Hydraulic cylinder repair or replace?

[Chris in SK]

One of my loader tilt cylinders started leaking. The cylinder worked ok, but was messy, and the bucket would creep down. I took the cyl off and took it to the hyd shop for new seals, they stripped it down, and told me it was worn out…. their rate is $95/hr, so now I have it back in pieces. The rod chrome is good and it isn’t bent. The problem is the gland nut is very loose on the threads on the tube, until the very last couple of turns. It’s not a standard size, a new one is around $600, or I could try a seal kit and new nut for $80. Visibly, the threads on the tube and the nut don’t look to bad but it is very loose until that last turn. Should I try a new nut and plenty of tape or bite the bullet and buy a complete new cylinder? TIA,
Chris

 

[hinton]

As a former hydraulic actuator (cylinder) technican (mechanic), I'm here to tell you that the gland and probably the barrel should be replaced. If you just replace the packing (seals), you will probably blow the gland out of the barrel,once the pressure is restored, resulting in a total loss of pressure. A good rebuild shop should be able to make an oversize gland (thread wise) and clean up the threads up in the barrel, but it may be cheaper to go and buy a new one.

 

[Gun guru]

What cylinder repair place did you work for?
What city and state?

 

[Chris in SK]

Thanks, the gland isn't threaded, It is held in by the gland retaining nut that threads on the outside of the barrel.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hydraulic cylinders seem to be dirt cheap over here. May not be standard for you but may be here. What are the measurements?
My loader cylinders were pretty leaky to the pount of replacing cardboard boxes at least once a week. I got the seal kits and replaced them both in about 30 minutes and no more stains on the floor.

Go to ebay.de and punch in Hydraulikzylinder and compare measurements. I can help you out if you find a match or have a question.




Dave

 

[Chris in SK]

It's 2 1/2" with 23" stroke, but with a longer rod, so pin to pin retracted length is 33 1/2". Princess Auto here has a similar size, but not identical, for about $250, but smaller cross tube on the bucket pin end and I'd probably have to change the other side one as well, so I have a matching pair.
I'll probably try a local machine shop to check the threads on the tube and possibly make a new gland retaining nut, but if that isn't economical, I guess I'll just get the correct new cylinder. Hydro shop said they could machine new parts to repair, but @ $95/hr plus parts, wasn't economical.
Thanks,
Chris

 

[Don-Wi]

Fortunately for me I'm a machinist and I was able to fix our loader cylinder a few months ago myself. Ours was a bad rod. It got scratched and beat up pretty bad, causeing the seals to go out and leak oil. at $10 a gallon, it gets expensive fast.

We looked for a replacement cylinder, but none of them were an exact match, and the closest we found had a smaller rod. Didn't like that idea, so we bought a chunk of new rod to just replace the old one.

The good part was, the old one was .010 under nominal, and I actually had to bore out the old gland to allow the new rod to pass through, giving me a new, unscratched surface.

If I were you, I'd try to have the old cylinder fixed if at all possible, unless you can find an EXACT replacement. If the stroke is longer or shorter, it messes up the geometry somewhat, and if it's a bucket cylinder and not a lifting one, it makes a HUGE difference in where the bucket stops. Unfortunately, if you don't have full access to a machine shop, repairs can add up.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[patiolant]

You can also have Princess Auto make a custom cylinder. I did that for my loader to replace the two irreparable bucket cylinders on my Massey 65. Total cost was just over $600.00 for the pair. Not inexpensive, but a lot cheaper than other custom cylinders, or paying machine shop rates for fixing the old cylinders.

(quoted from post at 14:10:26 07/23/10) It's 2 1/2" with 23" stroke, but with a longer rod, so pin to pin retracted length is 33 1/2". Princess Auto here has a similar size, but not identical, for about $250, but smaller cross tube on the bucket pin end and I'd probably have to change the other side one as well, so I have a matching pair.

 

[RodinNS]

I think I might poke around a bit more for another shop. They're not doing you any favors at 95/h.
I'd also suspect that it's probably more fixable if you find a less busy shop...
Stuff like that gets turned away if they're too busy.
200 ~should~ go a long way to fixing a cylinder like that because really it's not that much work, even if they did have to part the tube off and weld a new on on...
You'd be surprised what 2 hours would do and 50 bucks worth of materials/parts.


Rod

 

[CAROGATOR]

My hydraulic shop cut new threads in the tube, welded the nut inside and rethreaded to fit the tube. $225.00 on a five inch cylinder. works great after a year.

 

[msb]

Loc Tite-- the heavy duty stuff.

 

[Chris in SK]

Yeh, 95/h seemed a bit steep to me, but I'm kinda out of touch with rates. They were busy....lots of oil and mining work I think! I'm going to try and find a smaller shop. The tube has about 1/2" of thread left after the nut/cap is fully on, so I may be able to get a deeper nut made.

 

[hinton]

Atlantic Hydraulics, LLC, Pittsboro NC 27312

 

[hinton]

It it the threads on the nut or the threads on the barrel that are worn?

 

[Chris in SK]

I suppose both are worn, although neither visually look to bad, The cap has been attacked with a chisel or punch, so is a bit mangled. The tube has about 1/2" of unused threads when the cap nut is fully screwed down, so I may be able to get a deeped nut machined and make use of those unused threads.