I have an L-35 w/1,184hrs, about 16yrs/old. I'm wondering about replacement b4 failure. How long do they usually last? Should I preemptively replace then at XX,xxx hrs, or XX years? It looks like an extensive/expensive task. I'd prefer replacing them b4 they fail, but I don't want to do it unnecessarily.
Thanks for your input.
Do you want to replace them a week before they fail or 5 minutes? jk My L35 is about 16 years old, and by the looks of the paint I'd say it's spent a fair amount of time in the sun. It has probably twice the hours yours has. In the year that I've had it, I've replaced 12 (I think) hoses and repacked 5 cylinders on the backhoe plus 1 or 2 main hoses. My experience:
1 Cylinders rarely completely fail suddenly. So you just have to endure a drip while waiting on re-pack kits without incurring down time. When a hose goes, it has to be fixed now. You can have them made locally at NAPA or other places. But the fitting nut on the dipper hose I had made was one wrench size bigger and I had to grind out the slot in the boom where the hose exits. So far, I've found the hoses to be cheaper from Kubota, but they're not dealer stock.
2 If either of the 2 main pressure hoses fail, you're dead in the water. Mine failed as I was trying to use the loader to get unstuck. So I couldn't use the backhoe either. When you pressure up even a pin hole, that $25/gal fluid goes fast.
3 On the L35 backhoe (BT900), 6 hoses from the valve go through the shoulder joint between the pivot pin and the boom cylinder's bottom pin. And the boom cylinder is inside the boom so it's not easily accessible. Depending on how you value your time (and enjoy greasy wrenching) it might be smart to replace those 6 hoses and repack that cylinder when the first one goes. I had a drip coming out of that joint but I couldn't tell where the leak was. I ordered 2 hoses and the kit. The leak was in a hose, so to save ~$75 I replaced the hoses and sent the kit back. I should have bit the bullet. Now I've replaced those 6 hoses and I'll have to take the cylinder back out when it goes. Dumb.
4 Mark both ends of every hose with an engraver. Don't trust a permanent marker. On the loader you can do one hose at a time and see the entire thing, but on the hose, sometimes it's necessary to take several off at the same time. If you get even a couple crossed, you can waste a lot of time and brain cells figuring it out.
5 Wrap your hoses to prevent wear. I've been replacing the plastic spiral wrap, but this is time consuming to put on. You may prefer the fabric type and want to order it ahead of time.
So, it depends on how you value your time and downtime. Yeah, some of the hoses and kits (BTW, there's a serial number break so you'll need SN's on your hoe and loader to order parts) are pricy so you can factor that in. Some of the hoses are easy to get to, so replacing them is no big deal. Others, not so much.
