# Hose Size



## Troy Farmer (Jul 31, 2011)

I'm preparing to run a couple of hoses from my rear remotes to my FEL for operating a round bale squeeze. Should I run 3/8" or 1/4" diameter hose? The squeeze has 1 cylinder.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

I have 3/8 running from rear remotes on Kubota 5040 to front single 2-1/2x8 cylinder on a grapple. It's pretty slow and wish I woulda put 1/2 inch on it (I already had the 3/8 from another endeavor). They could have been about 5' shorter and have a loose coil in them which could slow it down a smidge. Also, there a second set of pioneer fittings at the grapple so I can leave the hoses ran thru the tractor all of the time. The extra set of fitting could also attribute to the slowness.

In my limited experience, I would go with the 3/8 for the comparably small upgrade price.

The above advise is barely worth the price of admission, but there it is

73, Mark


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

I would run 3/8" hose or even 1/2 inch, and definitely 2 wire hose if it is going to be lifting anything, esp on a front end loader. Steel lines on the loader and hoses at both ends would even be better.


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## Growing pains (Nov 7, 2015)

Bigger is better. You can always slow the flow rate if it operates too fast but it's hard to flow more if the hoses won't take it.


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## gearhartfarms82 (May 10, 2015)

1/2 to front of loader. 
3/8 or 1/2 on squeeze


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

We have 1/4 on skidsteer grapple. If it is cold out it is slow. Stay away from 1/4 for this application.


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## Troy Farmer (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks guys. I will definitely not go any smaller than 3/8. I plan on eventually installing a third function valve but for the time being I'll be using the remotes.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

Third function valves are nice. I was able to put one on for about the same price as a diverter valve. On my loader frame I was able to stack another clamp on top of the clamps holding the tubing for the loader functions by replacing one bolt and a stud. I welded a piece of flat iron on the cross piece behind the bucket and overlapped another piece using 1/4" bolt to hold them together. The upper piece has bulkhead fittings in them with the hoses terminating on the backside and quick couplers on the front. To remove my hoses I have two nuts to remove on the frame and two 1/4" bolts in front. It keeps the hoses out of the way, looks somewhat professional and wasn't hard to do. One thing to think about is to put one male and one female quick coupler on the loader and the the same on the attachment hoses. You can snap the attachment hoses together when you remove it, and when you plumb in a third function it will allow you to easily hook up the same way each time. Probably not worth the time to read it, but it will make the other posts much more informative when compared to this one.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Troy Farmer said:


> I'm preparing to run a couple of hoses from my rear remotes to my FEL for operating a round bale squeeze. Should I run 3/8" or 1/4" diameter hose? The squeeze has 1 cylinder.


Depends on the length of the run, but I'd recommend 3/8 or half inch hose...

My brother used to work for a tractor salvage company and made hydraulic hoses... now the smaller the hose diameter, the less total force the hose experiences at a given pressure... so the smaller hoses tend to last longer... (which is why brake hoses on vehicles are so small). BUT, they cannot provide anywhere near the volume of flow as a larger hose can, especially in long runs where the internal resistance of the long but small diameter hose REALLY slows the oil flow down...

The other issue is the cylinder size... a 2-2.5 inch cylinder will cycle a lot faster than a 3-4 inch cylinder... and a small diameter hose, especially in a long run, will take FOREVER to fill or evacuate oil from a larger diameter cylinder, meaning it'll slow you down a LOT while you sit waiting for your bale grab to close or open...

My brother was cleaning out the shop and found a set of 3/8 inch hydraulic hoses that someone had made up a few years before for a customer's batwing shredder and he'd never picked them up. The boss wanted them out of the shop and told him to just "throw them away or take them home". He put them in the farm shop... One day when I was disking I blew a half inch hose going to the disk lift cylinder and grabbed those hoses for replacements... I finished disking that afternoon but I replaced them that night with some new half-inch hoses...

The 3/8 inch hoses restricted the flow SO much that I had to HOLD the hydraulic lever until the disk was all the way up or down against the stops before I let it go-- the detents couldn't hold it due to the back pressure from oil trying to be forced through the small diameter hoses... and of course the disk took twice as long to raise and lower because of the oil being restricted to the small hoses took forever to fill and drain the cylinder after you moved the lever...

There's a reason they don't fill swimming pools with soda straws... or fire trucks don't use garden hoses...

IMHO, use the biggest hose that you can reasonably afford... lowers the pressure requirements on your hydraulic system, improves flow, and speeds up response times of your cylinders...

Later! OL J R


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

Sounded informative to me Wethay!


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

Depending on flow size the hose appropriately using maximum fluid velocity of 15ft/s. Use gallons per minute expected and calculate linear speed. 231 in^3 per gallon.
There will be a pressure drop per length of hose while flowing oil and take that into account.
Easier answer is use 1/2.


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