Rebuilding a Hydraulic Cylinder

[XP_Slinger]

Well gents I got it done. Both cylinders rebuilt and not leaking a drop...woohoo! My brother in laws pliers worked awesome! Not gonna lie, I had a bit of a toolgasm after I got that snap ring installed in about a minute...lol!

 

[Milkman31]

Well gents I got it done. Both cylinders rebuilt and not leaking a drop...woohoo! My brother in laws pliers worked awesome! Not gonna lie, I had a bit of a toolgasm after I got that snap ring installed in about a minute...lol!
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Nothing like have the right tool for the job! So I hear!!

 

[XP_Slinger]

Nothing like have the right tool for the job! So I hear!!

Yup! And nothing worse than getting into a job thinking you have the right tools only to discover you don’t.

 

[Marshy]

I need to do this on my tractor. Just need to figure out the parts first.

 

[XP_Slinger]

I need to do this on my tractor. Just need to figure out the parts first.

I was fortunate to get a complete Parts book with the tech manual for my tractor. If you get your parts and need a hand give me a shout. It would be a productive BS session...lol

 

[Marshy]

I will let you know. I have the ship manual but don't know if it has part #'s.

Hell, we could knock those out and run some saws.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Sounds like a good day

 

[jakethesnake]

They’re not awful to fix after you’ve done one or several. Good work xp

 

[Stihlbro]

So up to this point this rebuild has only taken an hour and a half. And that’s with me taking my time, and cleaning everything up around the mount pins and the cylinder itself. Job complete? Hell no! For the life of me I cannot get that damn outer snap ring back into its groove. I fought with it for 2.5 hours, trying everything I could think of to spread it enough to just get one end of it in the groove. My brother is checking to see if they have anything at his work that will help. If he doesn’t have anything I’m going to have to make a tool out of flat stock. This is the toughest, most stubborn snap ring I have ever had the displeasure of tangling with. Pretty sure I could use it for a helper spring on my 3/4 ton truck. Here’s where it sits, once I get this damn ring back on I’ll be repeating the process on one of the boom cylinders.

Any one have any tips on this fuggin prick?

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I lost sleep over this last night, I don’t often get my butt kicked by something so mechanically simple. Somewhere, there’s a snap ring manufacturer that’s laughing because they won the “who can make the most stubborn snap ring competition.”

Well gents I got it done. Both cylinders rebuilt and not leaking a drop...woohoo! My brother in laws pliers worked awesome! Not gonna lie, I had a bit of a toolgasm after I got that snap ring installed in about a minute...lol!
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2.5 hrs later and you completed in less than a minute? What did I miss?

 

[XP_Slinger]

2.5 hrs later and you completed in less than a minute? What did I miss?

I was trying to get that snap ring on without the luxury of having those pliers. That’s what I was fighting for 2.5hrs. Borrowed the pliers from my brother in law and got the snap ring on in under a minute.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Thanks @jakethesnake . And yes, Now that I’ve done a couple I wouldn’t hesitate to rebuild any snap ring cylinder I have. The boom cylinder was a little harder to reassemble, just a tighter fit, but I still got it.

 

[Al Smith]

My old Cat D4, 2T series circa 1943 originally had Chesterson rings for a shaft seal .I didn't have any the right size so I used 1/2" valve packing .It doesn't leak .
With that old LaPlante-Chote hydraulic system it's probably low pressure high volume .Big cylinders, slow as a snail .You can change your mind three times before the blade moves .
I can run the old duffer because I'm used to it .I've laughed my butt off at a few young guys who thought they were cat skinners trying to grade with it .This is not your daddies JD 450 .

 

[XP_Slinger]

My old Cat D4, 2T series circa 1943 originally had Chesterson rings for a shaft seal .I didn't have any the right size so I used 1/2" valve packing .It doesn't leak .
With that old LaPlante-Chote hydraulic system it's probably low pressure high volume .Big cylinders, slow as a snail .You can change your mind three times before the blade moves .
I can run the old duffer because I'm used to it .I've laughed my butt off at a few young guys who thought they were cat skinners trying to grade with it .This is not your daddies JD 450 .

My brother @skidder is one of them guys that’s just got a natural talent for operating equipment, I’m a rookie and have no natural talent for it. He’s gotten a few chuckles out of watching me bounce my tractor around...lol! Amidst the chuckles he’s been giving me pointers on running the loader smoother and what position the bucket should be in for certain tasks. Running a small loader like mine is a cake walk compared to a dozer, I’d end up with my feet tangled in the steering wheel trying to run a 6 way blade...lol

 

[Al Smith]

I saw a young fellow who had been around machinery since the day he was born grade an entire stone parking lot with a skid loader .Third generation excavating contractor .Started out with a big circle and worked outwards .

