Understanding your Bobcat hydraulic quick couplers and how your skid steer hydraulic system works is key to achieving maximum performance. Maintaining your hydraulic system with the right Bobcat quick couplers is critical for efficient, leak free operation. Choosing the right hydraulic quick couplings will allow smooth and efficient operation of your skid steer machine as well as required attachments.
Power Many Attachments with Quick Couplers
Many attachments are available for the Bobcat making it one of the most versatile skid steer machines available. The right hydraulic system will easily power many attachments such as:
- Buckets – all types of buckets are available for utility vehicles, loaders for dirt, grain, fertilizer, rocks, heavy-duty construction material and low-profile buckets.
- Wood chipper – easily grind branches, trees, and tree limbs with continuous chipping.
- Excavator – easily pick up and move tree stumps, rocks, broken concrete or odd shaped objects. Use with a trenching bucket or three tine grapple as well as with a backhoe attachment.
- Concrete mixer – control the concrete mixer from inside or outside the cab to mix, transport and dump concrete faster than using a stand-alone mixer.
- Digger – easily dig trenches and holes up to 48 inches in depth, remove large rocks, tree stumps and transplant trees and shrubbery.
- Grapple – use a grapple attachment to clear debris, rocks, overgrowth, brush and roots while the dirt is allowed to fall between the teeth for fewer and lighter loads.
- Forestry cutter – cut down shrubbery and trees and grind them into mulch, available in various sizes from 50, 60 and 70 inches.
- Mowers – quickly mow large areas with the mower attachment in cutting widths of 71.5 or 89.5 inches.
- Pallet fork – one of the most common Bobcat attachments, the pallet fork allows for easy lifting and carrying of heavy materials.
- Snow blade – used to remove light to moderate snow on driveways, sidewalks and parking lots.
- Snow pusher – removes the snow on uneven surfaces such as decorative concrete, sloped sidewalks or paving stones.
All of these Bobcat attachments have one thing in common, they require the right Bobcat hydraulic quick couplers to operate effectively and efficiently. No matter what the purpose of your Bobcat vehicle is or the attachments that you use, understanding your hydraulic system and knowing how to maintain and replace Bobcat quick couplers is critical to equipment performance.
Understanding the Hydraulic Coupler System
The hydraulic coupling systems on skid steer utility vehicles are very similar on varying makes and models, making it easy to understand how Bobcat hydraulic quick couplers work and how to best replace them. While many hydraulic quick couplers may be compatible with various skid steer and Bobcat equipment, they are not all made the same. Choosing the right Bobcat quick coupler will provide effective, efficient and leak free hydraulic fluid control.
Many people want to know what to do with their hydraulic couplers, how to connect them and what they are for. It is important to know how to connect your skid steer attachments, how quick couplers are set up on your machine and the function of the quick coupling options on the outside of your machine. You should see quick connect coupling options lined up vertically on the outside of your machine.
The first coupler at the bottom, is typically a flat faced female quick coupler which is the pressurized coupler on a Bobcat. The trigger switch from inside the cab sends flow to this pressurized coupler to power your attachment such as a mower, a bucket or another motorized attachment. When the hydraulic flow returns it comes back through the male coupler which is the third one up from the bottom. The male coupler then takes the pressure back into the Bobcat, through the filter system to get re-pumped back through this female pressure coupler.
So, the bottom coupler is the female pressurized coupler which powers all attachments, the third coupler up from the bottom is the male return coupler, and the coupler in between the two is the case drain, which is a 3/8 male flat face coupler. This very important quick coupler takes any excess pressure back to the return line and into the reservoir. This case drain coupler will protect the motor on your attachments from bursting any seals due to built-up pressure. The connection attachments at the top are 14 pin or 8 pin electrical connectors which allow the operator to control additional functions on attachments.
Stucchi Offers Bobcat Hydraulic Quick Couplers
Stucchi offers Bobcat hydraulic quick couplers proven in skid steer applications to outperform comparable products. Our full line of skid steer hydraulic couplers includes:
- Saturn Block – features a user-friendly relief system to drain residual pressure prior to connection and disconnection.
- A Premier Series – specifically designed for leak free quick connect applications which prevent spills and fluid loss.
- A-HD – quick connect manually with ease with an internal valving system that prevents fluid loss under residual pressure.
- APM Series – easily connect by hand with this quick coupler designed to relieve pressure within itself.
- VEP Series – a threaded flat face quick coupler which provides added resistance to residual pressure, high pressure impulses or anywhere trapped pressure exists in a line.
- VEPHD – the heavy duty VEP threaded flat face coupler features QPQ plating and increased durability with a higher grade of steel.
- VEPHDL – provides the added protection of a locking mechanism in a heavy duty, threaded flat face coupler.
Stucchi offers these many hydraulic quick coupler solutions for skid steer and Bobcat equipment. We provide reliable and durable hydraulic connections and fluid control to aid mobile equipment, agricultural equipment and skid steer equipment used with excavators, loaders, backhoes and many other demanding applications.
Stucchi leads the industry with hydraulic quick connect solutions, offering a vast product line of hydraulic couplers and custom designed quick couplers to meet your specifications. We offer process analysis and assistance in choosing the right quick couplers including multi-coupler plates to further improve efficiency and safety. Contact us to learn more about our skid steer hydraulic solutions including Bobcat hydraulic quick couplers.
