Compact Excavator & Skid Steer Loader Auxiliary Hydraulic Coupler Installer Tool

I, ‘Steven Alan McDonald’, am the sole inventor and creator of the ‘Compact Excavator & Skid Steer Loader Auxiliary Hydraulic Coupler Installer Tool’.

• The concept for the tool came out of complaints from customers, operators, mechanics and my own experience in changing out hydraulic equipment attachments on compact excavators and skid steer loaders. The normal process for this often requires the use two wrenches to break free the machine and/or attachment hydraulic coupler lines to bleed off hydraulic oil pressure so the hydraulic attachment couplings can be coupled together. This process is often hazardous, time consuming and messy as hydraulic oil leaks from the lines when they are loosened to relieve the hydraulic pressure on the couplings. This process of loosening the lines creates the potential for two problems. First is a safety issue. When loosening high pressure hydraulic oil lines, the escaping hydraulic fluid under pressure can cause serious injury and second is the environmental hazard as the leaking hydraulic fluid often ends up on the ground rather than in a catch basin.
• I began the process of development on the tool on Oct. 11, 2019 and by Dec. 1, 2019 I had the first working all in one prototype which worked but was cumbersome to use.
• During development the design changed from an all in one tool to a basic tool handle that can be modified to fit all applications by changing attachments, anchors or forcing heads. This allows the user to adapt the tool to their specific needs while making the tool compact enough for storage on most machines or in tool boxes.
• The tool completely eliminates the need to break free coupler hydraulic oil lines to bleed off hydraulic pressure and thus eliminating the safety hazards and environmental hazards of hot, high pressure leaking oil.