Note to self

It is best to replace hydraulic hoses when they are dry and cracked and the sun is shining rather than wait for them to blow out in the middle of pushing 26 inches of snow and then replace them in the middle of a snowstorm. I hate to replace anything until is is broken and this is how I pay for it!

When I put the loader on our 4020 back about 1991 ? I also put all new hoses on it for this very reason. Has been very reliable so far.

Aw come on. I've got a lot more ambition in this kind of weather than I have when it's nice out there. This kinda stuff keeps you from daydreaming and keeps you motivated.

I have used old cracked Hydraulic lines for years without trouble If the center rubber is good they will last a long time watch for for open or frayed metal webbing this is not good.
Just a little weather cracking on the outside rubber won't them hurt a bit. If they are hard to bend and you can't compress them when not in use then they are in need of replacement.

Walt

Yup...found that out yesterday moving snow with my back blade that has a hydraulic cylinder to swivel it. Caught a chunk of frozen ground with the outside edge and "pop"....with a nice shot of oil into the air. Fortunately I had another old hose in the barn....better than bending up iron, tho!

I never cleaned my gutters unless Im getting soaked in the pouring rain.

I never replace them till they brake. On my back hoe there are hoses that look like they would blow at any time and have looked that way for 20 plus years. If it isn't broke don't fix it. Now I do keep a few hoses on hand just in case but I'll not swap one till I need to plus a lot of the newer hoses blow faster then the old one do
Hobby farm

Nearly every back blade that has been brought to me for repair has been messed up while plowing snow. No body ever seems to break one just moving dirt. I think this is because you can get up a pretty good speed in snow, and the obstacles are not only hard but frozen in.

Blades built specifically for snow all have some sort of spring loaded trip mechanism to protect them from this.

Almost all hydraulic angle truck mounted snowplows also have a "crossover relief valve". This allows the fluid to bleed from one end of the angling cylinder to the other if you hit something really hard. It is still possible to blow hoses, but not nearly as easy, and it really prevents iron from bending. It mounts as close to the cylinder as possible with two short hoses running to the cylinder, and your main hoses going into the valve.

It might be worth it to put one on your blade. You might spend, I'm guessing, $110-150 for the valve and two short hoses.

Well, it depends on the circumstances. If it's a PITA to get at and one next to it blew,or it's a restoration, I might replace all of them while I'm in there. If it's just a hose to a 3x8" cylinder or anything that's easy to get at, we generally use them till they blow.

Cold weather might persuade me otherwise, but more often than not, run 'em till they puke out oil

Donovan from Wisconsin

Yabbit,I blew one on my Case TLB,just to my right,got an oil bath from top of my head to my waist,oil was not hot as I had just started it!!

Like the old guy said on TV pay me now or pay me more later.

Hi Dave! Are we having fun yet? I spent about 5 hours on my tractor yesterday trying to move snow. I broke one of the chains, so I had to fix that. And somehow, the trip loader no longer wants to hook closed, but I found that it works fairly well pushing the snow loose. I sure got cold!

They still haven't plowed our road, but my neighbor has a pickup plow and he opened it up. We went to town today and the traffic is terrible. It took us 40 minutes to get from Trent and Argonne to Broadway and Sullivan...had to sit through 6 cycles of the traffic lights to cross Sullivan. If you can, avoid the Valley.

I try to keep my equipment up pretty well, but it always seems that something breaks at the worst possible time...Murphy, I guess! I have had new looking hydraulic hoses cut loose, and have had some real ragged looking ones hold for years.

Isn't this snow something? I remember 1968-69 when we had a lot of snow that just never left until Spring. But I sure don't ever remember us getting this much, this fast. I measured about 22" of new snow yesterday afternoon and it looks like there are about 4 or 5" of new snow today on the car I brushed off yesterday. And the forecast is for 3 to 6" more tonight. I sure hope it gets it out of its system. I am tired of snow already.

I suppose I better get busy. Have a Merry Christmas and a good New Year!

Hey, winter of '68-'69! I was a junior at WSU at that time- I lived on the west side of the state (Tenino), but had a girlfriend that lived at St. John. I obviously couldn't make it home, so she invited me to her place for semester break! Didn't have to twist my arm. As we were headed for St. John in my '59 Ford, came to a spot in the road that was drifted shut. State Cop said, "Just line up straight, and blast through the drift." We did, and got a little wave from the trooper on the other side as we emerged from the white-out. Made it to our destination without any further problems. Her dad was a wheat farmer, and had lots of projects lined up- one of which was to go into the town of St. John and shovel the snow off of senior citizens' roofs. Overheard her dad talking to her mom that night- "Not only did he never whine, but the kid also knows how to handle a shovel. I like him." What's to whine about? Enough activity to keep me warm, and all the old ladies had cookies and hugs after we were done!

I was always bothered by the suspicion that she was a little too intellectual for this simple soul. The next spring, she did a "semester abroad" in England, and I pretty much figured that it would never be the same afterward. I was right, and haven't seen her for 40 years now. I think she was just a little too classy for me. I was able to rebound, and have been married to more earthy present wife for 38 years now. 4 grandkids, and we're as happy as if we had good sense.

BTW, got back to the AGR house at Wazuu, and found that the city had selected our parking lot to deposit all the snow they scraped off the city streets adjacent. Took me two months to finally re-establish my parking place.

Arrived at our cabin this summer, turned the water on and the valve handle just spun around. Not suprised as it had been leaking for 2 summers. Hooked up the backhoe attacehment on the Bobcat and just as I got close enough to turn the vale by hand a hose on the arm blew covering me and the Bobcat in oil.
I did replace all the hoses inside the arm while I had it apart. But left the rest for another day.
So I guess I use the "if ain't broke don't fix it" policy. As I knew the hoses were worn and the valve leaked all along. At least I got the hole dug before it went.