I have a hose leak out of what I believe to be a pilot control hose ( or could be for tools or some other aux function, but its one of the smaller hoses in the boom ), at the bucket end of the boom, the failure is on the other side of the hose that you cant see, but you can see the damage to the outer skin in the shared pic. I can get mostly to both " ends " of the hose/tube, if I cut it in half and install a compression union ( assuming one exists, as I have not idea if this hose is proprietary ). My question, is that a safe and valid repair ? Where would I find a compression fitting/union for this style of hydraulic " tubing " ? or hose ? I have a Altec parts and maintenance manual, but I don't see any info shared about line repairs. Im assuming they assume you will call them up and just order a new line. I'm retired, this thing does not leave my propterty, I use it to maintain my trees, found it more cost effective to have this truck, then to keep having tree companies dismantle my dying trees. In other words, I'm not making money with it, and I'm the only one in the bucket ( not worried about liability to others ). Id like to fix it in lieu of replacement if that is safe and makes sense. Thanks in advance for any input !
Hello, welcome to the HEF. That is non-conductive, thermoplastic hose. Probably SAE 100R7. It requires a crimp type fitting. It’s not like tubing, which uses compression fittings. There isn’t any “patching” it.
Welcome to the Forums! Glad to have you.
Can you access both ends of the failed line? The pilot lines on the Altec booms I worked on were plastic tubing. You could cut the line close to the leak and have a new end crimped on and add a short extension.
Thanks for the welcome, and the comment, I will look into that number. Thanks CM1995 ! Barely, its at the end of the boom ( about 1' up into the boom ), and the image Ive shown, I guess I need to find the end of it at the bucket controls, and then figure out how hard it will be to pull a new line through, or if I could have an end installed on it. Thanks for your input !, its good to know.
A note to complete this thread, I ended finding where the first and second boom meet, all the pilot hoses had connections ( access doors on the side of the boom ), so I disconnected the damaged hose there, had a local farm shop make me a 1/4" standard black rubber hydraulic hose 36' long, and just added the hose down the boom, as removing the old hose, would have been a major project, so its just dead in the second boom bundled hoses. That got be back up and running. I think I spent around $125. Thanks for all those that chimed in on this. Yes, I realize the boom has lost its neutrality, to some degree. What I do with this truck that is totally irrelevant. The most I get near is 120v.
Thanks for the update.