L48 TLB oil cooler hoses

[fried1765]

The Kubota manual recommends replacing the two factory formed oil cooler hoses every two years.
Does anyone know just why this is.
My L48 is 17 years old, and the oil cooler hoses have apparently never been replaced.
Should I consider this to be a problem that needs attention?
I have zero drips or leaks, and the hoses look just fine.

 

[kubotafreak]

Ya, along with every hose on the machine every 4 years… its for their liability, no body actually does it. The dealer would probably laugh you out of their parts counter. Happy to sell you all the rubber hoses. Now with saying that once one goes to age they all are prob close to the same demise. The hyd cooler hoses up front, along with the small coolant hoses probably fail the soonest from my experience. Def not at the two year mark…..

 

[fried1765]

Ya, along with every hose on the machine every 4 years… its for their liability, no body actually does it. The dealer would probably laugh you out of their parts counter. Happy to sell you all the rubber hoses. Now with saying that once one goes to age they all are prob close to the same demise. The hyd cooler hoses up front, along with the small coolant hoses probably fail the soonest from my experience. Def not at the two year mark…..

Thank you.
What you say is what I suspected.

I am thinking about buying the two OEM formed oil cooler hoses as spares. ($130 total)
Tractor is 17 years old .......but has exceptionally low hours.
How long should I expect to be able to find these OEM hoses?

Messick's has two in stock,...... Coleman has none, but suggests that they can order.

 

[kubotafreak]

Thank you.
What you say is what I suspected.

I am thinking about buying the two OEM formed oil cooler hoses as spares. ($130 total)
Tractor is 17 years old .......but has exceptionally low hours.
How long should I expect to be able to find these OEM hoses?

Messick's has two in stock,...... Coleman has none, but suggests that they can order.

Well one of the best parts about a good manufacturer, is past part availability. John deere and kubota have great parts networks. Ive easily bought parts for machines 40+years old. The soft parts are almost always available. Hard parts like sheet metal, and badges are the first to fall off the availability.

 

[fried1765]

Well one of the best parts about a good manufacturer, is past part availability. John deere and kubota have great parts networks. Ive easily bought parts for machines 40+years old. The soft parts are almost always available. Hard parts like sheet metal, and badges are the first to fall off the availability.

Thank you!

 

[Russell King]

The Kubota manual recommends replacing the two factory formed oil cooler hoses every two years.
Does anyone know just why this is.
My L48 is 17 years old, and the oil cooler hoses have apparently never been replaced.
Should I consider this to be a problem that needs attention?
I have zero drips or leaks, and the hoses look just fine.

I assume that if one of those hoses fails the tractor would pump out all of the fluid in a fairly short amount of time. I also assume that there would be little evidence of the hose failure from the seat of the tractor so the operator would not be aware of impending damage to the tractor.

If those assumptions are good then the replacement of the relatively inexpensive hoses to prevent damage to expensive components is a good method of risk management for the the owne.

 

[PaulL]

I assume that if one of those hoses fails the tractor would pump out all of the fluid in a fairly short amount of time. I also assume that there would be little evidence of the hose failure from the seat of the tractor so the operator would not be aware of impending damage to the tractor.

If those assumptions are good then the replacement of the relatively inexpensive hoses to prevent damage to expensive components is a good method of risk management for the the owne.

True enough. But a good enough risk management might be to check them once in a while to see if they're in good condition - cracks or aging might indicate it's time to replace. Otherwise......just how often would you replace them "just in case"? Every two years like Kubota say? That could get quite expensive.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I assume that if one of those hoses fails the tractor would pump out all of the fluid in a fairly short amount of time. I also assume that there would be little evidence of the hose failure from the seat of the tractor so the operator would not be aware of impending damage to the tractor.

If those assumptions are good then the replacement of the relatively inexpensive hoses to prevent damage to expensive components is a good method of risk management for the the owne.

Same as things like belts and hoses on over the road cars and trucks. When they break they often leave you with a dead machine walk home situation and potentisl for more serious damage. Yet most owners roll the dice and very few people actually follow the manufacturers recommended replacement schedule.

Dan

 

[Smokeydog]

Kubota don’t make the hose material. Those are low pressure hoses going to the cooler. A good hydraulic shop could made as good or better hoses much cheaper. Blessed with great hydraulic shop that supplies the area government, fabrication and high tech. Automation robot lines get periodic custom hose replacements that fill a semi truck. Support walk ins like this little farmer, fabricator. If you ever reach 400hr service would be the time to change.

 

[mikester]

I just have a good look at my hoses/belts every 200 hour service. If the rubber is starting to get hard and brittle it's time to consider changing them. Easier to change items in the shop than in the back fields after a blow out and my machine becomes a boat anchor.

