Protective Hose Shield

[woodlandfarms]

I was down the hill today and moving brush... Got to the top of the hill and noticed oil coming out of the front... Grumble I say...

I look down and one of my lift cylinder hoses is bent at the connector... GRUMBLE...

I think I saw someone who put a plate of steel across the front of the tractor... I may now be considering this mod as well...

[tommu56]

I have used greenfield conduit over the hoses that a porcupine was eating it was handy I just unhooked hose slid it over and hooked it back up but don't cut it straight across cut it at a 45deg when through about 1/4 way just unscrew it and round the point on ends.

tommu

[Tim_in_CT]

Carl-

Have you considered the modification of installing the good luck charm of your choice somewhere on your PT, maybe using holy water while welding it in place?

You seem to encounter more bad luck then most... maybe because you are out there working your poor little tractor so hard.

tim

[woodlandfarms]

Yeah.. Holy water. Being an aetheist I run a high risk of more problems. Every time I go to church with my wifes family no one sits around me for fear of the lightning strike hitting them...

I would use a rabbits foot but the mower really messes them up so bad there is little left of the rabbit to identify the foot.

Actually, I am having great luck with this PT. I have complaints, but the machine was pretty messed up before I got it so I figured this would be part of the process. For the most part what has failed has been out of previous neglect, not bad new parts. The engine, hydraulic pumps and other things that were replace work pretty darn well. It really comes down to hoses and abuse that is giving me a hard time.

You guys have to see what I have done with this machine. I mean people come by the property and say you did what where? How did you get there? That machine did that? Yesterday I was on a 35 degree slope, Blackberries were over the cab, I could not see a beyond the bucket. I put the grapple claws up and just pushed on through. Bumped a tree, backed up the step slope, spun around the tree and back down the hill. No fuss, no muss. It was tight, confined, I was blind as a bat but the machine worked and really, really well....

I know I made the right purchase... It is not perfect, but I am not either so we fit...

[toy]

Originally Posted by woodlandfarms

I was down the hill today and moving brush... Got to the top of the hill and noticed oil coming out of the front... Grumble I say...

I look down and one of my lift cylinder hoses is bent at the connector... GRUMBLE...

I think I saw someone who put a plate of steel across the front of the tractor... I may now be considering this mod as well...

Woodlandfarms this may or may not fit your situation, but is something that I thought I would mention since you have a lot of oil leaks. A pt machine when it comes from the factory it has an advantage of hose placement in the best route to lessen hoses from being snagged or stretched to the point of causing a hose failure. When they are routing the hoses they have a clean machine to start with, they know the exact length of hose that is needed for each run they make and where each hose goes and since they operate the machines at the facility and get input from customers when the machines are first put into service so if they have an area where they are having a lot of hose problems then they can look at it and come up with a hose route to eliminate most of the problems. As a customer we don't have benefit of all of their tried and proved methods of hose placement[in this particular instance] so when you are replaceing a hose I feel that it is very important to not just look at it as a hose leaking between point A and point B and get a hose and connect it up. Instead get a hose of the same length and route it in the same route of the old one [ hook the end or the new hose to the end of the old hose and pull the new one in as you are pulling the old one out]. If there is a frayed spot on the old hose note the location of the fray in relation to where it is positioned on the machine when you pull it out. That way you can check to see if there is anything on the machine that is rubbing the hose and causing the fray and can possibly take steps to rememidy it. I have seen hoses hooked up before that looked good when they were hooked up but when you moved whatever that hose supplied oil to through its full range of motion the hose was pulled into or really strained to the point that a hose failure would come soon because the hose was too short. On the other hand I have seen hoses that were too long and when you moved the machine through its full range of movment that hose would catch on something and pull into or if it caught behind another fitting break that fitting. I realize that you bought your machine used so that method of hose replacement might not apply to you but when you do replace a hose pay attention to hose placement and move the machine through it full range of movement keeping an eye on the new hose and the other hoses that you might have disturbed to make sure nothing is binding. As many hoses as you have replaced I am sure you already take all this into account but I mention it just incase you haven't thought of it. You should just about have all of the old hoses replaced by now and can settle back and just work the fire out of your machine without any down time. I beleive it was you that said that you slide sidways on your machine into an area with a 40% slope I bet that got exciting in a real big hurry. Hope how soon you get everything worked out on your machine.