Flat face style couplers.... garbage or somthing else?

[Shadow_storm56]

So I have only had my orchard tractor for a year... maybe 2 and although theres been alot of little dumb issues like loose fittings and things out of adjustment...couple faulty parts ect... overall it's a very good tractor and is holding up better than my previous orchard tractor but for some reason orchard tractor in general always have dumb issues..... anyways this is an m5n-091 and ever since I put the loader on this year it's been leaking hydraulic oil at the manifold. The main seal on the manifold was loose so I tightened that to no avail so I took the gaurd off and reattached the hoses to find out..... all of the couplers themselves are leaking.

People have always told me that bobcat style couplers are the best but I have very old... very rusty standard style quick couplers that don't leak and these look new and pristine but all of them leak. I even tried putting some greese on the fitting first incase something wasn't slipping in place correctly but it made no difference. I have never seen quick couplers that were so terrible....

So I plan to just change them out for your standard style coupler that dosen't leak but I'm so curious because how can this happen? They leak soooooo bad... am I that unlucky that I got 4 bad fittings that I can't see anything wrong with it.

 

[Daferris]

I have flat face couplers on the 3rd function for two reasons. 1). They are easier to clean before connecting. 2). They lose less fluid when disconnecting.
It sounds to my like it's possible that yours have some foreign matter caught in them either damaging or holding open the seal in them

 

[leveraddict]

I guess they were ok before you removed the loader? Did you try unhooking them and reattaching? When you hooked up were you too far away but forced the coupler on anyway? In my opinion these couplers dont start leaking on their own without some operator error! Many have complained about the BX manifold leaking but in 5 years I never had a problem. In the summer I remove the loader twice a week!

 

[Shadow_storm56]

I guess they were ok before you removed the loader? Did you try unhooking them and reattaching? When you hooked up were you too far away but forced the coupler on anyway? In my opinion these couplers dont start leaking on their own without some operator error! Many have complained about the BX manifold leaking but in 5 years I never had a problem. In the summer I remove the loader twice a week!

I unhooked and reattached a couple times yes.... tried everything I could think of to help them out and they just keep leaking. They look fine... the irony is in my life I have never had one of the standard quick couplers leak like that... the normal amount on attaching and removing but that's about it. The only time I had to push them on a bit harder was when I put the loader on, it had settled some and was under slight pressure... but that was only 1 of the 4.. the rest went on easily.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

I guess they were ok before you removed the loader? Did you try unhooking them and reattaching? When you hooked up were you too far away but forced the coupler on anyway? In my opinion these couplers dont start leaking on their own without some operator error! Many have complained about the BX manifold leaking but in 5 years I never had a problem. In the summer I remove the loader twice a week!

Originally I thought it was the manifold main seal leaking as all but one of the bolts was fairly loose, but it was not that. If I can get the correct adapter as the one end is a bit strange...... I will just put the standard quick couplers on since they seem to work alot better. I'm guessing what killed these was the fact kubota never sent me the plastic cover for the manifold for when the loader is removed... so for about 6-7 months of the year those male ends just stick out in the weather and in the cloud of spray from the orchard sprayer.. They sound like a little bit of powder residue on them could mess up the internal seals pretty easily.

They sound like the type that need to be babied very carefully but you get the benifit of that clean connection and disconnection

 

[mikester]

Buy a different brand of FFC. If they still leak then you need to replace the operator.

 

[NCL4701]

I’ve had one of the Pioneer fittings on the third function that got to be leaky. It was due to operator error, not keeping them clean, which resulted in damage to the O-ring in the female fitting. Bought a couple dozen appropriate sized and hardness O-rings for about $5, pulled out the old O-ring with a brass pick, installed new O-ring, and no more issues. Of course I’m now more religious about keeping them clean. YMMV.

 

[Thunder chicken]

What brand of loader do you have?
I have an ALO/Quicke loader on my Kubota, and I'm pretty sure all the flat faced couplers are British thread....
Mine leak too.... exactly how you describe. in the ext few days I plan to take one off and see of there's O rings I can change.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

What brand of loader do you have?
I have an ALO/Quicke loader on my Kubota, and I'm pretty sure all the flat faced couplers are British thread....
Mine leak too.... exactly how you describe. in the ext few days I plan to take one off and see of there's O rings I can change.

Mine alo too yes

 

[Shadow_storm56]

I’ve had one of the Pioneer fittings on the third function that got to be leaky. It was due to operator error, not keeping them clean, which resulted in damage to the O-ring in the female fitting. Bought a couple dozen appropriate sized and hardness O-rings for about $5, pulled out the old O-ring with a brass pick, installed new O-ring, and no more issues. Of course I’m now more religious about keeping them clean. YMMV.

