4 in 1 Hose Bracket?

[otisdog]

Driving down the freeway I saw a Bobcat on a trailer with a 4 in 1 bucket. It had a bracket of sorts to help keep the aux hoses out of harms way. Since by unit came with lopped off 4 in 1 hoses, and I have nearly performed a hose-ectimy myself, I'm considering adding these. They looked like a Bobcat option, but my parts guy doesn't know what I'm talking about. Any Suggestions?

 

[Tazza]

Mine doesn't have the bracket and i have never damaged my hoses. I only use a 4 in 1 bucket too. I think it goes on how the hoses are routed. If they are the correct length, you will not have any issues, if they are too long or twisted the wrong way, i can see problems.
Mine have 90 degree elbows on the fittings, this way the hoses get pushed straight down and rest on the lift arm, you can then twist it to the right so the hose clears the locking lever. Never had an issue.

 

[usa#1]

Otisdog, Are you talking about the D-ring that bolts near the bottom of the left arm. If so, I checked with a Bobcat dealer about purchasing one for my S150. It is powdercoated black and cost about $38.00 if I remember correctly. It's pretty heavy duty. I decided that was too rich for my blood so while at the dealer I traced it with a pencil on a sheet of notebook paper. Using the tracing, I made one myself. It's real easy to make it if you have a welder. I went to a parts house for transfer truck trailers and purchased a 5/8" D style leaf spring ubolt. It was almost exactly the same size a the bobcat part. I made the backing plate for for the D-ring out of the plate that clamps underneath the leaf spring on the trailer. After welding the D-ring to the plate, I cleaned and powercoated it. I believe I spent about $6.00 on parts. I already had the black powdercoat paint. If you would compare it to the one bobcat sales, I don't think you could tell which was which. It does a good job of keeping the hydraulic hoses away from the wheels, etc. Well worth $6.00.

 

[bobbie-g]

Otisdog, Are you talking about the D-ring that bolts near the bottom of the left arm. If so, I checked with a Bobcat dealer about purchasing one for my S150. It is powdercoated black and cost about $38.00 if I remember correctly. It's pretty heavy duty. I decided that was too rich for my blood so while at the dealer I traced it with a pencil on a sheet of notebook paper. Using the tracing, I made one myself. It's real easy to make it if you have a welder. I went to a parts house for transfer truck trailers and purchased a 5/8" D style leaf spring ubolt. It was almost exactly the same size a the bobcat part. I made the backing plate for for the D-ring out of the plate that clamps underneath the leaf spring on the trailer. After welding the D-ring to the plate, I cleaned and powercoated it. I believe I spent about $6.00 on parts. I already had the black powdercoat paint. If you would compare it to the one bobcat sales, I don't think you could tell which was which. It does a good job of keeping the hydraulic hoses away from the wheels, etc. Well worth $6.00.

I have a 4-in-1 bucket and a brush grapple. I use a hose routing D-ring with both, but when I got the hoses, I intentionally got them long enough to route down from the bucket/grapple to where the lower bobtach pivot point is, then back up to the connectors on the Bobcat lift arms. That way, the hoses are never stretched and are always out of the way. I made my own routing D-ring out of a piece of 2" x8" x 1/4" steel, then welded on a couple of old u-bolts. That gives me enough room to route the hoses and connectors through them, and keeps them away from the wheel. Simple, but I think it took me a couple of tries to get it where I liked it. I duplicated the setup for my T180 also (does that make me duplicitous?) I could never get the hoses to behave themselves without resorting to this arrangement. I've lifted several stumps now with my hoses, before I went to this routing arrangement. Current score: Stumps: 3; hoses 0. ---RC

 

[otisdog]

I have a 4-in-1 bucket and a brush grapple. I use a hose routing D-ring with both, but when I got the hoses, I intentionally got them long enough to route down from the bucket/grapple to where the lower bobtach pivot point is, then back up to the connectors on the Bobcat lift arms. That way, the hoses are never stretched and are always out of the way. I made my own routing D-ring out of a piece of 2" x8" x 1/4" steel, then welded on a couple of old u-bolts. That gives me enough room to route the hoses and connectors through them, and keeps them away from the wheel. Simple, but I think it took me a couple of tries to get it where I liked it. I duplicated the setup for my T180 also (does that make me duplicitous?) I could never get the hoses to behave themselves without resorting to this arrangement. I've lifted several stumps now with my hoses, before I went to this routing arrangement. Current score: Stumps: 3; hoses 0. ---RC

Thanks, all, for your responses.