Machinery Talk

[wrgarrett]

I'm not really sure if this is the proper place to post this question, if not, please direct me. I kinda got pressed into a situation where my cousin just suffered a stroke and I'm the only family he has other than is 80yo wife, to help out on his cattle farm. I'm pretty much mechanically inclined but I have ran upon a problem I need a little help with. He has a Case IH 685 with a front loader that I am using to move hay with. I had to disconnect the hydraulic lines and I am having a time connecting them back. To disconnect then, I grasped the fitting with ChannelLocks and pulled upward and they disconnected easily. However, the quick connect coupler's internal spring is so strong, I cannot pull it back to plug the connections back on. Is there a tool of some kind to re-attach these things with? Or is there some trick one of you experienced folks can let me in on? Desparate in Arkansas!