Do hydraulic hoses rupture with age?

[terrifictimbersllc]

Had a hose rupture today, the one to the base of the in-out cylinder on the clamp (WM LT-40 super).  Right where it goes into the frame.  Not a sharp bend and there is a big soft grommet there.  Don't think I caught it on anything but I cant rule out an edging having caught it. Nothing I noted.  It was a 3/8 line and I replaced it with a 1/4 spare line I had on hand, plus 6 fittings totalling $30 from NAPA to adapt the 1/4 back to 3/8.  Really ugly but it got me through the day.

My mill is 12 yrs old.  Does one expect hydraulic lines to wear out just from age?  Also has anyone had NAPA make up new lines?  I will check tomorrow but I think they have the same brand of hose and it might only cost half as much as from WM.

[POSTONLT40HD]

Hoses will defiantly wear out from age. Aren't you glad it didn't rupture on T.V.? 

[Al_Smith]

I don't know about a sawmill  but as a general statement what happens is the rubber coating gets attacked by the UV of the sun which will cause it to deterate thus exposing the wires underneath .This exposer will in time lead to a failure . In addition more often that not in areas which have sharper bends the failure rate is higher weather exposed to the sun or not .

As far as 12 years ,don't know.I have got hoses on tractors and bull dozers over 40 years old that seem to be working just fine but the hydraulic pressure is most likely lower .

[Ironwood]

I would shop around for hoses. If you can take the time to anticipate and have some on hand it will help you to not "fall" victim to the $$$ most places that make custom hoses charge (ALOT). I usually end up at my NAPA if time is of the essence, but OUCH it usually hurts. Find out if WM is mostly "JIC" or other style. then keep them handy. "Hardlines" are REALLY costly. I hate to even thiink about replacing them.

 Ironwood

[dgdrls]

Yes the rubber breaks down from cyclical heating and cooling, and/or flexing.  Rubber lines also fail internally and appear fine
on the outside but collapse internally when pressure is released, rubber brake lines on cars will do this and cause brakes to hang-up.
I watched a 300 series Komatsu puke about 35 gallons of hydraulic fluid when a
pressure line driving a mower head failed.  Lots of mess to clean-up,

DGDrls

[pineywoods]

What causes most ruptures for me is RUST. The strength in a hydraulic hose is the steel braid. The outer layer is there just to protect the steel braid. That layer will crack and flake off, exposing the steel braid to the elements, which then rusts and ruptures. Sometimes I get in a bind and have to have a replacement hose made up locally, but most of my hoses come from surplus center. They stock mostly standard stuff, but do carry a huge selection of adapters and fittings...

[terrifictimbersllc]

I would shop around for hoses. If you can take the time to anticipate and have some on hand it will help you to not "fall" victim to the $$$ most places that make custom hoses charge (ALOT). I usually end up at my NAPA if time is of the essence, but OUCH it usually hurts. Find out if WM is mostly "JIC" or other style. then keep them handy. "Hardlines" are REALLY costly. I hate to even thiink about replacing them.

 Ironwood

They are JIC.  What's a hardline?

[buildthisfixthat]

some hydraulic hoses can last a lifetime ,depends on weather exposure and how much fitigue (flex) they are subjected to ......i use these reuseable hose fittings just cut the hose and screw the new end on ....i have also used 2 fittings to repair a long hose in the middle ......a great time saver and a pocket full of $$$

 

[Bibbyman]

The hoses on our 2002 WM still look good.  But the mill has been under cover since new.  Last Friday about 3:30, Mary went into a panic mode hollering and waving, "Shut it down!".  The hose to the back support cylinder had blown a hole.  Like you,  I couldn’t see what had damaged it.

My first instinct was to get a hold of a reusable butt splice fitting.  With a reusable fitting, one can make field repairs. We called the local NAPA store and they had none.  Time was running out.  We called around and nobody had reusable fittings.  One place suggested a large truck dealer in another town.  They were already closed and wasn’t open on Saturday.

So Saturday morning Mary and bit the bullet and pulled the old hose.  I sent her to town to get the line butt spliced.  Even thought it was a common hose size – 3/8” – they didn’t have a butt splice but could come up with a combination of couplings to put the line back together.

It took us, in total until noon to get the hose out, repaired and put back in.  When we pulled the hose, we attached a piece of hot fence wire and pulled it through the frame.  When we reinstalled the hose,  we applied dish soap for liberation.  We had a couple of complications that were a result of disassembly and reassembly so we didn’t get started sawing until 1:30.

I’m going to try to find a source for reusable fittings so I can make my own repairs and not have to disassemble and pull the hose.  I see a number of them listed on E-bay,  it’ll just be a matter of getting the right size.

Buildthisfixthat,

Where did you come up with the reusable fittings?



I got this one from MacMaster Carr back in 2002.

[customdave]

I had a hose failure on the log loader with a hair under 100hrs on my mill right next to the crimp on end, had end sawed off & new end crimped on 8$, hose was long enough for this, while I was @ the hyd shop, had them make up a new hose 36$! I got busy & ordered the mates hose for the other side which was about 6" longer from WM 21$ shipped to me!!! I would definitly check withWM....

