Grapple Hookup Questions

[kennyd]

Like I wrote before, I would not get the hoses from them...they will not supply custom length hoses anyway. Plus you don't need 3/8", 1/4" is perfect. Get the grapple, them measure what you need and get them made locally or order from DHH. You cannot "crimp" your own, but you can make them if you want-look at this thread: Re-Usable Hydraulic Hose Fitting Tutorial - TractorByNet.com

 

[IslandTractor]

Is crimping hose ends something I can to myself or should I go to a shop?
!

You need to have a professional shop crimp the hoses or purchase premade hoses with fittings in standard sizes. Figure on paying something around 10 bucks or so per custom crimped fitting. Even a short hose costs $20 or so as the cost of the hose is minimal compared to what shops charge for fittings and crimping That is one downside of the multiple hose setups. The premade fittings are much cheaper.

 

[nickel plate]

Figure on paying something around 10 bucks or so per custom crimped fitting. Even a short hose costs $20 or so as the cost of the hose is minimal compared to what shops charge for fittings and crimping That is one downside of the multiple hose setups. The premade fittings are much cheaper.

I don't buy in to your downside of multiple hose setups or I would have built it that way in the beginning. We all have our way of desigining and I have already removed the grapple once since completed last month for assisting in a neighbor's pond digging-took about five minutes off and five minutes back on without disrupting the entire hose system.

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't buy in to your downside of multiple hose setups or I would have built it that way in the beginning. We all have our way of desigining and I have already removed the grapple once since completed last month for assisting in a neighbor's pond digging-took about five minutes off and five minutes back on without disrupting the entire hose system.

I wasn't talking about removing the grapple, we all do that regularly and of course all grapple setups have connectors at the FEL torque tube. I was talking about a split hose system where the hoses split at the FEL mounting post so the whole FEL can come off without removing the lines to the rear remote. Sorry if I misread your earlier post.

 

[nickel plate]

I wasn't talking about removing the grapple, we all do that regularly and of course all grapple setups have connectors at the FEL torque tube. I was talking about a split hose system where the hoses split at the FEL mounting post so the whole FEL can come off without removing the lines to the rear remote. Sorry if I misread your earlier post.

I got hung up on your term, "split". I think now I understand "split" to be where a hose(s) is terminated with a QC at a particular hose junction point. Sounds like you have two sets of QCs-one set at the FEL dock and one set up nearby the grapple or is it just one set up nearby the grapple? If the latter is correct and you detach the tractor from the FEL, how do you gather up all of that hose from the FEL dock to nearby the grapple?
I agree in the common theory that fewer hose connections make for the potential of fewer leaks but hose management is also an important concern. Wouldn't it be cool if someone developed a hydraulic hose reel like we have for our air hoses or as seen in lube bays but on a smaller scale?
IT, always nice trading ideas with you.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I wasn't talking about removing the grapple, we all do that regularly and of course all grapple setups have connectors at the FEL torque tube. I was talking about a split hose system where the hoses split at the FEL mounting post so the whole FEL can come off without removing the lines to the rear remote. Sorry if I misread your earlier post.

I did it the way you describe (with four lengths of hose) even though it dramatically increased the cost of plumbing. I have never removed my FEL, but I am prepared to do so by disconnecting, rather than removing, hoses. If I had it to do all over again, I'm not sure whether I'd stay with four, rather than two lengths.

I also stuck with the flat-face couplers that Gator supplies. I hope someday to buy a (relatively) low-flow SS hydraulic post hole auger, which should match the couplers just fine. Plus, they really seem to work a lot more smoothly than my Pioneer couplers.

BOB

 

[IslandTractor]

I got hung up on your term, "split". I think now I understand "split" to be where a hose(s) is terminated with a QC at a particular hose junction point. Sounds like you have two sets of QCs-one set at the FEL dock and one set up nearby the grapple or is it just one set up nearby the grapple? If the latter is correct and you detach the tractor from the FEL, how do you gather up all of that hose from the FEL dock to nearby the grapple?
I agree in the common theory that fewer hose connections make for the potential of fewer leaks but hose management is also an important concern. Wouldn't it be cool if someone developed a hydraulic hose reel like we have for our air hoses or as seen in lube bays but on a smaller scale?
IT, always nice trading ideas with you.

I think we were stumbling over terminology. My original set up was: Grapple with short 4 foot hoses and QCs that reached to the FEL torque tube where they connected and disconnected routinely with the hoses that provided hydraulic fluid/pressure from the rear remotes. Those lines from the FEL torque tube to the rear remotes were split with a second set of four QCs at the base of the FEL mounting post at the operator station. This in theory allowed me to take off the loader itself without crawling under the tractor to snip four or five zip ties that held the second section of hoses that traveled back to the rear remotes. As noted, in practice I never took off the FEL so that second set of QCs and double the number of expensive hose fittings was wasted. The set of QCs at the torque tube were obviously used each time I mounted or dismounted the grapple so those were absolutely necessary. If I was to do it again I would just run a single set of lines all the way from the rear remotes to the FEL torque tube. Removing and storing those lines if I ever did remove the FEL would only add about five or ten minutes to the job.