Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

I've finished up the final install of the third function on my loader valve.

I bought a couple inexpensive 36" hoses off of Ebay. The seller didn't state the exact size, but I guessed that they were JIC6. They turned out to be JIC 8, so I bought a couple adapters off of Surplus Center to get the hoses hooked up to the valve itself.

Then I machined a couple of custom fittings, #8 JIC bulkhead X 3/8 NPT male. Then I mounted those bulkhead fittings in a bracket made from angle iron.
With that bracket bolted to the inner face of my righthand loader arm, and the hoses connected and the female QD's screwed on, the third function is installed and ready for use.
The grapple itself still needs reinforcement to be welded onto the tines. And it needs a coat of paint pretty badly, it's been out in the rain for two or three weeks so it's got a lot of surface rust. I'll have to wire brush that off pretty good before I can paint it.

And I have just ordered some waterproof rip stop fabric that I will sew into a sleeve to help manage the two 5 ft long gangly hoses that will run from this new QD bracket down to the grapple cylinder. When the bucket is curled all the way back I would only need a hose that's maybe 3 ft long. But when the bucket is curled all the way forward I need at least 4 and 1/2 or 5 ft. So I have 5 ft hoses. But I'm going to have to do a little finessing to get them to behave when the bucket is curled backward.

My original plan was just to use the 5-ft hoses straight from the loader valve down to the cylinder. And they would be okay for that if I didn't curl the bucket forward. But they're not long enough with the bucket curled forward thus we jumped over to needing the permanent bracket for the QDs.... And let's face it, that was the right way to do it the whole time.

But once those minor things are worked out the grapple will be complete.

Looks great Bob as usual . But question . What do you have to keep from accidentally activating the valve and dead heading when not in use ?

Nice work Bob. I'd be interested in details about how you machined those bulkhead fittings.

As far as the dead-heading, I just plan to ignore it:

1: "Don't pull the middle lever with nothing attached."
2. If you do pull the lever, the check valve on the QD will hold 99% sealed, and the loader valve pressure relief will have to trip.

Remember, every time you bottom out your boom or bucket, you're dead-heading the loader valve and the pressure relief has to trip. So I think this will be fine.

Bob

@Eugen

Doing a bit of research in the last couple years, I've found that hydraulic fittings are surprisingly easy to machine. And I don't think it's coincidence. I think they must have been originally designed to be so. For example, the threads on JIC fittings correspond to standard SAE fine thread bolt sizes. So off-the-shelf taps and dies can be used for the threaded portions, and then you just have to create the 30 degree bevel. So you can create almost anything on the lathe with the exception of swivels. Those involve crimping together multiple pieces, and that's beyond my shop, anyway..

But this chart is available a couple different places on the web: It gives the precise details for how to create a JIC complaint male fitting, and female fittings are the inverse.

So for this example, I used 1" mild steel round stock. I started with the JIC 8 bulkhead end: I bored out the center hole to 25/64, as per the chart. Next, JIC 8 is 3/4-16 thread, so I turned the threaded journal to .745, same as a standard 3/4" bolt. Then I turned the journal on the tip section to .654 as per the chart. Then I single-pointed threaded the 16TPI threads, using a 3/4 fine nut for testing. Lastly I mounted up a 60 degree diamond shaped insert in my toolholder, with the toolpost set at a right angle, and fed the broad side of the insert straight in to bevel the end of the fitting. The 60 degree cutting insert leaves behind a 30 degree bevel on the fitting. I used to fool around, setting the compound to 60 degrees and making multiple passes, etc. Now I just grab that 60 degree cutter and "knock it out."

The truth is, the bevel doesn't have to be perfect geometry. The 3/4 fine JIC nut is applying several thousand pounds of mating pressure against the bevel, so any angle within a couple degrees of 30 will seal just fine. But it does have to be smooth, so I always finish up with a file and/or emery cloth

For the NPT side of it, I just turned a journal to the size of 3/8" npt pipe, tapered it down just the slightest bit by eye, and then used a 3/8 NPT die to cut the threads onto it.

