[Cooper]

I went and pulled the bearings out of wheels and replaced with bronze/graphite bushings on stainless shafts. 4 of the 8 bearings were already shot. And finished re-milling the lip profile on track shoes. Put everything back together and charged a battery for some pushing. At about 15 min into it she had a snap and no hydraulics. Found the hose going to blade had bubbled and burst. Yes, oil everywhere. Guess that blue hose isn't as strong as the black. I wasn't sure what the specs were for it but I will be replacing it as I now have plenty of the black higher pressur line. Still trying to find a way to add weight. Question for you guys, I can hide a lot of weight in the blade but that will not help traction as blade will be on the ground, right?? And after looking and comparing blades I see what steep angle I have on the blade. I wasn't completely happy with the blade so just enough excuse to make a new one!! (Just not sure how soon). But I will study the cutting edge angle and place profiles more to come close to functionality of the 1:1. I'll try and post some pics of the hose blow-out.