Hydraulic hose failure on the max lineup

[linuxman51]

I was digging up some old tree stumps yesterday (we've had a fair amount of rain, so playing in the mud may be a little more accurate depiction), and one of the lines on my backhoe split. Specifically, the bottom curl line (the longest hose on the tractor). Initially, I thought it'd gotten pinched at some point, those hoses all have sleeves on them which makes a quick glance diagnostic difficult, but it'd actually split around where the metal clamp holds the sleeve on. Tractor is a max26 hst

My question is this: How many other people have had multiple failures with hydraulic lines on their tractors? I've had two pop on the FEL, neither due to FOD, and now this, which also does not appear to be FOD related (it's a vertical split about half an inch from the crimped end). I've only got a little over 100 hours total on the tractor, and maybe 1/4 of that time involved using the backhoe.

I'm probably in the small minority of owners who is fairly disgusted with their Mahindra at this point, but this has been a disappointing journey from the beginning with little hope that it will get any better going forward.

backhoe controls exposed!

 

[doneill127]

I've got a Max with a little over 200 hours on it and haven't had any issues with FEL or backhoe lines. 3 different failures seems like a lot but I can't think of anything that might be causing it. At first I thought maybe the pressure is too high, but those hoses have to be rated at least 1.5X- 2X design operating pressure. Then I thought if it was left outside maybe UV degradation, but I believe the rubber is just a protective coating that the lines are braided steel underneath. Don't have a clue.

 

[linuxman51]

first one happened shortly after I got the tractor (new), the second one might have been sun rot (but then, why haven't the others blown up), the one on the backhoe has a protective sleeve over the hose, so the sleeve gets some heat abuse, but the hose has virtually no sun exposure. I don't abuse the thing, haven't monkeyed with the hydraulics or anything like that either.

 

[doneill127]

Sun shouldn’t have anything to do with it. On most hydraulic hoses for this pressure the rubber is just a protective coating covering two or more layers of metal braided hose.

 

[JerryK]

That hose on the end of the stick gets a lot of abuse when you bang it into stuff all day. It sits exposed to everything right above the bucket. You can't see it because it's on the opposite side of the Op station. That's probably what did it in.... I think my Bradco/Mahindra ho has hard pipe up a ways that the hose then connects to. Some of the stuff is just expendable in the big scheme of using your tractor. Fellow down the road was be'atching the other day about replacing the hyd hoses for the second time on his new Case loader/ho .... and the second left hand fender that seems to be a target of ice/snow piled when he plows the oil/gas wells....

 

[RNeumann]

The second photos appears to show a line that has rubbed against something to the point of failure- I see cording exposed just above the hole.
The third photos shows the protective wrap with a long cut in it. What caused the cut? It wasn’t the THF.
Based on the rust etc in photo 3 I’d be worried about everything on that (or any other machine) that wasn’t stainless.

What’s the dealer say? It should be under warranty with only 100 hrs

 

[linuxman51]

That hose on the end of the stick gets a lot of abuse when you bang it into stuff all day. It sits exposed to everything right above the bucket. You can't see it because it's on the opposite side of the Op station. That's probably what did it in.... I think my Bradco/Mahindra ho has hard pipe up a ways that the hose then connects to. Some of the stuff is just expendable in the big scheme of using your tractor. Fellow down the road was be'atching the other day about replacing the hyd hoses for the second time on his new Case loader/ho .... and the second left hand fender that seems to be a target of ice/snow piled when he plows the oil/gas wells....

If I used it more than I do, I would be inclined to agree, my expectations are not that I get flawless operation for the next 30 years, but my idea of "working it hard" is digging up an 8in stump in wet dirt. The two hoses on the FEL that split were not in the line of fire, so while I understand that some of these are sort-of 'wear items', they shouldn't be worn yet.

 

[linuxman51]

The second photos appears to show a line that has rubbed against something to the point of failure- I see cording exposed just above the hole.
The third photos shows the protective wrap with a long cut in it. What caused the cut? It wasn’t the THF.
Based on the rust etc in photo 3 I’d be worried about everything on that (or any other machine) that wasn’t stainless.

What’s the dealer say? It should be under warranty with only 100 hrs

If there was an abrasion issue I'd guess it's related to the metal band clamp you can sorta see in the first blurry picture. Not sure what you're talking about in the third pic, there are creases and folds in the protective sleeves, but none of them are cut. the rust is surface rust on the valve bodies, normally there's a cover over all of that. The stainless safety wire is a fish-line for the replacement hose since the thing goes through the body of the lower arm. there's a bigger picture on my pbase acct.

As far as warranty goes, I doubt the backhoe is under warranty anymore. the 5 year warranty is for the tractor only, not the FEL, not the hoe. those, from what I recall, have a 1 year warranty. The tractor is a 2015 model, purchased in 2015 (to replace my stolen max28, which was an absolute beast in comparison to this piece of ****)

I'm gathering, from the responses, that this is not a normal thing to have happen. I reckon that's both good and bad. Good for yall lol, bad for me. Bout time to punt, I believe.

 

[LD1]

What loader hose failed?

Can you detail what you were doing when it failed.

 

[linuxman51]

the left (from opperator's station) side short curl hose exploded at around the 10 hour mark (iirc, maybe 20), unloaded. I'd just gotten done pushing some brush into a small pile (in preparation to push it over to the burn pile). had the bucket about 4 feet up and went roll it forward and it said *pow* and oil mist rained down.

second one was from control valve to curl cylinder,

I don't even know on that one, I guess some prior indiscretion weakened it and it just finally let go, bucket again unloaded and hadn't been clearing/moving stuff for a few days.

A little bit about my property, and the uses for the tractor:
it's flat, what we call prairie soil (or gumbo, its a light tan clay), unless it's july and we're in a drought, its almost like modeling clay in it's consistency (in the late summer, it's concrete), the "back 40" is overgrown scrub brush and popcorn trees. I periodically run through parts of it to clear things out and keep things clear, I'd say the biggest stuff I try to tackle with the tractor alone (bxpanded toothbar is great for this) is around 4 inches, catching at an angle and pulling up and curling (almost like picking up a bucket of material) these are soft trees. For the bigger stuff I've got a pretty awesome stihl saw that makes short work of things. Stumps, as above, get dug up if they're big, or I use this modified middle plow-turned-chisel-plow (custom home made blade) to hook roots and pull up with the 3pt. That only really works when it's wet and muddy. I haven't had to clear anything really in a year.

the rest of the time, the tractor gets used to occasionally till areas, bush hog other areas, and spread gravel by the shop. I would think it's got a pretty easy life, but then my perspective may not be reality