no problem. I sure as heck don't think that they should wear out from connecting, disconnecting a couple dozen times.

How do the rest of you deal with stubborn QDs? Is there some secret Parker mantra that I should be chanting before trying to connect these up?

I've decided to rig up a piece of chain to the OEM top link holder so that I can hold the HTL while I am not using it, without needing to take it off..... sorta defeats the purpose of having QDs though.

P.S. - As if to shame me, after I had taken the old male ends off, I tried hooking them up to another spool that I have never used and they went in right away!!!! No clue what the heck is going on here.

[chetlenox]

My guess is the hydraulic top-link was pressurized. I've had that problem with my front-end loader. I forgot to de-pressurize before I disconnected one time, and had a heck of a time getting it reconnected. Finally had to manually "vent" the FEL male disconnects by pressing (quite hard) on the nipple on the end. Then it went right in.

That's just my guess. Could be wrong.

Chet.

[BTI]

Sometimes you have to break a line loose to bleed the pressure.
The nipple push works good, unless it has too much pressure on it.

BTI

[canoetrpr]

Hmm... I suppose this explains why the same male disconnects seem to work fine now

So I guess to de-pressurise it, I should simply turn off the tractor and move the remote lever in all positions - like I do for my FEL? DOH!

I'll bet the last time I took the HTL off while the tractor was on and didn't think to depressurize.

I'll put those male disconnects away for another day .... they seem to work just fine now that they are off.

[atgreene]

Also de-pressurize the line before trying to push them on. Push the ball against something to release pressure, just sitting in the sun could pressurize the lines enough to be an issue.

[Ford850]

I think someone on this site showed how they use a copper pipe cap to cover the male end, then rap it witha hammer. I use a thick rag to cover the end and tap the ball with the handle of the hammer to release the pressure.

[hotchkiss]

I agree with Chetlenox. The same thing has happened to me.

[Inspector507]

Originally Posted by canoetrpr

Hmm... I suppose this explains why the same male disconnects seem to work fine now

So I guess to de-pressurise it, I should simply turn off the tractor and move the remote lever in all positions - like I do for my FEL? DOH!

Even still, if the ambient tempurature changed since you disconnected the HTL, the fluid may still expand and make you take the pressure out of the lines on the HTL.

[canoetrpr]

One way or the other, I'll find a way to depressurise the HTL. Never thought about the fact that those lines might be under pressure. Makes sense....just didn't figure it out .

Next time I'll put something over it and hit it with a hammer or something.

[EastTexFrank]

It happened to me on the FEL once when I was in too much of a hurry. I used a wooden dowel and tapped it with a hammer. It shot hydraulic fluid all over the place so be careful, wear eye protection.