I have to replace both hoses on the blade tilt actuator on a Deere 650J. The hoses disappear under the radiator and reappear at the valve under the joy stick. Can anyone tell me: 1) How do you feed the hoses to their locations? Are there access doors to help? 2) which positions on the valve tilt the blade? 3) are the John Deere hoses worth the extra money, or are locally made hoses just as good? Thanks so much for any advise!
Probably going t find they are anchored on the inside of the frame so trying to snake in as remove old ones generally does not work.
A heavy string will be your friend.
Regarding hose prices--check each place. When I replaced 4 hoses on my 555 I found that the JD hoses were much cheaper than ones made up at the local shop. They were at least 1/4 the price! Just bought fluids and filters for my 350 crawler loader--all cheaper at the dealer. The oil filter was $6 compared to $8 at the local farm supply store. Might just be our local dealer, but it pays to check. It's easy to check online through https://partsadvisor.deere.com/CStoneEPC/launch.sls You can even check prices and local inventory.
The thing to be careful of on made up hoses with fittings is that they have a shelf life. Maybe it makes a difference and maybe it doesn't but there's a reason most places that deal with hyd. equipment have a hose press and it's good to get hoses made at a place that does a lot of volume because they will stock newer hose. Made up hoses being old stock could also be a reason they are cheaper at a dealer. I'm not sure what happens to assembled hose but I think the shelf life is about 2 years.
The hoses I got from the dealer seemed to be factory-fresh. They weren't old-stock, they had to be ordered in advance. The problem with the local shop was they charged for each connector (expensive as they weren't "standard"), by the foot for the hose, and an assembly charge. If I had been getting something more standard, perhaps the shop would have been a better deal. Same thing with the local farm supply--I can get affordable off-the-shelf hoses for most things. Keep in mind, though, that I'm talking about a small town that has a big JD dealer! Might be different with more competition.... I'm just pointing out that dealer isn't necessarily more expensive. It pays to check and shop around.
Lots of the John Deere dealers make their own hoses in house, as the hose spec is in their parts catalog. I have done the hoses on the 850J, and the 650J is a similar process. The hoses had a special fitting, as the hose end was a crimp on bulkhead fitting. You can get a bulkhead fitting, and adapt it if you want. Just makes it a bit harder. The hoses are zip tied a few places under the cab, and on with a few clamps on the right side. The cabs tilt on the 850J, and I don't believe that they tilt on the 650J. So odds are you will be removing a few panels here and there. Tie some hay wire to the old hoses before you pull them out, then you have something to help you pull the new hoses in with. We used the Deere hoses a few times, for the convenience, and easier install, but they kept leaking every few months. So we ended up using a adaptor, and building hoses elsewhere, and no more problems after that.