I was mixing loam today with our Dresser 540, minding my own business, thinking about all sorts of things, probably HEF, when suddenly I thought the world was coming to an end. A hydraulic hose from the bucket ram came out of the fitting and decided to pay me a visit inside the cab. It came through the windscreen, sprayed oil all around the cab then then fell out again. In a matter of milliseconds I was covered with fine glass fragments and drenched in hydraulic oil. It just goes to show, you never know what's around the corner. Has any one else had something like this happen? Rn'R.
RnR, I've had a couple of oil showers...more like baths actually. You were lucky the oil wasn't too hot. We used to run Masseys on the farm and home made fork loader attachments had the control valves right next to the seat...with a bunch of hoses at your leg. When a hoses blew you ended up wearing the lot. Mostly it was when you had a bin full of spuds or pumpkins or something way up stacking 3 high on a semi. The crash to the ground usually saved Campbells the trouble of making the soup......and would eventually lead to the old man trying make me follow in Neil Armstong's footsteps with a size 12 up the clacker.
We had that happen to an operator on our 5230 shovel. 2'' line broke and cut through the window like a hot knife through butter. Almost took the guys head off, thankfully he only took a hot oil shower. You know, some people go to salons and pay big money for that oil bath, you got it for free!! Glad yer ok.
More times than I care to remember. I was watching some of the boys finish up some pot hauler hydraulic repairs in our shop in Bethlehem Steel at Gary one night. I was standing maybe 6-8 feet away beside the right front tire when, boom, a high-pressure hose let go on the draft arm and the machine's fire resistant hydraulic fluid hit me square in the face! I was completely blinded for a few minutes as the fluid had forced it's way all around in back of both eyeballs. After some initial cleaning, there was nothing for it but a swift ride to the mill's infirmary and the tender care of the nurse on duty, she being a former Gestopo agent. She went swiftly to work, using a fire hose to wash out my eyes and cleaning the rest of my face with steel wool and coarse grit sandpaper. She then forced a rapid succession of foot long cotton swabs in and around my eye sockets. Her last bit of torture -- er -- treatment, was to tie me down to an ice cold steel examination table and arrange two drip tubes over each eye. These ran for what seemed several days, but actually was only about thirty minutes. The above was what it felt like I assure you. This nurse actually was none too gentle and was hell bent on getting every last bit of that pinkish fluid out of my eyes. She wasn't happy when I insisted that I could see just fine and had to get back to work, but I was much younger and faster than she was and escaped outside, where I walked in cold darkness about three miles back to the shop. I was still dripping from the fire resistant fluid and it had by then crept into and completely soaked every bit of my clothing, so one could say I was well lubricated. I actually couldn't see all that well and my eyes were sore as hell. I managed to find my company pickup, and after telling the shift foreman to carry on, I headed for home, which was about a thirty minute drive normally. It took me two hours as I dared not drive too fast cause I could hardly see a damn thing, just some blurry lights and larger objects. I even missed the turnoff to the street I lived on, and recognizing the fact that I'd passed it from the familiar and hideous smell coming from a waste oil recovery facility about three miles past the turn off, I made a U-turn and went back. Arriving home finally, I showered for a couple of hours till I ran out of hot water. That fire resistant hydraulic fluid just felt like it was right in the pores of my skin and my hair felt like a bucket of grease. I didn't think I'd ever get clean. After drying off, I had the wife put some eye drops into both eyes, which felt like they were on fire and full of grit, and tried to drop off to sleep. The next morning, early of course, the phone calls started coming in from various people at the plant. Was I all right? Had I gone to hospital? Was I able to see, and so on? My shift didn't start till 3 in the afternoon and I usually slept till noon. So, I didn't get a lot of sleep that night and upon looking at my eyes in a mirror that next morning, I wasn't convinced that I ought to go in for the next shift either. Some of today's sci-fi movie creatures looks didn't have a thing on me. But I could see well and the pain was mostly gone, still felt a bit gravelly when I looked to left or right. I did go in the day after and upon a visit at the mill infirmary was pronounced OK. Then I had to fill out a bunch of reports on what happened and why. I was lucky that time. The fluid was not hot, only luke-warm, and being a fire resistant hydraulic fluid, was more water and glycol than anything else. Had it been hot, or