BetterThanAShovel
Active member
Equipment
B2650, BH77, SG0660 grapple, pallet forks, Bobcat 60" box blade
Ok, quick story time first....with the winter storm looming, I knew it was time to bring in the firewood. We store our firewood under a pole barn about 100 ft from the house, so to make getting wood for the stove easier, I devised a system that involves using the tractor (that was kinda my only requirement). I took a pallet and built 3 sides on it, and so I'll put the pallet forks on, take the pallet/box to the wood pile and load it up, then I'll drop the pallet off in our garage which makes getting wood for the fire a lot easier and keeps the mess outside of the house itself (we used to load wood into the house through a window into a firewood holder next to the fireplace).
I had the grapple on at the time, so step 1 was to unconnect the hydraulic connectors. One came off somewhat easy (they're never completely easy...worst part of changing tools on the tractor, by far), but the 2nd one just would NOT come off. I finally got underneath, made super sure it was lined up, and used a flathead screwdriver (NOT TO PRY!) just to push the outer ring back, since I couldn't get a good grip on it. It kinda suddenly save, and out popped the connector. Yay!
Side note...after putting the wood into the box on the pallet forks, I discovered that the box blade on the back was NOT really sufficient to the task. I USUALLY have the backhoe back there. I could feel the tractor tilting and noticed a back wheel idly spinning. I reoriented to more level ground, used 4 wd and diff lock, and was able to get the task done...but lesson learned.
Ok, thanks for sticking with me, here's the actual problem:
After I was done, I noticed drops on the garage floor, and they formed a trail where the tractor had been. I couldn't figure where that was coming from, so I did some searching...and found it was coming from the hydraulic connector. Not a stream, but just a steady drip. I followed the trail back to where the tractor had been parked, so ya, that had been leaking since the moment it was disconnected. Looking at the connector (bottom middle of pic), it did not look right. Its supposed to be a flat face connector, but it's missing part of its face! I looked all over where the drips had started and could not find any piece of metal missing. Did something come loose? Is that connector a goner?
I had the grapple on at the time, so step 1 was to unconnect the hydraulic connectors. One came off somewhat easy (they're never completely easy...worst part of changing tools on the tractor, by far), but the 2nd one just would NOT come off. I finally got underneath, made super sure it was lined up, and used a flathead screwdriver (NOT TO PRY!) just to push the outer ring back, since I couldn't get a good grip on it. It kinda suddenly save, and out popped the connector. Yay!
Side note...after putting the wood into the box on the pallet forks, I discovered that the box blade on the back was NOT really sufficient to the task. I USUALLY have the backhoe back there. I could feel the tractor tilting and noticed a back wheel idly spinning. I reoriented to more level ground, used 4 wd and diff lock, and was able to get the task done...but lesson learned.
Ok, thanks for sticking with me, here's the actual problem:
After I was done, I noticed drops on the garage floor, and they formed a trail where the tractor had been. I couldn't figure where that was coming from, so I did some searching...and found it was coming from the hydraulic connector. Not a stream, but just a steady drip. I followed the trail back to where the tractor had been parked, so ya, that had been leaking since the moment it was disconnected. Looking at the connector (bottom middle of pic), it did not look right. Its supposed to be a flat face connector, but it's missing part of its face! I looked all over where the drips had started and could not find any piece of metal missing. Did something come loose? Is that connector a goner?
