bent hydraulic lines

[allthumbs23]

I have a used tractor that I recently removed the bucket from, and noticed one of the hydraulic lines seems bent, or at least one of the lines has a fair bit of strain on it. I never noticed it with the bucket on. Is there a way to fix this? Everything works, but it seems wrong. See attached pic. Thanks

 

[Soundguy]

A rounded bend is ok, a kink is bad. Strain on a fitting is bad.. You don't want a qd setting odd, and you don't want to crack a hard line.

 

[allthumbs23]

What do you mean by "you don't want a qd setting odd"?
Do you see a problem with my photo if everything is working? Not sure how log it's been this way.

 

[Soundguy]

You don't want a qd setting odd.

exactly that.

A quick disconnect that is put under strain and perhaps cocked to one side can partially unseat and cause a flow stoppage. can heat the oil due to relief opening, causing pump wear, cavitation, whining, slow straining hyds, drug down engine, etc, etc. All bad things.. no good things.

 

[allthumbs23]

Has anyone ever heated one up with an oxy acetylene torch to bend them back?

 

[oldnslo]

All thumbs,
The line towards the front of the tractor will fail in a short time due the strain at the end of the hose fitting. You should be able to "Carefully" bend the steel lines without any heat. I say carefully because you do not want to kink them. Once kinked they are ruined and will require replacing them.

 

[Texas Fella]

All thumbs,
The line towards the front of the tractor will fail in a short time due the strain at the end of the hose fitting. You should be able to "Carefully" bend the steel lines without any heat. I say carefully because you do not want to kink them. Once kinked they are ruined and will require replacing them.

How many hours are on it? I would not be too concerned. But if it is bothering you, I would have a new (longer) hose made before I tried to bend the lines. Just seems like making a new hose would be easier and it would be almost impossible to make a costly mistake (unlike kinking the tubing or lighting your tractor on fire trying to heat it). Take the hose off, take it to your dealer, and tell them to make a new on +3-4". Just my two cents.

 

[allthumbs23]

I did try to bend them without heat, but chickened out somewhere between "too much" and "not enough" force. If I broke a line, I wouldn't have any idea what to do to get it to stop leaking. My hydraulic knowledge is non existent. Tractor has like 670 hours or so on it.

 

[mkr7734]

I would just hold it at the bottom of the bend and push them back to the proper upright position. Should not be that hard and they should be fine.
The pipe bent forward it should bend back. Keep in mind, when they were built they were formed in a bending machine. No doubt it was a mandrel bender to keep them from kinking but looking at what you want to do I don't think they will not kink. Just be sure to support the tube with your thumb at the original place they bent when you push them back. JMHO

 

[allthumbs23]

Anyone think of a good tool combination to try? I tried a crescent wrench but couldn't get a good hold on it. A mini conduit bender would be the ticket!