Hydraulic hose life expectancy

[TC29-dude]

Under normal conditions what is the hydraulic hose life expectancy?

I have a 2001 TC29 that was stored outside until I got my hands on it. It's working great but I have noticed that some of my hoses have small cracks in them at the bends. Does this mean I am about to have a big mess on my hands? The cracks are small and I think caused by UV etc from being stored outside.

The tractor is stored now in a shed and only used on weekends. I have a big cleanup job that I am working on and am concerned about a failure in the field. I guess that is gonna happen sooner or later anyway but I am hoping to do some PM to prevent it if possible.

Also, how often to you guys hit all the grease fittings?

Thanks!

 

[Soundguy]

The life expectancy will depend on the quality of the hose, how many wires it has, and how severly it is bent, and if it is static, or bends. IE.. a hose that runs from a pump to a valve, even if bent.. isn't continously flexing like perhaps on over the arms on a fel.. etc.

The more sever the bend, the more chance for a wire damaging kink.

The more often it flexes, the more chance for fatigue in the hose.

The lower the wire count, the 'weaker' the hose is inthe first places.. both for burst/working pressure.. and overall toughness.

Cheap ends that don't engage the metal well are prone to leaking and/or blowing off when the rubber deteriorates.

The rubber sheath itself, cracking won't cause a leak.. though it does expose the metal underneath to the elements.

I have some tractors with lines on them from the 60's that don't leak.. and i got a tractor from 2002 that has had lines replaced...

You can expect anything in that range to be normal... unless you own a kubota.. then expect a range as low as about 33-200 hrs.. as they seem to have planned obselescence/failure down to an art in their hoses...(wink).. ( see the kubota forum for PROOF of this... )

Soundguy

 

[daTeacha]

Hydraulic hoses are far more than just a rubber tube. The covering on most is black rubber and that will deteriorate from UV and ozone in the air but cracks do not really mean the hose itself is about to self-destruct. My old Kubota had the rubber covering flaking off some of the sections of hose, but those were original and the tractor predated the ROPS requirement. I just covered them with electrical tape and kept on tractorin' with no problems.

Under the weather cover is a combination of wires and cords sort of like the construction of a tire. If that starts to crack you can be concerned, but if it's just in the rubber cover I wouldn't worry too much.

On the other hand, if you want the tractor to look shiny and showroom new, go ahead and get new hoses. They don't cost a whole lot and lots of places other than the dealership can make them up for you.