Self destructing Bobcat fuel pickup

[tallrick]

I have experienced this myself for the first time. While operating my old 763 helping a friend it stalled. The fuel filter had air in it. So I suspected the fuel pickup line, but I had purchased the pickup screen and hose from a Bobcat dealer ( first time for me). Generally when the fuel pickup failed I would solder a copper line to a brass 90 degree fitting and stuff it in the grommet. I purchased this in December 2009. When I pulled the grommet from the tank I found the hose had broken, and it was dark and crumbly. I have fixed many of these by the brass/copper method, but is the OEM hose made to fail after little more than a year?