a straight mineral based hydraulic oil, it might have been the worse for me. About two years later in Colorado, I was crawling around in the belly of a Cat D9L dozer, trying to diagnose a hydraulic problem. I had probes and tubes going every which way and the machine was idling as I checked pressures on various circuits. I needed one more tap and had gently started to remove the plug when it popped out and I got showered with very hot 10 weight hydraulic oil. So there I was, wedged in a very small and tight space. I had all eyelids firmly closed. Everything was drenched with hot slippery oil and I couldn't get a foot or hand-hold on a derned thing to get out. The tractor was running and the plug had dropped into the belly pan. I finally found a plug by feel, either the same one or another one that was out of a different tap and stuffed it into the hole, thus at least shutting off the oil bath. Then I had to flop around and get out of the hole and out of the cab. I fell off the tractor when my feet and hands, all covered in oil, slipped, landing on my back in the mud. I was a mess for sure, but managed to find my stash of clean rags and began to clean up. It was colder than hell and snowing lightly with a pretty stiff breeze and I was about 8600 feet up the side of a mountain. Fortunately, I also had a stash of clean uniforms and coveralls in behind the seat of the cab, so stripping off the oil-soaked clothing I continued to clean up and was soon standing alongside my service truck in nothing but my skivvies and socks. Of course, this was just when a bus load of about fifty Gilbert-Western workers drove by. I heard about this for weeks you know. I continued with my work and didn't squeak for a month after. The hydraulic problem turned out to be a defective pressure relief valve which I was able to repair with some sandpaper. Of course, my spare coveralls and uniform was oil soaked again when I finished, as oil was dripping all over the inside of that Cat and I had to get back down in the crawl space to finish up. So I sort of acted like a giant towel, soaking up oil everywhere I reached. I barrowed a clean pair of coveralls from one of the other fellas that night for the drive back into town and also had to relate what had happened to me, which elicited howls of laughter from all 9 of my co-workers. But at least I wasn't badly hurt, only slightly scalded a couple of places. These weren't the first or last of my adventures with oils and fluids soaking me to the skin, but they were a couple of the more memorable.
Squizzy, I reckon my old man must have went to the same school as your old man. Fortunately the oil was only warm, if it had been our Liebherr loader it might have been different, the oil gets as hot as on that. I have got a very nice complexion today, Eric, and thanks, I am OK. We took both hydraulic hoses off today to be replaced, so that it doesn't happen again. After reading your post Joe, hell I haven't got a problem. It sounds like you were very lucky, I couldn't imagine what that would be like. A few years ago a farmer here put his finger over a leaking hydraulic line on a seeder, just as his son pulled the hydraulic lever on the tractor. The pressure injected oil in to his finger which in turn got into his system and from then on he had ongoing health problems until he eventually died. Rn'R.
man, that could'a been real bad. glad yer ok.
RnR, sounds like ya'll need to add a steel mesh over the wind screen on the lower part as to help absorb the shock if another hose were to come off again. Well done you are in good spirits and made it through with just a brushing off of the glass and a visit to the rain locker:beerchug
That was noasty, takes some good force for a hose to blow through a window I've been sprayed a few times in my life. Once was when I was standing beside my grandpa in the excavator oneday when he bumped a tree with the end of the boom of th e excavator and sheared one of the lines going to the bucket cylinder off. I got covered pretty good in fluid that day, it was dripping all out of the trees and everything, atleast 10 gallons came out before he got the bucket grounded. The second time I was running a open cab skid steer and ripped on of the lines off going to the 4 in 1 as I was grading. that one put a nice coating of boiling hot fluid on me and the machine. It left a nice red rash on my exposed skin for a day or so. Well have fun cleaning the cab out, I know how it is. BTW the smell will stay in there for a while
Another Rude Awakening Thanks for your concern, everyone, I thought I was going pretty good, until the new hoses arrived today, with the bill, A$1,224.00. The last hose I bought was slightly smaller, but half the price of one of these hoses, from another company. There are 2 of 1 1/4" x 2metre hoses (3,000 psi), 2 x 90 degree flanges, 1 x 45 degree flange and a swivel joint, all 1". I did query the price but of course they assured me that it was correct. Does anyone have any thoughts or comparisons on this, or am I just out of touch with hydraulic fitting prices? Rn'R.
