Can I damage my system by hooking up my grapple hoses wrong?

[CoyPatton]

I.E. is there a backward and forward flow? (Land Pride 3rd function, MTL grapple) Everything is all hooked up and ready to go, but I don’t need a major repair job at this point.
Intuition tells me no, View attachment 660236but I once trashed my PTO backhoe pump when I hooked up to my woodsplitter wrong.
(20 years previous from that, my father wrecked the pump in his Ford 4400 when he did the same thing)

The only issue you will experience in my opinion is the frustration of the operation being reversed from using one time to the next. If this is a non issue for you, don’t worry about how those are connected.
If you are like me, and you like for the same function to perform the same action each time you connect the grapple then either mark the hoses or set up the couplers to only work one way on each line. (one male and 1 female on each side—tractor and grapple). If you have multiple sets of remotes (typically need 2 couplers per set of remotes) color code each coupler even if you set them up with a male and female.

 

[oosik]

I actually reversed the hoses from the way the dealer had them set up. I have a toggle switch on my joy stick. He had "toggle up" close the grapple. Now "toggle up" opens the grapple and "toggle down" closes the grapple. Been this way for six years. Different strokes...............

 

[Jstpssng]

It works!!
:thumbsup: Of course as I mentioned previously I can break an anvil... I had moved my first rock about 20 feet before I had hydraulic fluid spewing all over the place. I still don’t know why that o-ring was between the hose fitting and the quick attach.

MTL had opposing fittings on the hoses they provided, which would be nice as I could hook them together when not in use, keeping them clean. However the Land Pride third function my Kubota came with had two male ends and the local shop couldn’t match the threaded end up. The grapple is the only thing I will be using though so zip ties will be good enough for my application.

I have a hard enough time remembering not to try to use the dump and open grapple functions at the same time... I don’t need to relearn how to open and close it every time.

 

[Jstpssng]

If you're just powering a cylinder or a hydraulic motor by using the tractor remotes or 3rd function, there is no damage if you connect the hoses wrong. The worst it can happen is the thing work the opposite of what you wanted.

However, if you're powering something that has it's own valve, ie: log splitter, it does matter how you connect those as it will damage things.

I should have asked this back in 2004... it would have prevented me from blowing up my BH pump.

Never mind that back then I’d never even heard of TBN...

 

[Oldpath05]

I had to flip your tractor back over so I could see what's going on. I wouldn't begin to know how to hook that thing up, I'd probably end up having it so when I lowed my 3 point hitch the thumb would open.

 

[Jstpssng]

I had to flip your tractor back over so I could see what's going on.

How did you do that? I was posting from my phone where my pictures are, and didn't even notice that it was upside down.

I wouldn't begin to know how to hook that thing up, I'd probably end up having it so when I lowed my 3 point hitch the thumb would open.

It was all set up when I brought it home from your neighborly Kubota dealer down there in Union ME... one reason why I chose this tractor.
My wheel weights paid for themselves today... I never would be able to use this without additional weight holding the rear end down.

 

[Oldpath05]

How did you do that? I was posting from my phone where my pictures are, and didn't even notice that it was upside down.

It was all set up when I brought it home from your neighborly Kubota dealer down there in Union ME... one reason why I chose this tractor.
My wheel weights paid for themselves today... I never would be able to use this without additional weight holding the rear end down.

I had to download the picture then go into settings to turn it. Why'd you come way down here to get a tractor, long way for warranty work, oh your right kubotas dont break down....

 

[Jstpssng]

I had to download the picture then go into settings to turn it. Why'd you come way down here to get a tractor, long way for warranty work, oh your right kubotas dont break down....

It was used, 2 years old with 175 hours. I only saved about 3K over the price of a new one, but the third function and a couple of other extras (canopy & tire chains) came with it.

The warranty was gone, but I've always thought that warranty problems generally show up within the first 100 hours or so.

 

[Jchonline]

Usually Grapple couplers are reversed so they can't be hooked up backwards. One male and one female on the tractor. Same on the Grapple hoses. If you don't want to do that, put a zip tie on one circuit. One on the Grapple hose coupler. One on the matching tractor coupler.

Yes mine are this way. I cant hook them up wrong.

 

[3Ts]

Do it as I described and you don't need colored zips. Simply put a black zip on the matching couplers and leave the other two blank.

I have 3 ports on the tractor (Pressure, Return, Tank). The P & R have to be connected when no implement is attached, the backhoe uses P & T (no R), and other implements use the ports differently as well. It's just easier to color code the ports on the tractor and the implement.