It looks like the previous owner installed some type of just aftermarket connectors and Zerk lines on my boom. One of them broke. Is it worth going to the dealer and buying the steel line replacements that run all the was up the boom? Or is there an adequate hose/connector replacement that anyone can recommend?
I don't believe the ones running up the boom were ever steel. Honestly I'd take the lines off and get them built at a hose shop because you'll probably pay an arm and a leg for the exact same hoses from the dealer.
discounthydraulichose.com makes grease lines, I think
The Parker grease hose is easy to get and affordable.
The original grease lines are a mixture of tubes and hoses. See attached.
1/4" hydraulic hose
Looking at the price of these 3rd party hoses it actually seems cheaper to pay the dealer $70 for each one. Didn't realize these were so pricey
$70 is not bad these days. Unless you can do it with flaring your own ends on steel tubing and reusing the nuts.
I'm actually very suprised at the price being that low.
Yellow Iron - nobody ever said it was cheap to operate & maintain.........
And just have to wonder how much the pins and bushings those grease lines would be protecting? Actually I have a very good idea! This does not take in to account the cost of welding and line boring the housings after they worn out parts destroy the fits of those pins and bushings along with the labor to dismantle the machine. Oh and what about the downtime for these repairs? That $70.00 hose or tube is starting to look damned cheep! If you can't afford the tubing or hose then find another way to make money or figure out why those parts got damaged and fix that!
Grease is cheap compared to premature failures.
To clarify, I was saying the raw hoses and ends were expensive relative to the factory ones. Meaning, it doesn't make any sense to try and make them on my own.
One thing is if you have a coil of hose and a box of a dozen ends you don't have to stoke hoses you will never need and always have a way to fix one when you need it. That said I was pretty lucky to have a few machines that used the same hoses and a dealer close by so I could stock the hoses I found to be a problem and could get replacements in a day or two at the most. Then in a pinch many hoses could be by-passed by installing a grease fitting right at the pins for a temp fix.
I used brake line for the steel lines and did my own flaring. Most of that stuff now days uses plastic tubing on the auto lube systems. In the past when those things got broke, I just put a grease fitting in at the joint. The problem areas were on log loaders where you can't lower the boom and stick enough to get access without walking out on the boom.
Hey Nige, do you know what the thread size is on these lines that run up the boom? I'm not seeing it in your diagram. I think 3/8? https://photos.app.goo.gl/foQibojmvyTUvL5e9
Educated guess they are BPST 1/8” it’s easy enough to measure.
Part Number listing won’t have any reference to sizes. I’d have to look at the breakdown of a hose assembly to find the thread size. Coaldust is probably right with his 1/8” pipe thread but I can’t confirm that without a bit of digging.
No issues. I just wanted to order some and wasn't near it. I'll grab it tomorrow. Thanks!