JIC vs. SAE substitution

[Mechanos]

...Mechanos offered another possibility using tubing (thanks), and I might have to go that route, dunno yet. I do know shoehorning the valve directly between the ports on this short-bodied cylinder using just fittings has not been easy.

I didn't necessarily mean or intend for tubing to be used, I just didn't feeling like drawing all the fittings for purposes of a "sketch". Where the "tubing" is shown in my sketch, it was just intended to show the routing of the plumbing. It may be possible to plumb it up with nothing more than orinary fittings and/or some pipe nipples. The main gist of what I was trying to get across is that by offsetting the DPOCV to the side, you are not constrained to distance between ports on the cylinder. Gives you a bit more freedom. Make sense?

 

[picker77]

I got it, Mechanos. But fittings are so bulky if you use several of them that if I did something like that I might want to do it with flare fittings and a tubing bender anyway. Thanks.

 

[picker77]

Finally threw in the towel and Rube Goldberged this hydraulic side link. It works great, but isn't pretty. There was just not enough cylinder length between ports to do it neatly like I wanted.

 

[kennyd]

Finally threw in the towel and Rube Goldberged this hydraulic side link. It works great, but isn't pretty. There was just not enough cylinder length between ports to do it neatly like I wanted.

Are they (the little short ones) 3/8" hoses? All you needed was 1/4" for everything, cheaper and easier to route, and less bend-radius.

 

[wdchyd]

Finally threw in the towel and Rube Goldberged this hydraulic side link. It works great, but isn't pretty. There was just not enough cylinder length between ports to do it neatly like I wanted.

Don't forget you can always run double 90's out of the DPOCV and connect to the opposite corresponding port on the cyl (cross hoses)....then just reverse the other feed hoses......

 

[picker77]

Don't forget you can always run double 90's out of the DPOCV and connect to the opposite corresponding port on the cyl (cross hoses)....then just reverse the other feed hoses......

Good idea, that would have worked too. Never dawned on me to cross them at the cylinder and simply reverse the QC's. Duh... However, these will be ok as is, I think. Although I have exceeded the recommended minimum bend radius a tad on the two short hoses, they are permanently in place and don't need to twist or flex in use.

Kenny, the hoses are 3/8". I've standardized the entire tractor to 3/8" fittings and hoses, since that size hoses and fittings are so readily available off the shelf just about everywhere.

I still need to fabricate a small bracket up front for the grapple QC's (currently tie-wrapped to the torque tube).

The last thing I can think of is scraping up enough money to install a dedicated control for the grapple, maybe with a thumb switch on the joystick--one of these days--so I don't have to run the grapple off a rear remote. But that's in the "nice to have" category, and it can wait. Since I use the HSL a lot more often than the grapple, the current setup isn't any real trouble to use.