Is this possible to do and how to?

[MrGreyGenes]

Hello,

Newbie here. I have a circa 2002? TC30 with a Bush Hog M246 FEL. I need to replace a hose before it bursts and thought this might be a great opportunity to add quick connects to an area that doesn't kill my arthritic hands when I plug the current ones into the tractor. As you can see by the two areas in the lower diagram, they are in a tight spot under the two assemblies and were ^&*$%# when my hands were young! The hose I need to replace is one of the #50029334 parts and I'd like to add quick connects to the ends of all 4 of those hoses right before they connect to the #25H40043 male unions that connect to metal lines on loader. I am lost when it comes to hydraulics and wondered if anyone could tell me what parts I would need to order and/or a source that can answer my question(s) if no one here can. I'm not sure if I could just order the quick connect parts shown in the top diagram and just attach them at the other end. My plans would be just to leave the original quick connects on the hoses and let them stay under that cramped space. Thanks in advance and my old gnarled hands thank you, too.

 

[MrGreyGenes]

Better yet, can I just flip it around, ie, make the connection permanent at the shifter and move the quick connectors to the other end?

 

[ericm979]

Better yet, can I just flip it around, ie, make the connection permanent at the shifter and move the quick connectors to the other end?

Yes, but when you remove the loader you'll have to cut the cable ties that are holding the hoses in place along the loader arm and you'll have to coil up the hoses and put them somewhere on the tractor where they won't cause trouble.

If the drawings are accurate it looks like the hoses use JIC female fittings, which are very standard. To add QCs at the bucket end of the hoses you'll need JIC to NPT fittings since the QCs are NPT. If this is a 30hp tractor chances are the loader hoses are 3/8 and the fittings JIC 6 and 3/8 NPT but of course you should check before buying anything. If so you can use 3/8" QCs which will be a little smaller and easier to fit in but will cost a bit more than the more common 1/2". You can move the existing QCs to the bucket end with the right combination of adaptors. Looks like a male to male JIC 45 degree would replace the QCs and their NPT to JIC adaptors. (I think part 25H42220 is JIC F on the hose end but I'm not 100% sure).

You'll need to have enough space between the metal lines to fit the QCs in there. Sometimes they're packed together pretty tight. The extra weight of the QCs and strain from connecting/disconnecting them may cause the metal lines to fail earlier than normal as they're not really made for that. But they may handle it fine for years.

I find that the Parker 4200 series QCs are a little easier to connect and disconnect since the sleeve can release in either direction. This is useful especially when disconnecting QCs that are not mounted on a bulkhead... you can just hold the sleeve and pull the male end. I can find them at my local TSC where they're about $5 more than the cheapest QCs.

Don't use teflon tape on the NPT threads, use LocTite 545.

 

[MrGreyGenes]

Thank you. Sounds like the Parkers would work with my current setup. Appreciate it!

 

[Zebrafive]

Get a Multi-coupler, made by Faster. Also called single point coupler. You will never go back to separate quick couplers. I have the 3 function version (for grapple) on my JD 2030 & JD 6415

 

[MrGreyGenes]

Thanks. I’ll check it out.