RnR - check the bill again for your hoses - I sell #20 hose (4250 psi) for $30.50 a foot, and the hose ends for 30-40 each. I cannot imagine that the Canuck dollar is that much different than the Aussie dollar. :beatsme so - 12 feet at 30.50 is 366 and 4 ends at 40 is 160 and that totals $526.00 I'd say that someone is padding the bill.
I have a sneaking supicion that you might be right, Partsdude. At the time of posting $1.00 AUD = $0.79 CAD. $1,224.74 AUD = $979.28 CAD. The hose ends are certainly a lot different to your prices. I think next time we will just send the order to you. Here is the Invoice for you to have a look at. Rn'R.
RnR Your Hose ends are more expensive than the quick connects I bought last time I did a demo......DAMHIK:Banghead:Banghead
We usually send our larger hoses to Adelaide through our local supplier because they don't carry those sizes, but because they are pretty casual we thought we would go direct to NZ. The job and service was very good but so is the price. You would think that they would be competetive because they are Australia wide, but I think we might be going back to the original supplier. Rn'R.
Ahh...that explains it.......they are about as subtle as daylight robbery. I use a mob called Couplers. They have a service truck on the road which is handy when you rip your clamshell hoses off the bucket.................
Well, at least the labor charge was reasonable, but they make up for it in a big way with the parts mark up. I guess i can't complain about the 8.25% tax rate in the LA area anymore, what with you paying 10% tax. Sorry to hear about your shower.
I shudder to think what it would have cost for them to come out to the job. We sent the hoses to them! At least the oil washed off, Jerry, the taste of the cost of the parts will last a little longer. The 10% tax is reclaimable for business. Rn'R.
I busted one hose last time....needed a 90 deg fitting and about 4 ft of hose. Cost me $160 on-site and the machine was down for less than an hour......of course I complained about them being slow and expensive Its not Tax..its merry-go-round money:cool2.....I just want to know when they are gunna pay me for collecting it for them:bash
Thanks for giving the part numbers - as you can see I supply exactly the same items - for a lot less I might add. I could darn near hand deliver them to you for the price you paid and I am still making a profit too. We would give 10% off too if you were a steady, repeat customer as well. 20 dollars for labour?
Partsdude Thats inline with what I would expect to pay for a couple of hoses here as well. Too bad the dealer R&R went to had to gouge his customer so hard. I would imagine they wonder why its hard to get repeat customers. R & R Glad the oil washed off, though it probably tasted better than the bill.
I can only think of 3 reasons why the prices are out of line - 1- They added a freight charge to get the items in - highly unlikely though, accountants like to see freight billed seperately on invoices. 2- They set up the part numbers in the computer incorrectly. I bet that the pricing that they got from Parker Hannifin had a "marked up price" and their cost price. Instead of marking up the cost as is correct, they marked up the already marked up price. 3- They are just being *insert expletive here* and gouging the daylights out of everyone.
They are a national franchise company specialising in repairing all hydraulic hoses in the field and all of the outlets are independent franchises. That may explain it, maybe this particular franchisee want's to get rich quick. Perhaps we are paying field service rates for getting the hoses made in their workshop. Rn'R.
What about getting your fitter to fabricate a steel guard over these pipes to stop them coming into the cab the next time they blow? Neil
You are right, Neil, it needs a guard or steel mesh there to protect the windscreen. It is a case of "hindsight being a wonderfull thing", I just never expected it and how often does a hose blow completely out of the fitting, they usually just burst. Rn'R.
Rocksn'Roses Count the hindsight thing out -I suffer from a distinct lack of that!!!! More the "Been there, done that, bought the tee-shirt" sort of experience cheers Neil
non operators don't know about some of the dangers like this, they think you sit on your can all day having fun, then blammo! you get an oil bath at the least or burned, injured, dead. I got a 963 track loader with an open rops and some hyd lines on the bucket cylinder that are looking a little rotten. Time to replace after reading your post. I think I have seen some loaders with a guard over the lines. seems like a good idea. Back around 1990 I was running an old 627 with an open rops. I looked back at the bowl and pulled the lever to lift the apron or raise the bowl, can't remember which, and the line blowed out on the hitch right behind the cab. It caught me full in the face, I didn't know what happened at first, I guess it stunned me. Lucky for me it was before the oil got hot. No injuries just a needed to get cleaned up. oh yeah, and fix the dang hose and get back to work!
