Hydraulic line protection.

fish1552 · May 14, 2020

I own a 4530 and I do a bit of pushing vegetation/brush on occasion and I have had to replace the power steering line on the front left once before. I noticed the steering was a bit sloppy the other day and looked and once again, the power steering line is bent at a 45 degree angle.
I need to design a way to add a cover in front of this as the current design places them directly in front of the arm and almost in line with the front edge of the tractor - which is a bad design IMO. I am looking for an idea that could be removable for maintenance, but be sturdy enough to take a hit and keep protecting things. Maybe 1/4" steel plate or a piece of angle iron. Those lines run $81 each and I'd like to use that money elsewhere, like nice LED lights, attachments, etc.

fish1552 · May 14, 2020

Here is the current line. It's supposed to come straight out, bend up at 90 degrees (vertical), then curve back at 90 degrees, horizontal to the ground. When new, it lines up within maybe 1/8" of the front edge of the tractor in the bottom center of the Pic.

mrmikey · May 14, 2020

Can you swing a 90 deg fitting in the spot, in place of the straight? If so, replace the straight with it and come out with that, maybe a 90 deg hose end and replace the tube with a hose............Mike

CoyPatton · May 15, 2020

mrmikey said:
Can you swing a 90 deg fitting in the spot, in place of the straight? If so, replace the straight with it and come out with that, maybe a 90 deg hose end and replace the tube with a hose............Mike

Mike is on what my 1st thoughts were as well. Replace all of that hard line with short pieces of hard line changing the angles to protect the connections and keep them as close as possible.
You should be able to have a line made anywhere that makes hydraulic lines. Take lots of photos and take the hard line with you. You may want to do a 90 degree elbow fitting at the pump ti keep it all really close. You could also put the new line in a sleeve or rubber hose to provide some additional protection.

fish1552 · May 15, 2020

CoyPatton said:
Mike is on what my 1st thoughts were as well. Replace all of that hard line with short pieces of hard line changing the angles to protect the connections and keep them as close as possible.
You should be able to have a line made anywhere that makes hydraulic lines. Take lots of photos and take the hard line with you. You may want to do a 90 degree elbow fitting at the pump ti keep it all really close. You could also put the new line in a sleeve or rubber hose to provide some additional protection.

I called the younger kid as he works at a hydraulic shop now but they only do hoses. He did send me a nunber for a company 50 miles down the road from hs shop that does hard line, but I like the idea of the softer hose instead. I'm definitely going to ask about a 90 degree for there.
I'm still going to try to mock up something to cover the area just in case to protect it a bit more. I just have to figure if I bolt it to the front edge of the body or maybe modify the shorter existing shield for the tie rods.
Thank you both for the great idea.

fish1552 · May 29, 2020

So the kid said he could get 2 90 elbows and then run a flexible hose from there that they can make in the shop. Problem is that it has been 2 weeks and he's not progressed on that. So I'm biting the bullet and ordering the replacement part for now, but will take the old line to find the elbows myself and have them ready for the next time. I know it will happen because it gets used for pushing brush but the bucket stays down. So it must be random branches popping up and hitting the line. Will post part numbers and stores when I get everything in case someone else needs them later as well.