                                    Dave

[timbuck2]

One word on hoses, PARKER.  worth the $

[leroy in kansas]

Just a thought. My sons and I had a const. co a few yrs back. We had  a concrete pump truck which had miles of hydraulic hose. Our practice was to carry a hose as long as the longest one on the truck. When we broke, which does occure, we could unscrew the fitting by pass the routing and connect to the other end. Total down time never longer than half hr. This may be a practice that will help save time and get by.

[buildthisfixthat]

some hydraulic hoses can last a lifetime ,depends on weather exposure and how much fitigue (flex) they are subjected to ......i use these reuseable hose fittings just cut the hose and screw the new end on ....i have also used 2 fittings to repair a long hose in the middle ......a great time saver and a pocket full of $$$

 (Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

The hoses on our 2002 WM still look good.  But the mill has been under cover since new.  Last Friday about 3:30, Mary went into a panic mode hollering and waving, "Shut it down!".  The hose to the back support cylinder had blown a hole.  Like you,  I couldn’t see what had damaged it.

My first instinct was to get a hold of a reusable butt splice fitting.  With a reusable fitting, one can make field repairs. We called the local NAPA store and they had none.  Time was running out.  We called around and nobody had reusable fittings.  One place suggested a large truck dealer in another town.  They were already closed and wasn’t open on Saturday.

So Saturday morning Mary and bit the bullet and pulled the old hose.  I sent her to town to get the line butt spliced.  Even thought it was a common hose size – 3/8” – they didn’t have a butt splice but could come up with a combination of couplings to put the line back together.

It took us, in total until noon to get the hose out, repaired and put back in.  When we pulled the hose, we attached a piece of hot fence wire and pulled it through the frame.  When we reinstalled the hose,  we applied dish soap for liberation.  We had a couple of complications that were a result of disassembly and reassembly so we didn’t get started sawing until 1:30.

I’m going to try to find a source for reusable fittings so I can make my own repairs and not have to disassemble and pull the hose.  I see a number of them listed on E-bay,  it’ll just be a matter of getting the right size.

Buildthisfixthat,

Where did you come up with the reusable fittings?

(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

I got this one from MacMaster Carr back in 2002.

    i found my fittings on e  bay from a surplus company also bought some hoses with reuseable fittingings on them good supplies to have on hand no place around here sells them

[Paper Maker]

    My dad has always dealt with hydraulics in his line of work as a diesel mechanic. He still has his old Gates crimper from when he was in business. In his opinion Gates and Weatherhead are the best fittings and hoses on the market but thats just one mans opinion.
     When I first bought my mill I had to replace  several hydraulic lines due to the suns UV damage. The rubber had crack letting  water get in and rusted the wire causing them to burst. I checked around and O'Reilly's had the best price and they carry Gates brand. Just somewhere else you may wont to check.   Marcus

[Magicman]

I have had a hose to rupture on my '98 model WM, and as Pineywoods mentioned, it was rusted.  I know that I should pull and replace all of the hoses, but I just keep putting it off.   
 

 
I wrapped my hoses with a protective sheathing to protect them from chafing.

[Norm]

I'll 2nd the parker hyd hoses. Whenever I have a stock one break I take it to my local repair shop and they make one up for me. I've yet to have one of theirs go bad. You may save some money on others but in the long run you don't.

[Al_Smith]

Parker is indeed an industrial  standard and has been around a long time ,good product .Here of late in appears the more modern stuff has gone to Rexroth which appears at least at first glance to be rather robust also .

As far as fittings they can come from any number of sources and in just about any type one could imagine .It's mind boggling the combinations made as to flexibility or adaptability from say one size to another or from SAE sizes to metric .

Myself being a junk collecter have 5 gallon buckets full of fittings but as luck would have it most times don't have exactly the correct ones .Some times though I get lucky rumanging  though a big pile tossed on the floor .

[ely]

i wish i had a picture of my woodsplitter hoses... most folks wont help me split wood. they get one look at the rusted what used to be hoses on there and back way up.... i think the outer covering of rubber came off a few years back.

[Gary_C]

The hydraulic hose and fitting business has gone thru a big consolidation like any other industries. There are just three major hose companies left and I suspect most of the remaining companies are buying their fittings from one source in China. The three majors remaining are Parker, Aeroquip, and Gates. Between those three, they have swallowed up Weatherhead and most other big names.

Some years ago I know some other major rubber companies like Goodyear were trying to get back into the hydraulic hose business but don't know if they were sucessful. Probably not as there are some discount hose manufacturers particularly in Europe that are also present in the market.

Much of the hydraulic stuff on this European made forestry equipment like Ponsse and Valmet is Parker made but I am not familiar with who Timberjack uses. But their dealers in the US buy from most anyone and right now Ponsse is supplying Gates hose and I think John Deere is also Gates. Some time ago Ponsse hose was coming from Italy.

Right now, I have been looking at buying quantities of hose and fittings and looking at an online supplier that has very good pricing. It's DiscountHosedotcom and anyone can order from them. They say their hose is made in the US but I've never heard of the manufacturer so I suspect not. The local suppliers of Gates and Parker are about twice the price and refuse to discount for quantities.

I too use a lot of reusable fittings, but beware of using them on old hydraulic hose that the outer cover is weathered and dryed out. I've had some blow off on old hose. But those reusables are hard to find. Most local suppliers refuse to sell them and say they are no good. But that's BS.

[barbender]

Listen to Gary C's advice, he'll blow more hydraulic lines in a week with the cut to length equipment than a WM hydraulic mill will in a lifetime.