Repairing earthmovers over many years Ive had plenty of soakings with hot high pressure hydraulic oil but the worst case of injury I came across was when one of our mechanics was trying to trace a leak in the cab of a mich.275 loader. A very fine 'mist' of oil was coming up from the pilot pressure hoses beneath a cover and rather than take the cover off and have a look he tried to locate the leak by running his hand along the pipes. He found the leak alright after the oil punctured the skin on his hand. He ended up with a hydraulic version of the 'bends' and spent some time in hospital recovering.
Terex, Have to admit I never knew you could get poisoned with oil puncturing the skin until the first Health & Safety cards came out around 1989 this neck of the woods. I have to say the thought of the pain and suffering etc to this day when I see a hydraulic mist or leak, I step back and focus my thoughts remembering this stuff so I do not do something stupid on the spur of the moment. Neil
The same thing happened to a farmer here a few years ago. He put his finger over a leak in a hydraulic line to a seeder, just as his son pulled the lever and the oil was injected into his finger. He was very ill for a while, but his health never really recovered until he died. Rn'R.
About the only real treatment of Hydro oil poisoning (injected into you), is to have a blood transfusion. That will rid most of it, however still not 100%.
Yes Rocksn'Roses I have. I was operating an 18 yd. Dart loader and a tilt cyl. hose failed and shot my hard hat off and saturated me with hot oil. No air con so the side window and cab door was open. With the same loader I sent a ball of rattle snakes to the dam and the dump man on the impervious zone had to keep his eyes open for a while. I never saw the snakes go into the belly dump but there were snakes crawling around on the ground down below.
I hope the oil wasn't too hot, Dave, it certainly wakes you up when it happens. I do not know anything about rattlesnakes, I only have seen pictures of them, but here the King Brown's hibernate through winter and they like to hibernate under the piles of limestone rocks that we crush. If you are operating the feeder on the crusher, it is not unusual to see a big old King Brown wriggling his way across the scalper and the loader driver will be sitting there, waiting for a reaction, although quite often, they do not even know that the snake is in the bucket. One of the jobs is picking the sticks off the scalper and a brown snake looks very similar to a stick and occasionally you have to make a hurried retreat from the scalper. Fortunately at that time of the year, they are pretty dopey and they either finish up going through the crusher, or slithering through the scalper screen and out the scalper belt. Rn'R.
It is certainly something to be mindful of xcavator120 and as I described in my earlier post, it can happen so easily. Rn'R.
That's probably my fate too, Rn'R... :cool2 OCR...
bn there and done that RnR.......sorry that it happen 2 u...i hade a Komatsu PC650 bust a stick cylinder line at the jumper end from hose to pipe right next to the cab window....u know komatsu's pressure is 8000 plus psi....ouch......hot oil 3rd degree burns.......bck in 1989.......i glad you didnt get hurt......
Ahhh...I reckon theres a coupla miles left in ya yet OCR
Ya' think. Maybe a few, but they seem to be going by, rather fast... And thank you... OCR
it has never happen to me but my dad was on our 980c cat loader and the same hose broke but it was the other end and i just stopped for lunch and all the oil had sprayed in the the cab I was just sitting in and it was some hot oil.
man glad youre ok .....had my share of the oil baths working on 210 , 310 appentice and barko 160 knuckle booms .....most dangerous thing i seen happened 5 years ago working at a trucking co that had thier own mobar mulch grinder and chipper dump .... the chip dump you could back a tracter trailer on it unhook truck pull up and it would pick it up almost straight up in air emptying the chips inside 2 cylinders 7 or 8 stages cant remeber .. well it had a hose leaking and we where digging the chips and dust from under it and big boss man rolled up asked what the hell are yall doing , i tolded him he laughed said its got ball valves inline pick it up and replace hose .. i said no he responsed youre fired .. i said ok ... was gathering my tools and watching him and others lift this conrete slab in air straight up hydralic fluid streaming out like a baby pissing and procede to remove hose .. he made a half turn hose blew off soaked him with 200 gallons of fluid ( he was wearing a high dollar leather coat silk shirt and slacks ) all workers under dump had to climb out as the slab came down in 30 secs ...no one hurt thankfully but 1000 in coats lol they left their truck doors open so had to redo interoir in work trucks ..... priceless ..... i was fires rehired with a rasie that nite ........ left a year later cause they stilll took to many chances .......