Last time I split firewood I noticed that the hydraulic hoses were about shot. So, today I decided to unscrew them and take them to be duplicated. Great plan, but the dang hose fittings are not cooperating. I’ve hosed them down with penetrating fluid and tried my best to get them loose, but no luck. I tried heat too, with a propane torch. Maybe I didn’t heat them enough?

So, any suggestions from you old country boys as to how to get the fittings unscrewed. And I wonder if maybe hydraulic pressure in the splitter might be a factor.

Yep, sounds like the hoses have pressure on them. If the hoses are shot I bet it's time to change the hydraulic oil too. I would drain the oil from the tank and bleed the cylinder, and try again. You may need to do a little hammering on your wrenches if they still won't break loose.

Any chance they could be reverse threads?

Pressure most likely. Drain and bleed fluid off. Penetrating oil. Heat. Cheater bar. Good luck!

My thoughts

Bailing wire must be utilized at some point. It just has to.

Get a bigger hammer lol and a longer cheater pipe. Could possibly be left handed threads and pressure but when I was working heat and a 4 foot pipe wrench would usually work.

With a little inner tube for patches.

You can push the little ball on the nipple of the fitting to bleed the pressure. If the hoses are that worn out, the fittings are probably just nice and rusted. You just need to get after it with a bigger pipe or cresent wrench.

I’ll try bleeding down the pressure. I’ve soaked the fittings with penetrating oil. I have not used any bailing wire during the process. I did take some duct tape with me, just in case.

Thanks for the good suggestions, with the possible exception of the one about bailing wire.

I’ve backed off a lot of fittings with pressure on them. I doubt it’s that.

Yep, BFH time.

Some manufacture us a thread sealer that is like epoxy and hard to break loose. Heat helps. You should not have any remaining pressure on a log splitter but to be safe always uncap the reservoir lower the load and with engine dead work the valve levers back and forth. GL

Rev Dave's theory on hydraulic hoses. IF they ain't leaking, leave them be. But when one does go out, replace them all. Chances are some other catastrophic failure will pop up and you'll just trade-in or buy a new splitter before a hose fails.

Groan/grunt louder.

Then kick it and throw something.

Cheat.

I've never seen a case where reverse threads were used on anything that didn't involve a rotating component. I've also seen cases where YouTube videos were wrong in claiming reverse threads were in place. Such was the case when replacing a belt pulley on my Toyota pickup. It's always best to check both directions with safe torque before grabbing a cheater bar. I once sheered the lug bolt off an old travel trailer that had reverse threads on just one side.

Helps to hold your tongue in the right spot too

That's not cheating.

THIS is cheating!

Well it's obvious you haven't had to change a hydraulic hose before. Or loosened a nut or any fastener that is seized.

All that would not is help round things off where a wrench won't grab

Makes sense in order to keep the lawyers happy. Thanks for sharing.

Circa 1986

I yield the floor.