So why exactly are they better than the normal style? Lol

 

[NCL4701]

So why exactly are they better than the normal style? Lol

I don’t know that they are.

Edit: I’m kind of thinking Pioneer is the “normal” for most small tractors unless the owner changes them to flat face.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

I don’t know that they are.

Edit: I’m kind of thinking Pioneer is the “normal” for most small tractors unless the owner changes them to flat face.

They are flat faced because the others are too big for the manifold

 

[Bugzilla46310]

I like the flat manifold. Have had the loader on and off a handful of times and 0 leaks. And as noted, easy to clean. Used the same manifold when I adapted my old JD 425 blade to the BX. Again no leaks. Now if you have the hose fitting to the manifold hand tight, they will spray like a fountain. Don’t ask me how I know this

!

 

[Shadow_storm56]

I like the flat manifold. Have had the loader on and off a handful of times and 0 leaks. And as noted, easy to clean. Used the same manifold when I adapted my old JD 425 blade to the BX. Again no leaks. Now if you have the hose fitting to the manifold hand tight, they will spray like a fountain. Don’t ask me how I know this View attachment 91382 !

Almost like when you forget to release pressure on the loader and unscrew the fittings. I think the problem is I have never had to clean hydraulic quick couplers before. The pioner style as the other guy called them are super hard to make leak during connection but they leak alot on connect/disconnect. I plugged them in muddy many times and still no leaks. So likely these flat faced got a bit of dirt in them and that was it. If I had known they were so sensative I would have cleaned everything off before connecting the loader... but no one told me this until now.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

I don’t know that they are.

Edit: I’m kind of thinking Pioneer is the “normal” for most small tractors unless the owner changes them to flat face.

My repair plan is to put 2 small hoses to extend 2 of the ports on the manifold. Then this should give me enough space to put 2 "pioneer" style quick couplers on the manifold and 2 up on the ends of the short hoses. Not super fond of have short hoses hanging there all summer when the loaders off but it's sure alot better than constant hydraulic leaks. Especially since that will probably eventually lead to water getting in the transmission which is super bad. Sofar the fluid is clean though so not a problem yet.

 

[DustyRusty]

Almost like when you forget to release pressure on the loader and unscrew the fittings. I think the problem is I have never had to clean hydraulic quick couplers before. The pioner style as the other guy called them are super hard to make leak during connection but they leak alot on connect/disconnect. I plugged them in muddy many times and still no leaks. So likely these flat faced got a bit of dirt in them and that was it. If I had known they were so sensative I would have cleaned everything off before connecting the loader... but no one told me this until now.

Obviously, you have no concept of keeping things clean to make them last. I don't care what type of couplers you use, you have to keep them clean when re-coupling them. Dirt is the enemy of any system, whether it be your engine or your hydraulic system. Did you ever read any of the owner's manuals that came with your tractors? Maintenance and cleanliness go together if you want any machine to last more than a few years.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

Obviously, you have no concept of keeping things clean to make them last. I don't care what type of couplers you use, you have to keep them clean when re-coupling them. Dirt is the enemy of any system, whether it be your engine or your hydraulic system. Did you ever read any of the owner's manuals that came with your tractors? Maintenance and cleanliness go together if you want any machine to last more than a few years.

Actually yes I have read them lol, but I have never heard of having to clean your hydraulic fittings before connecting them... also never had to do that before. I don't actually try and make things dirty or hook things up dirty, was just making the point that pioneer style don't care how dirty it is they don't leak. I literally have a 30+ year old tractor with pioneer style fittings on the loader and it has never leaked, one of the rear auxiliary ones leaks a little but it's actually the threads leaking not the coupler.

 

[whitetiger]

Actually yes I have read them lol, but I have never heard of having to clean your hydraulic fittings before connecting them

Maybe you had better re-read your manuals because it tells you to clean the couplers before connection for both styles.

 

[D2Cat]

Wow, I've never met someone who admittedly doesn't have a concern for foreign materials in their hydraulic system!

 

[Shadow_storm56]

Maybe you had better re-read your manuals because it tells you to clean the couplers before connection for both styles.

Ok fine I

Wow, I've never met someone who admittedly doesn't have a concern for foreign materials in their hydraulic system!

Ok I don't plug in muddy hydraulic fittings I just have in the past before I knew better and they never leaked with that style fittings. The only thing that was on the loader couplers when I attached it was a thin layer of spray residue from the orchard sprayer. But I'm not gunna spray down the ends with brake clean and buff them clean every time I put on an implement. Generally if theres dirt on the coupler I just wipe it off with my hand if it's any amount. Dust would just get cought in the suction filter. Also again 2 30 year old tractors, 2355 and 2350, no hydraulic issues sooo yea