Relieving Hydraulic Pressure - Best Method?

[normde2001]

You don't show the valve in the end of your male coupling, but there should be one to push in, as on Mad Referee's example.

 

[DMF]

I have a 3-spool valve I added to the tractor; I ran 2 sets of lines to the rear and one set to the front. My plumbing is as follows: Pressure line from tractor goes to auxilary valve; out from auxilary valve to loader valve; out from loader valve back into tractor. So...as they are all in line, cycling the loader valve relieves some pressure I guess. All I know is if I skip the loader valve part I can't always re-attach...?

 

[gator]

For all that would like connect under pressure quick connect fittings, check out these 1/2 inch connect under pressure quick connects.

 

[jmc]

Interesting product. Have you tried them?

John

 

[gator]

No I haven't. Just found the site last night, went looking after reading this thread. I don't remove my FEL, and when I hook up my backhoe, I haven't had this problem, yet (knock on wood).

 

[jmc]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ... I haven't had this problem, yet (knock on wood). )</font>

Well, with 2WD and no power steering, you've got enough problems already!

I emailed them for more info. Thanks for the link.

John

 

[jmc]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(

JMC, I'd like to see a picture of the gizmo you made to help you make the connection. )</font>

Ok, hope you weren't expecting anything elegant. This one is for the male side. The gizmo sides on the male connector and is held there by sliding the cross pin to engage the connector groove. The black bolt, 1/4 -28, compresses the plunger. Whatever you use to compress the plunger, make sure it can't contact the sidewall of the hole in the connector. There's a seal in there that is fragile and I ruined one.

Picture 1 0f 2

 

[jmc]

This picture is of the gizmo for the female connector. The plunger on the female connector is a ring and the bullseye is part of the body. Since there is no way to retain a gizmo, I just made a ring shaped adaptor to be used with a gear puller. It fit well enough that if there is a seal in there, no damage was done. Picture 2 0f 2.

 

[Osconda]

BadDog,

I took my grapple off late last week to get some dirt work done and last night I reattached the root grapple. I had printed out your directions and stuck them in my wallet, so I followed them exactly when disconnecting the grapple. I still could NOT connect the couplers to the tractor. Had to loosen the threaded fittings again on the grapple to relieve the pressure.

I think I might just try changing the fittings to the type used on the tractor. At least all I'd have to do is tap or push the ends. I'd have to keep a boot over the female fittings though. I think I was charged almost $50 for the female fitting on my extension hoses. Hopefully the tractor type will be cheaper.

 

[BadDog]

I noted that I didn't say they will go on super-easy; maybe I should have set expectations a bit better.

I still have to use a fair amount of force to keep the sleeve on the female end open while pushing the male end in. Without following the previous steps I simply couldn't apply enough force, and I can bench 450lbs!!

 

[jinman]

Instead of pounding on the connections, why not just buy a couple of cheap female connectors and put them on one of the male connectors in each circuit? If pressure never builds up, there's nothing to relieve. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[noeclark]

osconda
I HAVE THE SAME STYLE ON MY WOOD SPLITTER THEY ARE JUST A PAIN I HAVE ANOTHER TYPE ON MY SNOW BLOWER THEY WORK MUCH BETTER I THINK ITS JUST THE FLAT FACE CLOSE QUICKER AND DON'T LEAK ANY OIL OUT HYDRAULOCKING THEM LET ME KNOW IF YOU RIG UP CURE P.S. sorry about the cap locks

 

[SkyPup]

I installed 1/2" Pioneer nipple coupler fittings on my ANBO Grapple and have not had any problem whatsoever disconnecting them, simply put the Grapple down, turn off the tractor and disconnect the front remote hydraulic couplers. No leaks, no problem.

They only cost about $20 a pair or less. Check them out here:

http://doityourself.com/store/u436691.htm

 

[JoeL4330]

I have a grapple and had the same problem. Here is the secret: I had left the grapple open when I quick detached it so that it would stand upright just so and I could easily hook it when I wanted to reattach. (can you see where this is going?)

Indeed, I easily picked it up with the quick attach and went to hook up the hydraulics. No way I could relieve the pressure. I even loosened the fitting slightly. That's not the answer. Here's the answer, because here is the problem: The grapple was open and wanted to close itself (thanks to Mr. Gravity). That generated the hydraulic "pressure". Lose a little fluid, still wants to close, still generates pressure. etc.

My (helpful) dealer diagnosed the problem and here was his solution: go up against a tree and push to "open" the grapple. Once I understood, I had an easier solution: took my hydraulic jack and pushed up to "open" the grapple and equalized the pressure. One coupler slid in as slick as **** through a goose. Then, I released the hydraulic jack and now gravity helped me by easing the other (direction) coupler.

Of course, the best answer is to only disconnect the hydraulics when the grapple is completely shut and gravity is not trying to push in the hydraulic cylinder. If there is some build up of pressure after disconnect (hot sun, black hoses, liquid expansion) the same trick should work. In fact, I plan to get a small "bottle" jack for just this purpose (I was able to get to my big hydraulic floor jack, the first time).

An alternative (besides the tree trick) would be a stout piece of firewood properly placed and downpressure or un-curl, depending.