Blown Hoses

[jdraper]

Within a few days of getting my new 5740C, I have blown two hydraulic hoses! To limit down time, I popped for $250 and had all four FEL hoses replaced from NAPA. Anyone else with issues with new hoses?

By the way... where do you add hydraulic fluid on this thing?

 

[JimmyBean]

Hi jdraper,
I would surely be going back to the dealer for the hose reinbursement! I have had my 5740C since May of 2005 and have had no hose issues. I use my loader very hard, weekly. I do firewood as a part time bussiness and haul logs on my pallet forks all the time. I hung a 2000# plus counterweight on the 3 point for ballast. I bring out over a ton of logs at a time and never blew a hose yet. Your tractor must have had some bad hoses......don't know. Anyway, that should be a warranty issue to be dealer addressed.
The fill tube is at the rear end of the tractor. It sticks up close to the small window in the cab, near the top link of the 3 point hitch. There is a vent hose with plug stuck into the tube for a stopper. The dip stick is just under that area on the rear end. Hope that helps.

Jim T.

 

[gemini5362]

If you look at some of my earlier posts you will see that I also had a problem with hoses. I had an older style FEL and the hoses were rated at 2340 I believe was the value. I went through three hoses then talked to the montana people and they changed all the rest out for me. We put 3000 psi hoses on and I have not had any problems since

 

[DieselPower]

I to would take it back to the dealer and have them replace the hoses or have them reimburse you for the ones you had made.

 

[gemini5362]

Your dealer might not reimburse you for the hoses. They will probably take the attitude that if you had contacted us we would have replaced them. There is some logic to that. They could have replaced them cheaper than you could have new ones made. I am also suprised at the price. did that amount include having them installed. I think i payed 12 to 13.00 for the two shorter hoses and maybe 19.00 for the larger one I had made. I did however take them off and install them myself.

 

[BRUSHTAMERS]

Haven't blown any hoses on my 5740 C since I bought it last May. Kind of curious, as the tractor is so new, and shouldn't have developed any wear spot in the hoses, did they fail near the fitting ends, or somewhere in the middle of the run of the hoses? Iv'e crowded my FEL pretty hard several times, enough to watch the loader posts real hard to keep them level so they wouldn't tweak, and no hose problems yet. at least on the tractor. Blew a seal on the boom flail motor this week and got oil on the windows. Don't try to use the wiper to remove hyd. oil with the wipers unless you've got a lot better washer fluid than I have. I'll be using Castol degreaser tomorrow.

 

[gemini5362]

Brushtamer I took my tractor back to the montana headquarters in springdale. They checked all the pressure readings and could not find anything wrong with my hydraulics. They agreed with me that the problem was probably the hoses themselves. Some of the earlier units came with hoses that were 2350 psi rated. The newer units have 3000 psi hoses ( I believe those are the correct numbers.) I had changed 3 of my hoses that were broken to the newer style. They changed all the rest of my hoses to the higher ratings under the warranty. I also might add that I had a tree branch catch one of the metal lines going across the bucket and bent it out. The line had a crimp in it and was bent a bit but was still workable. I told them that I had bent that being careless. When I picked my tractor up all the hoses were changed to the higher ratings and the metal line had been replaced all with no charge. Since I got the new hoses I have not had any problems.

 

[jdraper]

Thanks for all of the replies. My dealer has really stepped up and asked me to bring him my NAPA receipts for reimbursement. Since the change, no more hose issues. They seemed to blow near their mid section, not anywhere near the ends.

 

[gemini5362]

That is a great dealer. Why don't you post their name so that anyone in your area can use them.

 

[montanaman]

Yep, good dealer and good company. Montana's take on this is thtt if you need a part that you can get local and it will get a customer going quickly, handle it that way and they will make good on it for the dealer.

Let me state that this is for the dealer!!!! They very well may look at that NAPA bill and compare it to what they can get the hoses for and decide to only give the dealer his cost for the four hoses. In that case, you really do have the dealer to thank because they could easily tell you they will only pay you what Montana will pay them.

The first step should always be to call the dealer and then if they tell you to get NAPA hoses, get NAPA hoses but best to check first to make sure they will be able to have it covered for you.

BTW, I spent 8 years in the hydraulic service industry and that does sound like a pretty big bill for four hoses of that size! There is a huge range in quality and price out there and also, like with most things, a big difference in the knowledge of the shop. The NAPA's around here use Weatherhead hose and fittings but some stores only have one or two guys that really know how to make hoses. You gotta hope a good one is working when you need something!

Ken