Help - Hydraulic hose will NOT come off

[4570Man]

Back dragging is a safe practice and wasn't the sole cause of the hose blowing. For feature references a pipe wrench is the best tool I've discovered for such jobs.

 

[beowulf]

Back dragging is a safe practice and wasn't the sole cause of the hose blowing. For feature references a pipe wrench is the best tool I've discovered for such jobs.

You could be right, but two of the three times I have blown a hose I was back dragging at a severe angle. .. .like 80-90 degrees, and both times trying to dislodge a boulder. The third time, I curled the bucket back with a load of large logs and one rolled back - sort of on top of the back of the bucket and pinched a hose.

I thought of a pipe wrench and brought one to the tractor, but the width of the jaws and the diameter of the sleeve just below the nut, and the narrow height of the nut would not let me get a bite on the nut. Hopefully, I will not have to face this issue again.

 

[4570Man]

Back dragging with the bucket is a no no. Back dragging with the bucket at less angle is fine.

 

[beowulf]

Back dragging with the bucket is a no no. Back dragging with the bucket at less angle is fine.

4570Man - I Agree. I have back dragged at a slight angle - perhaps 15-20 degrees - to smooth something out or drag brush (with tooth bar) and that works well and never a problem. I knew I was taking a chance trying to go almost vertical with the bucket to snag that boulder I wanted for landscaping in a cactus garden I was building for the wife. I mean I really knew it. . . but, well. . . maybe this one time I could get away with it. Lesson learned.

 

[4570Man]

You still got lucky. Hoses are cheap. Cylinders are pricey.

 

[LD1]

I have done the same thing.

The issue you had popping the hose IS because of your technique back dragging.

Think about how a bottle jack works.

Your bucket is now the handle, and the cylinder is the pumping mechanism. Trying to force the rod into the cylinder full of oil with the oil having no where to go. Pressure builds tremendously. If the tractor has alot of traction, pop goes the hose.

with a lesser bucket angle (which I know wouldnt dislodge a rock) the bucket wont get enough bite to pop a hose without slipping up and over.

Go forward with the bucket angled slightly downward for dislodging rocks.

 

[beowulf]

LD1, good to know the dynamics of all this and to know about the problem I was creating with the physics. Hopefully, this discussion will deter others from trying to back drag at a severe angle -you may not get away with trying this kind of back dragging even once.

I have dislodged any number of boulders by going forward and lifting, but this one was on the edge of a ravine and I would have just pushed it down the hill. But trying to move it away from the ravine by back dragging in the way I tried it was a huge mistake. Boulder is still there, but I am wiser - I think what I should have done - and have done before - is use my heavy duty moving straps to drag it away from the edge of the ravine and then work it into the FEL. I have used straps and chains to do this before with success. Of course, the first decision is to think about whether the FEL can handle the size of the boulder comfortably - some boulders are meant to stay where they are. - and the older I get the more I remember that.

 

[tcreeley]

I backdrag often, at all angles. Never a problem.Maybe it is the design of the loader.

When it comes to frozen nuts and bolts- I like to use a hex wrench - same slat sides as the hex nut/bolt. I'll hold the wrench in place and hit it with a 3 lb hammer. Once or twice loosens things up.
If I can put another wrench on a fitting in an opposing direction, I never use a hammer.

 

[beowulf]

I backdrag often, at all angles. Never a problem.Maybe it is the design of the loader.

Perhaps, but it seems to be like all other FELs I have seen - the loader is a Woods 1016 with a 6 foot bucket.

 

[tcreeley]

Perhaps, but it seems to be like all other FELs I have seen - the loader is a Woods 1016 with a 6 foot bucket.

I'm really guessing here- but I wonder if it comes down to where the lift cylinders attach on the main rear frame. My TC30 7308 loader- they appear to attach lower than they do on the Woods 1016 loader. On the 1016 that would put the cylinder more in a line to receive the stress of backing dragging than it would on the 7308 which is attached lower.
The advantage of attaching higher is the ability to use a shorter cylinder to gain height.
I've always wondered why some say back dragging is bad and others do it all of the time. I am extremely careful with my tractor, but back dragging has never raised any alarms, at any angle.