I'm a noobie here and noobie to skid steers. I bought a 743 for a project and now that I am finished I am actually servicing the machine. The machine leaks from both sides...I was able to track it down to three of the four hoses to the drive motors....I guess that is expected on a ~35 year old machine. The one hose that wasn't leaking had already been replaced, this was a hose from the drive motor to the hydrostatic pump on the same side. I was easily able to relace the other hose on the other side going from the motor to the pump on the same side.
Now the kicker...the two hoses that still need to be replaced are the ones from the motors to the pump that cross over to the opposite sides. These are partially hard lined (for the cross over portion) and then turn into a flex hose. From what I read these are retained by a bracket/bolt that is unreachable unless the engine is pulled and who the heck wants to do that for one bracket. The hoses I need are PN's 6563241 and 6563242. I've looked online and found that the 6563242 is currently unavailable, but I have not checked with the local dealer yet.
1) are there any hacks to access/remove the bracket holding these two hoses?
2) should I go OEM replacements? or should I go full flex hoses?
3) does anyone have and vendors online ( or ones that I can call) which may offer a off the shelf aftermarket solution?
Thanks for any advice.
Now the kicker...the two hoses that still need to be replaced are the ones from the motors to the pump that cross over to the opposite sides. These are partially hard lined (for the cross over portion) and then turn into a flex hose. From what I read these are retained by a bracket/bolt that is unreachable unless the engine is pulled and who the heck wants to do that for one bracket. The hoses I need are PN's 6563241 and 6563242. I've looked online and found that the 6563242 is currently unavailable, but I have not checked with the local dealer yet.
1) are there any hacks to access/remove the bracket holding these two hoses?
2) should I go OEM replacements? or should I go full flex hoses?
3) does anyone have and vendors online ( or ones that I can call) which may offer a off the shelf aftermarket solution?
Thanks for any advice.