 

[fried1765]

Kubota don’t make the hose material. Those are low pressure hoses going to the cooler. A good hydraulic shop could made as good or better hoses much cheaper. Blessed with great hydraulic shop that supplies the area government, fabrication and high tech. Automation robot lines get periodic custom hose replacements that fill a semi truck. Support walk ins like this little farmer, fabricator. If you ever reach 400hr service would be the time to change.

Any "good hydraulic shop" can form 90 degree end rubber hoses, to fit metric barb fittings?
The hoses I am referring to must be formed, and made of rubber,...... for vibration purposes.

I always believed that custom formed rubber hoses came pre-formed, only from a rubber hose manufacturer.
I was not aware that rubber hose forming/shaping could also be done by a "good hydraulic shop".
I need to learn more about that!

I suppose a hydraulic shop could create a Rube Goldberg arrangement of straight hose pieces, and brass/steel, 90 degree barbed fittings, but that would seem to be a poor solution in my opinion.

 

[fried1765]

I just have a good look at my hoses/belts every 200 hour service. If the rubber is starting to get hard and brittle it's time to consider changing them. Easier to change items in the shop than in the back fields after a blow out and my machine becomes a boat anchor.

I check belts and hoses often, on everything.
My question here really is, should I buy and store $130 worth of hoses, even though the 17 year old OEM hoses still look good?
Is static aging, and/or the hydraulic fluid itself, a factor on the life of these low pressure hoses?
When will mother Kubota no longer stock/sell these hoses?

 

[kubotafreak]

I check belts and hoses often, on everything.
My question here really is, should I buy and store $130 worth of hoses, even though the 17 year old OEM hoses still look good?
Is static aging, and/or the hydraulic fluid itself, a factor on the life of these soft low pressure hoses?
When will mother Kubota no longer stock/sell these hoses?

Static aging would take an (x)multiple of years longer to age, than one on the machine. Things like heat, fluid additive absorption, and mainly ozone exposure. Very few if any of those have effect on a new hose in plastic wrap, in a box, located in your shaded garage. Would I stock them? Not yet, you still got 20 more years…

 

[fried1765]

Static aging would take an (x)multiple of years longer to age, than one on the machine. Things like heat, fluid additive absorption, and mainly ozone exposure. Very few if any of those have effect on a new hose in plastic wrap, in a box, located in your shaded garage. Would I stock them? Not yet, you still got 20 more years…

THAT....is what I really wanted to know!

"you still got 20 more years"....Ya think?
In 20 more years..... I will be 102 !

 

[fried1765]

Static aging would take an (x)multiple of years longer to age, than one on the machine. Things like heat, fluid additive absorption, and mainly ozone exposure. Very few if any of those have effect on a new hose in plastic wrap, in a box, located in your shaded garage. Would I stock them? Not yet, you still got 20 more years…

"fluid additive absorption"......is that actually a thing, for low pressure formed rubber hydraulic hoses?

 

[kubotafreak]

"fluid additive absorption"......is that actually a thing, for low pressure formed rubber hydraulic hoses?

Think of it like this, if a rubber hose was placed in pure oil alone, it could stay that way probably indefinitely unchanged. It is the additional additives, or contaminants in the fluid that cause them to swell or rot from the inside. Any time you see a product advertised as stop leak, some derivative ether that swells rubber(seals) to make them stop leaking. The factory spec fluids are compatible from an oem standpoint, for an acceptable life. Over time people usually add or swap incompatible fluids, or introduce contaminates(fuel for example). These often take years to manifest, since rubber is pretty resilient by nature. Some hoses have special synthetic layers internally to combat absorption. Id say the ones we are talking about are a quality multi fluid rubber with a nylon braid reinforcement.

A formed hose was just placed in a particular shape before being fully vulcanized. Thats another thing, the heat from running on the engine continues this vulcanization of the rubber, thus they get harder over time. Think how pliable a new hose is compared to a used one.

 

[fried1765]

Think of it like this, if a rubber hose was placed in pure oil alone, it could stay that way indefinitely unchanged. It is the additional additives, or contaminants in the fluid that cause them to swell or rot from the inside. Any time you see a product advertised as stop leak, some derivative ether that swells rubber(seals) to make them stop leaking. The factory spec fluids are compatible from an oem standpoint, but over time people add or swap incompatible fluids, or introduce contaminates(fuel for example). These often take years to manifest, since rubber is pretty resilient by nature. Some hoses have special synthetic layers internally to combat absorption. Id say the ones we are talking about are just the standard multi fluid rubber with a nylon braid reinforcement.

Absolutely logical!
Logic, itself however,....... seems to be in very short supply these days!

Thank you!