SAE O-ring fittings are actually even easier to machine, so long as you have a good supply of o-rings onhand. But I'm almost always doing JIC, because that's what you usually need for hoses and hard lines.

One key option that this capability opens up is that you can often find "white elephant" hoses amazingly cheap on Ebay. I bought 4 brand new 5' long 3/8" hoses, the ones running to my loader, for $11 each including shipping. But I had no information as to what the hose ends were. They turned out to be SAE oring on one end and some kind of metric cone seal thingamajig on the other end. I looked up the spec for the metric thing and made adapters as necessary. Other than having to put the special gear in my lathe to do metric single point threading, those were pretty easy to make too.

Bob

thebuildist wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 10:51 am As far as the dead-heading, I just plan to ignore it:

1: "Don't pull the middle lever with nothing attached."
2. If you do pull the lever, the check valve on the QD will hold 99% sealed, and the loader valve pressure relief will have to trip.

Remember, every time you bottom out your boom or bucket, you're dead-heading the loader valve and the pressure relief has to trip. So I think this will be fine.

Bob

Good point Bob

@thebuildist Thanks for uploading that JIC fitting image . I did not realize they were that easy to make . So now have that save for future endeavours .

Lucky him who has 1" round or hexagonal stock. Because around here you have to pay $75 for two feet of hex

I've got no hex, but I have 15 or so feet each of round and keyway shafting. Stop by some time and I'll share the bounty!

Bob

Ok I made a major/critical error above:. Be sure to follow the chart, not what I said:. The cone bevel is 37 degrees, not 30.

To be clear, the most recent fittings I made really do have a 30° bevel. I guess the first time I shoot the full pressure to it we're going to find out if you can get away with 30° or not!

No wonder I used to go to the trouble to set the compound angle, etc!




Bob

thebuildist wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 7:52 pm I've got no hex, but I have 15 or so feet each of round and keyway shafting. Stop by some time and I'll share the bounty!

Bob

Don't touch that dial, my leer jet is fuelling up!

Eugen wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 5:55 pm Lucky him who has 1" round or hexagonal stock. Because around here you have to pay $75 for two feet of hex

I get mine scrapping old snow blower drives .

Yes sir. Everything I have here is scrap. When I rebuilt the front axle I think I ordered 18 linear inches of 2 and 1/2 in round bar. And a couple times I've ordered some water hardening rod. And one time Amazon of all places had a 6-in by 24 in by 1 in plate steel for $20 including shipping. I had to buy that!

But other than that I've never purchased steel in my life!

Yes, buying metal can be costly. That's why if I find a good deal on metal, I pick it up for future projects. Many times people throw good metal in their garbage. I've been known to brake for metal I see along the road. My Dad always told me if you pass it by, when you come back it will be gone. I've found that to be true many times.

Keep the
Harry

I've been on the lookout for metal for the last couple of years, just rods isn't something I have, but that's ok. It makes sense to make your own fittings and it's great to have the specs and procedure here, so thank you Bob!

The good news is, my hydraulic fittings all work perfectly.

And my hose routing, which has to connect from the third function QD's to the center cylinder on the grapple, and has to accommodate a 24+ inch movement/displacement when the bucket gets curled forward, has been worked out.

I had built a spring-loaded hose keeper along these lines: That looked like this:
But when I went out to play with it, I was stymied: The first thing that became obvious was that I need to flip flop the hose ends. One end has integrated 90 degree bends, the other is straight-on. So I flipped those. Then I hooked them back in, and the hose now loops outboard, hanging in mid air to the right side of the tractor.

I looked for where to grip the hose with the keeper, and where to mount the keeper. And I couldn't find a place that seemed like the hose would be "happy" with the bucket both retracted and curled forward.

And then I realized that now matter what I did with the bucket or the grapple arm, that the hose just hung out to the right side. It never snagged, it never pinched, it never overstretched.

And that's the whole point. So I'm just going to leave it just like that.

And then I went and picked up some stuff. And it works!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uuu3LJhJfc


Bob

That would quite a handy tool to have, a loader and grapple. Neat.


Noel

Nice work Bob, and a useful function, something I would like on my 644 very much!