Mechanics problem solved with sacrificial wrench

[Kingcreek]

Blew a hydraulic return line from the loader joystick valve assembly on the tractor. No room for a wrench on the fitting at the valve assembly. It was obviously originally put on before the valve block was mounted. Got the bad one off by cutting the old line off and getting a deep well socket on the fitting. Took the pieces to the local ag business and they made me a new one with new crimped on fittings.
Could not get enough wrench on it to tighten it. No way. Did not want to disassemble valve assembly from frame. Came up with a solution.
I went back to the shop and laid the hose on the counter. The guy said uh oh, is there a problem?
I said yes. I need you to cut this off next to the fitting, slip this 7/8” closed end wrench over the line, then crimp a new fitting on.
He looked at me trying to decide if I was crazy or messing with him. After a bit he shook his head and had me tell him again. He said he’s made hundreds of lines over the years but this is a first.
There was not enough room to get open end wrench on the compression nut. The closed end wouldn’t go over other end of the fitting. The only way to tighten is to get the 12 point closed end on the fitting and turn it 1/12 of a turn at a time.
The new line is now in place and a 7/8” wrench hangs from it on the side of the loader tractor. If it bothers me as I expect it will, I will careful cut it off with a grinder and toss it.

 

[gloy]

Great idea!

 

[jmarkwolf]

I've had occasion to need to grind down the outer perimeter of a box end wrench to fit over a bolt head with close proximity problems as you describe. They were exhaust header bolts. Kept it as a "special" wrench.

I wonder if doing the same with brake line wrench might've worked for you?

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Really, that's pretty smart. Never have to go looking for a wrench for that fitting either.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Sounds like the reason I have line wrenches.

 

[Jland]

Isn’t that what flair nut wrenches and crow feet are for?

 

[mrjaw14]

For the sake of me running into something like that in the future and an excuse for me to buy more tools, would something like this have worked?

 

[bwringer]

Time and aggravation are money, and it doesn't take long to save enough time to make this well worth it. Heck, you can probably still use the other end of the wrench.

A cheap wrench probably costs less than that 12 point crow's foot.


I've run into several mechanical situations in cars where cutting a hole in something, lopping off a troublesome mounting tab, judicious grinding of a corner, slicing a hidden piece of interior trim, etc. is the only way to get something done without creating a huge nightmare. Gotta think in four dimensions sometimes...

 

[22george]

You do what you have to do. There is a job on Boeing 767s when you remove the pylons to do maintenance on them, to reinstall them there is a nut you use a "made for that job" socket to tighten and torque the nut that is left in place as there is no way to remove it.

 

[Dandy1008]

I have a few wrenches that I have ground down, bent... I first figure out what size I need and then go get some really cheap, crappy wrench. Adjust it to fit the need, use it and the mark what it is used for. I keep them together in a drawer and search that first before modifying another wrench for the same job.

 

[Daveyclimber]

Hydraulic lines on valves are the worst. Many times crow foot sockets won't either fit, tighten or loosen without spreading open and slipping. Hate it when you have to take all the outer lines off to get to the middle ones. My wife asks why do you have so many wrenches? Lol.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

The company had a big Clark then they got wise and traded it in on a Taylor . As luck would have it, I had to change the same line in the block on both machines a few years apart. I hated working on forklifts. On the Clark it was remove all lines to get to the center, on the Taylor they were spaced out so they could be worked on.

 

[fritzgorbach]

I had a compression fitting years ago on a sink line that just wouldn't tighten, and eventually got tightened with a gearwrench box end, that lived there then several years.

 

[dwasifar]

For the sake of me running into something like that in the future and an excuse for me to buy more tools, would something like this have worked?

Or just cut a notch in the "sacrificial" wrench.

 

[Ricky Joe]

I have a few wrenches that I have ground down, bent... I first figure out what size I need and then go get some really cheap, crappy wrench. Adjust it to fit the need, use it and the mark what it is used for. I keep them together in a drawer and search that first before modifying another wrench for the same job.

I do, too, but I modify good wrenches. If I’m going to keep them, I want good ones in the box. I have Snap-On, Proto, Plomb, Tru-Fit, Indestro, S-K, even a 1930s Perfection, and probably a few others I have modified through the years. I am not fond of Chinese, probably unnecessarily so these days, as the quality has really improved since the 1970s.

 

[dscheidt]

I do, too, but I modify good wrenches. If I’m going to keep them, I want good ones in the box. I have Snap-On, Proto, Plomb, Tru-Fit, Indestro, S-K, even a 1930s Perfection, and probably a few others I have modified through the years. I am not fond of Chinese, probably unnecessarily so these days, as the quality has really improved since the 1970s.

objectively, the stuff coming out of taiwan, the good chinese, and good Indian stuff is better than what was being made in the US in the 70s. The best of it is world class.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

objectively, the stuff coming out of taiwan, the good chinese, and good Indian stuff is better than what was being made in the US in the 70s. The best of it is world class.

Still not as good IMO as the high end Japanese stuff.

 

[RedF]

What kind of fitting is on the hose that you couldn't slip the box end on with the hose disconnected?

 

[Mallen]

My thought would be, if the flare nut wrench won't work, grind the end of a wrench about half as thick as normal and the take the sharp edge off so it won't nick the hose, then heat the wrench red and the let it cool in sand. Then do exactly what you did. Then take it off with a pair of bolt cutters.