 

[Al Smith]

By best trick was putting the finish on a site for a park that was once a railroad right of way .About 100 feet by 700 .30 foot piece of 90 pound to the yard rail chained to the drawbar just a gitten it in 4 th gear . --drinking Budwieser at the same time .
Hot summer day,umbrella,radio head set listening to CCR ,Cool hand Luke with a straw hat waving at all the girls .--I may be 70 now but I was young at one time and some how lived through it

 

[Marshy]

Sounds like a good day

Yeah, I'm not going to make the NY GTG this year unfortunately. Second week of April I start working 12 hr shifts, 72 hrs a week for 4-5 weeks. Now's the time of year I like to get out in my woods and cut trees or start working in the wood pile. I could puish off the cylinder rebuilds for later in the year but it would be fun to have some guys over and run saws in the near future. I have 4-5 cord of logs I cut and piled last winter. Who knows, maybe in the future I'll have a mini GTG. I'm centrally located, I thinknthe turnout would be good.

 

[paragonbuilder]

Yeah, I'm not going to make the NY GTG this year unfortunately. Second week of April I start working 12 hr shifts, 72 hrs a week for 4-5 weeks. Now's the time of year I like to get out in my woods and cut trees or start working in the wood pile. I could puish off the cylinder rebuilds for later in the year but it would be fun to have some guys over and run saws in the near future. I have 4-5 cord of logs I cut and piled last winter. Who knows, maybe in the future I'll have a mini GTG. I'm centrally located, I thinknthe turnout would be good.

You coming to Ct gtg April 7 Wade?

 

[Marshy]

I really want to but can't. My wife and I are making a trip to West Hartford CT every two weeks on fridays for our daughter to have allergy therapy. The 7th falls between the fridays we go and its just too much driving. If it was the same week we were going then I'd stop in with them but it's 475 miles every other week. Last week we did it in one day, left the house at 8AM, made it in 4 hrs, got home at 6:30'ish. Next year looks promising though.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Yeah, I'm not going to make the NY GTG this year unfortunately. Second week of April I start working 12 hr shifts, 72 hrs a week for 4-5 weeks. Now's the time of year I like to get out in my woods and cut trees or start working in the wood pile. I could puish off the cylinder rebuilds for later in the year but it would be fun to have some guys over and run saws in the near future. I have 4-5 cord of logs I cut and piled last winter. Who knows, maybe in the future I'll have a mini GTG. I'm centrally located, I thinknthe turnout would be good.

I’m getting started on my wood too. Hoping the rain holds off on the coming weekends. If I can find the time I’d love to come out and run some saws with ya. Would likely be able to get my brothers to come out too.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Got a bunch of stuff done on my tractor with the help of @skidder . Fixed all the wiring “work arounds” and got new LED flood lights installed, a gift from Moose. We ran the new wires neatly through the ROPS as they should’ve been, they were all zip tied to the outside before. Some one bypassed the factory switch for the head lights and had them wired to a switch on the tin. Moose discovered that the factory light switch was perfectly operational but they had the power coming in on the wrong post. So now all my lights work as they should through the factory dial switch on the dash. Woohoo!

Got my new shifter boots installed and cleaned all the crap out from under the transmission cover. Found the source of a steady hydraulic leak to be the front reservoir vent line connection at the transmission cover. Didn’t even know it was a soft line until I got everything cleaned. Cut off the bad portion of the line and reconnected, no more leak. So another...woohoo!

The last thing we did was make a removable bucket position indicator. You veteran operators will probably snicker at that one but it will help me while I learn to run the bucket. Especially when doing yard projects where the wifey won’t really appreciate me taking out too much material...lol!

All I all it was a great day in the barn with my brother. The fact that we got all these things done was just icing on the cake. Can’t thank Moose enough for the help on everything.

At the end of the day we just had to pull the tractor out of the barn and play a little. Went out and found some small berms (created by my oldest son on his quad) that just had to be filled in...lol! Moose is running the tractor in the video, after that I got on it and made a mess somewhere else...lol!!!! I’ll get there, practice practice practice

Edit: forgot to mention that Moose got the horn working. You’d have to know my brother and his affinity with horns, but the satisfaction on his face when he heard the first “ferp ferp” followed by our laughter was the high point of the day...lol!