Warranty Covers Hydraulic Hoses?

[PoconoTom]

I have an LA534 loader on my B2650. I was using the loader last week when I saw a fountain of hydraulic fluid coming out of the line that goes to the boom cylinder. The tractor is under warranty (and only has 50 hrs of use).

I took the hose to the dealer for replacement, thinking there would be no charge. They said hoses are not covered by the warranty, and charged me $42 for a replacement. I checked the Kubota warranty. It says that "wear and maintenance items" are not covered. Seems to me that wear should not be an issue for a hydraulic hose with 50 hours of use. Sounds more like a defect.

Has anyone had experience with hydraulic hose replacement under warranty?

 

[Bulldog]

My brother had a line leaking on his tractor the day it was delivered. The dealer made it up but only because he spotted the puddle of hyd fluid on the back of the truck before he actually took possession of the tractor.

Most of the time that doesn't happen. Anything concidered normal wear comes out of our pocket. I guess it's part of the joy of being a tractor owner.

 

[jasonTDI]

I call it dealers that don't give two schiznits after the sale. Especially the NEW on trailer tractor. I understand wear items not being covered and get it.

A little sidetrack. I got similar cold shoulder from my local dealer when a $3 knob that holds on the MMM belt cover wasn't there after I did a through check over of the tractor at home. They didn't have it ready when they said it would be so I drove to their other location an hour and a half away to get it. Seriously....it's a $3 part. Good luck seeing me for any maintenance or warranty work...No other follow up, no calls, nothing. You sell the tractor @$20K and don't followup? Bad form....Heck. I call EVERY CLIENT that comes to my repair shop to make sure all is good. Amazing what some followup does for customer base.

 

[dmanlyr]

There may be a good argument here. If the hose failed from say wear, then it would not be covered. However if the hose failed from a defect, then it has to be covered, even if the dealer says no. Might want to revisit why the hose failed. Was it from external damage, or was it from a internal hose issue?

Much like a clutch or brake on a new car, yup no warrantee if they wear out, but if they fail from a manufacturing defect, IE poor casting that breaks, improper machining / assembly then they are covered.

If it is determined that without a doubt there was a manufacturing defect, then for $42 you have to figure out how much your time is worth because it will take some time and persistence to get it covered, even though in a perfect world it should not!

David

 

[Ezlife45]

Now I'm intrigued, I too have a new B2650 and am having a hydraulic leak looked at shortly. I noticed a small puddle when I had the tractor parked in the garage. Now it's on the trailer and I see about a pie sized oil stain on the steel deck. The leak is bad enough that I now have no oil on the dipstick at the rear end. My tractor only has 20+ hours on it.

Just where was your leak? I can't pinpoint it but it appears to be coming from the quick connects where my front end loader attaches. Was your leak noticeable only under a load?

 

[TripleR]

dmanlyr raises good points, you should be able to tell from a quick inspection if wear or external forces caused the failure. Properly used "wear" will not be a factor in such a short time period.

If I pinched a hose, I would have no problem paying for it, otherwise I would expect Kubota or the dealer to cover it.

 

[Kubota_Man]

I had a similar issue with my loader valve tubes. Not only was it covered but when the same issue popped again after the warranty had expired the dealer contacted the regional manager and he told the dealer to fix every tube so it would not pop up again.

 

[gpreuss]

35 years ago I had EVERY hose on my K650 backhoe burst in the first 6 months of ownership. None of the replacement hoses failed in the next many years - I cannot actually remember changing a hose for the 2nd time. I felt the problem was that whereas you can only get rated pressure while actively exercising a valve, as soon as you set it back to neutral and use another function working against it, you can develop very high pressure, i.e., if you pull really hard with the diggerstick, let go of that function and curl the bucket you can get 2-3 times normal pressure in the diggerstick hoses.
The same can apply if you are using the loader to dig, put upward strain on the arms, shift over to the bucket and curl it, all the while moving ahead. Very high pressures.
Back then. I don't remember if I even filed a claim with the dealer. But I surely put in better hoses than stock.

 

[ShaunRH]

File this under the "Tips and Tricks" column. I have an ancient backhoe (probably older than many folks on this board!) and it recently lost a hose going to the bucket curl cylinder in the rear boom arm. The other hose was also on it's way out so my father and I installed new hoses but there was a 'wear' point for both the original hoses and it was caused by where they entered the boom arm.

We found some 2.5" flat discharge hose at the local Ace Hardware and wrangled both hoses into the flat hose, it worked perfectly to keep the new hoses together and not rubbing against the boom arm. It also made them look nicer and gave something else to 'wear out' before it hits the actual sheath on the new hydraulic lines. It was an $8 fix that looks good and had multiple 'fix' items behind it. Highly recommend to anyone running parallel lines across "open" areas of a machine. It could prevent premature wear on hydraulic lines.

 

[Stubbyie]

Poster ShaunRH offers good advice. I'd like to add an observation.

Over time read decades I've tried just about everything you can imagine to protect hydraulic hoses---the flat discharge hose Shaun mentions, old firehose, new firehose, radiator hose, red rubber heater hose, 'spring'-like wire wrap coverings, even the official Kubota (and Case) canvas-wrap woven tube.

The best product currently available is the heavy hard PVC spiral wrap found at commercial hydraulic hose shops.

Comes in different colors (most often seen in yellow or black, have seen white, blue, not yet orange), different diameters, different thicknessess of the PVC material (sometimes 'lightweight' but most often one size fits all 'heavyweight'). Tough, durable, and wear- and rub resistant.

Expensive but worth every cent compared to damaging a hose. Can be found online at slightly better prices, especially if you can buy a 100-ft or a spool at one time.

The medium sizes (approximately to fit ~1-in OD hoses) are pliable in the sense that it can be shaped and draped and positioned and fed through holes but can be difficult to 'open' and slide over or wrap around a hose. The stuff will snap back and pinch your fingers between coils--not bad, just bothersome as you install it.

Easier to install it onto a hose before installing the hose onto the machine. I cut it long (with cable-cutters) in order to also cover the metal hose-end connections.

In the wintertime I touch it gently with a torch or hot air blower to make it flexible enough to use and wrap around the hose.

Once in place it does not come off the hose and is completely salvageable to reuse.

I've gotten to the point that when I replace a hose no matter where on the machine I also install this PVC spiral hose wrap.

I'm interested in the experiences of others and hope others will add their knowledge so we may all learn.

 

[PoconoTom]

My leak was in the hose that goes into the boom cylinder on the loader. There was nothing subtle about this leak - the side of the loader looked like a geyser erupting. This is the second blown hose on my 2650; the first blew the day the tractor was delivered. That was because the hose was improperly routed, and got pinched (it was in the backhoe.
Also, I have had several leaking hydraulic fittings. You may just have a lose fitting; try to find it, and tug on it with a 11/16 wrench gently until it stops.

 

[Orange Beast]

I also own a B2650 that has 50 hours on it and by coincidence I was doing the 50 hour maint on it today. I noticed that my hoses on the LA534 were also rubbing on something because I noticed they are wearing on the outside of the hoses. I pulled up the cover that comes with it so it was closer to the loader itself. I will have to keep an eye on it now that I know its there....