First... The story. On my M5660SUHD with WR Long 4 in 1 bucket, purchased less than 2 months ago at the dealer... I crushed and blew the hoses on the bucket that open and close the bucket. Took them off and gave em to the wife to stop by the dealer to check on replacements.
My expectation was to pay around $30 per hose. The specs as I saw them were... 5000 PSI, 3/8", 3/8" female something on one end, 1/2" male something on the other, 4'5" end to end. I could not find this makeup at TSC, but it seemed attainable online generally depending on what the actual threadforms were.
Wife returns with 2 hoses. 3000 PSI rated. And the following statements from the service guy:
- "We only have one type of hose here, it is 3000 PSI on everything even the big excavators and skid steers"
- "I don't understand why the bucket manufacturer put that hose on there when the tractor's max PSI is like half that"
- "The old threads where it connects to the bucket had tape on them - the new threads don't. We are trying to get away from that due to contamination."
Anyone else have issue getting hoses from your dealer? Looking around my tractor, all of the hoses are 5000 PSI except for the lowering ones on the main boom. It sounds like I can't count on my dealer for these replacements. That's pretty disappointing given the reason I chose Kubota was dealership proximity... They didn't even have the right size grease nipples in stock...
Re: 5000 PSI: While it's true that my tractor pump can only generate 2800 PSI... That doesn't mean that grabbing a slightly lopsided tree that's trying to force my jaws open is going to generate less than that. Isn't sizing the hoses based on what the pump can output kind of a rookie mistake? I feel like there's a damn good reason WR Long went to the extra expense to put 5000 PSI hoses on there, and the tractor came with the 5K hoses already on the loader itself too. There are more forces at play than just what the pump can do, right? I do wonder about hoses as a sort of breaker... I wouldn't want some twisted tree puling on the bucket to nuke my valves or something, I'd rather it pop a hose... What's the right play here? Surely the manufacturer knows what they're doing?
Fitting-junkies, fact check me here... The male end of my hoses was billed as "Male NPTF Pipe Swivel". This is the end that was previously taped, by WR Long, on the 4n1 bucket. My understanding is that NPTF fitting do not require tape because they're meant to deform the threads slightly and form a mechanical seal between the metal. NPT however requires some kind of tape or sealant. Isn't it likely that I have NPT threads on the bucket, and now that I have a "no tape needed" NPTF thread on the new hoses, I'm connecting NPTF to NPT and therefore will still need some kind of sealant / tape?
And finally... The bill for two hoses:
8 feet of 387TC-6-RL 3/8" 3000 PSI hose @ 5.75 each = $46
2 female JIC 37 swivels @ 8.20 each = $16.40
2 male NPTF pipe swivels @ 20.95 each = $41.90
$104.30
That seems like a lot of dealer markup... checking on a local-ish (1 hour away) hose co's website it looks like I can build a 5000 PSI hose with these fittings (though I'm not sure if it's NPTF or NPT) for $21 each! Seems like it's in the ballpark of TSC's various hoses too.
Finally...
Would it make any sense to replace fittings / install adapters to make sure my hoses use some more... standard/better... fitting? Like JIC swivels or something... Not sure if one thing is more common / easier than the other. Especially on these 3rd function hoses that I feel like I'm gonna tear up a lot.
My expectation was to pay around $30 per hose. The specs as I saw them were... 5000 PSI, 3/8", 3/8" female something on one end, 1/2" male something on the other, 4'5" end to end. I could not find this makeup at TSC, but it seemed attainable online generally depending on what the actual threadforms were.
Wife returns with 2 hoses. 3000 PSI rated. And the following statements from the service guy:
- "We only have one type of hose here, it is 3000 PSI on everything even the big excavators and skid steers"
- "I don't understand why the bucket manufacturer put that hose on there when the tractor's max PSI is like half that"
- "The old threads where it connects to the bucket had tape on them - the new threads don't. We are trying to get away from that due to contamination."
Anyone else have issue getting hoses from your dealer? Looking around my tractor, all of the hoses are 5000 PSI except for the lowering ones on the main boom. It sounds like I can't count on my dealer for these replacements. That's pretty disappointing given the reason I chose Kubota was dealership proximity... They didn't even have the right size grease nipples in stock...
Re: 5000 PSI: While it's true that my tractor pump can only generate 2800 PSI... That doesn't mean that grabbing a slightly lopsided tree that's trying to force my jaws open is going to generate less than that. Isn't sizing the hoses based on what the pump can output kind of a rookie mistake? I feel like there's a damn good reason WR Long went to the extra expense to put 5000 PSI hoses on there, and the tractor came with the 5K hoses already on the loader itself too. There are more forces at play than just what the pump can do, right? I do wonder about hoses as a sort of breaker... I wouldn't want some twisted tree puling on the bucket to nuke my valves or something, I'd rather it pop a hose... What's the right play here? Surely the manufacturer knows what they're doing?
Fitting-junkies, fact check me here... The male end of my hoses was billed as "Male NPTF Pipe Swivel". This is the end that was previously taped, by WR Long, on the 4n1 bucket. My understanding is that NPTF fitting do not require tape because they're meant to deform the threads slightly and form a mechanical seal between the metal. NPT however requires some kind of tape or sealant. Isn't it likely that I have NPT threads on the bucket, and now that I have a "no tape needed" NPTF thread on the new hoses, I'm connecting NPTF to NPT and therefore will still need some kind of sealant / tape?
And finally... The bill for two hoses:
8 feet of 387TC-6-RL 3/8" 3000 PSI hose @ 5.75 each = $46
2 female JIC 37 swivels @ 8.20 each = $16.40
2 male NPTF pipe swivels @ 20.95 each = $41.90
$104.30
That seems like a lot of dealer markup... checking on a local-ish (1 hour away) hose co's website it looks like I can build a 5000 PSI hose with these fittings (though I'm not sure if it's NPTF or NPT) for $21 each! Seems like it's in the ballpark of TSC's various hoses too.
Finally...
Would it make any sense to replace fittings / install adapters to make sure my hoses use some more... standard/better... fitting? Like JIC swivels or something... Not sure if one thing is more common / easier than the other. Especially on these 3rd function hoses that I feel like I'm gonna tear up a lot.
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