Chipper Poll Question

Altissimus

TreeHouser
Joined
Jul 1, 2008
Messages
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Location
southern Vermont
Replacing Hydraulic Lines ... Who and how many just wait for a problem whether weeping or complete blow out then just replace the one hose. Who and how many routinely replace the entire Schmiel of hoses due to age and outward appearance. ???
 
If it leaks, it's cheaper to fix than dump oil in it for years while leaving a mess everywhere. If the steel braid is good usually I'll leave it.
Cheaper usually to fix it than to have to clean a driveway, reschedule a job and pay guys to stand around on the job AND not make money
 
Sure wait to failure but as Willie mentioned it's a lot easier to swap a line at home/in the shop than wait until it 'blows' on a jobsite.

To me hydraulic lines definetly fall under the inspect and replace as needed category, not just out of sight out of mind until they fail.
 
What Justin said. I prefer to replace them if I see them weeping or really worn. I won't cancel the day but I'll at least get a replacement line and do it after work or in the morning. That's just me on my equipment. My boss on the other hand waits for them to blow and make a mess.
 
I always tried to do a little of both. My truck has a lot of lines and the sun is hard on them here in Florida. Whenever I got a leak I would swap that line and pick up a couple more for the rest of the similar lines in that area. So if there was 4 lines and one leaked, I'd buy 4 and swap them all out. At least with the smaller, cheaper lines. On the bigger lines I have a bunch of extras from removing the tool circuits off the truck.
 
I've got a barrel full of hoses but for some reason they all seem to be the wrong size if I need a replacement .That kind of sucks .:(
 
I'm just saying re the OP that I would only replace 'failed' hoses, not all the hoses.
 
I think this original question is just common sense. Is it really all or nothing? Or does not everyone look over and decide for themselves if a hose is to worn, cracked, or whatever. Certainly if one hose blows it should prompt you to have a good look at all of them and decide which ones bear replacement before risking another failure in the field.

Preventative maintenance. If you're not doing it, it's costing in the long run.
 
Cracked rubber doesn't mean it's done. My cranes have passed inspection with missing rubber
 
Good link, especially the section on injection injuries. Nasty!
 
Yah I thought it was decent. Worthwhile to read maybe if you've been feeling quite safe with hydraulic lines. Lol.
 
His suggestion of replacing lines every year or two is completely asinine. My bucket trucks have lines that run inside the booms. Replacing those once would be a nightmare, every two years would be impossible for anyone except a government owner. My 2001 truck has a bunch of original hoses still and my 2008 truck has 90% of its original hoses.

Hard for me to take an article seriously when it has such glaring inaccuracies. I dismissed the rest of it.
 
I bought my first chipper (bandit 990) a couple weeks ago :rockon: and was looking at starting a maintenance type thread... info from manuals conflicts to that of bandit mechanics etc so I'll likely have a few questions coming up. I'm keen to look after the machine so it will look after me etc, hydraulic hose are not currently on the list of matters, fluid is though-does everyone replace fluid yearly?

I know a guy that whos chipper pissed fluid all over someones lawn and it pretty much ruined the day.
 
His suggestion of replacing lines every year or two is completely asinine. My bucket trucks have lines that run inside the booms. Replacing those once would be a nightmare, every two years would be impossible for anyone except a government owner. My 2001 truck has a bunch of original hoses still and my 2008 truck has 90% of its original hoses.

Hard for me to take an article seriously when it has such glaring inaccuracies. I dismissed the rest of it.
Brian, I think that you misread this point.
For me, he doesn't say to replace every hoses preventively every year or two, but to replace at this rate those previously identified as a potential risk during the successive monthly inspections, like a minor damage or an out-of-date hose.
If it still works, you aren't in a hurry but keep an eye at it and do them all at once. That's less down time and less cost for a preventive maintenance than jumping on the thing every month.
Of course, that doesn't apply to a curative action on a seriously damaged hose.
 
I bought my first chipper (bandit 990) a couple weeks ago :rockon: and was looking at starting a maintenance type thread... info from manuals conflicts to that of bandit mechanics etc so I'll likely have a few questions coming up. I'm keen to look after the machine so it will look after me etc, hydraulic hose are not currently on the list of matters, fluid is though-does everyone replace fluid yearly?

I know a guy that whos chipper pissed fluid all over someones lawn and it pretty much ruined the day.
I've never replaced the hydraulic fluid in my truck but I've added a heck of a lot over the years due to leaks and various service requirements. I will say that it pays to use premium fluid, either AW32 or AW46 depending on your temperature range.

My dump trailer was not working very well a few years ago. I drained out the crappy oil in the small tank and replaced it with AW46 (had it on hand for the bucket truck). Even though I only replaced about half the fluid in the system it worked much better and has continued to work well for the last several years.

With my new bucket truck I had no choice. While working on an issue I forgot to open a valve before testing the bucket operation. Got about 20' off the ground and it blew the hydraulic filter off the housing and emptied the tank on my driveway. Was able to get down within 5' of the truck before I ran out of fluid and the bucket stopped moving. Ended up adding 10 gallons of new AW46 along with 2-3 gallons that got caught in the drain pan which I strained and reused.
 
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