Row Crop Steering Cylinder

[duckrock]

Is there any preferred or recommended place to send the steering cylinder on a row crop to have it rebuilt with a new rod? I'd prefer to mail this thing off to a
shop that has reasonable prices and experience rebuilding these old cylinders rather than driving around town talking to shops and not knowing what I'll get back.

 

[Ultradog MN]

You don't state which row crop but I presume it is a pre 1965 model?
Also an aproximate location would help since you probably don't want to ship it across the country.
The one hydraulic shop that I know could do the work is M&M Hydraulic Company in St. Paul MN.
They have helped me several times in the past.
They aren't cheap but they know what they're doing and stand behind their work.
M&M Hydraulic Co.

 

[duckrock]

Is a 960. I'm in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. I'll give them a call tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[duckrock]

I'm curious if you've had them repair a cylinder and if you have a ball park estimate on what it would cost?
I called them today and they need to see the cylinder to give an estimate. It makes sense, but I'd like to know a rough idea before I decide to get it rebuild. I might have to pull the power steering off and convert the tractor to manual. Then check on getting the PS cylinder rebuilt so that the tractor isn't stuck and unusable for an extended period of time.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I have a 1966 4000 row crop so it is a very different setup than yours.
They were able to get me a piece of 11/16'' chrome rod to replace one of the two steering rods which was bent.
They could have machined it for me too but I had that done elsewhere.
Ford used a proprietary fitting to connect the PS hoses to the cylinders that CNH says is NLS. They were able to do a work around for those.
On a 4400 that I had that the steering cylinder is under the radiator they made me a new cylinder sleeve as mine was grooved very badly and not reuseable.
They have also supplied me with various Orings and hydraulic items.
The power steering unit on your tractor is pretty simple. The biggest fault with them is the cylinder rod was not chromed and rusted badly. I'm pretty sure they could get you a piece of chromed rod and machine it as needed.
The rest is mainly just a few Orings and probably a seal or two. Most of those items are off the shelf stuff which they stock a lot of.
You may be able to find a similar hydraulic shop in your area or in Milwaukee but BRF is about 2 hours from St Paul so might be worth the drive. If you go there bring your I&T FO-19 manual with you for them to use and/or give them a link to the parts lookup at messicks so they can glean what info from them that they can.

 

[John P.]

(quoted from post at 08:28:35 08/29/23) I'm curious if you've had them repair a cylinder and if you have a ball park estimate on what it would cost?
I called them today and they need to see the cylinder to give an estimate. It makes sense, but I'd like to know a rough idea before I decide to get it rebuild. I might have to pull the power steering off and convert the tractor to manual. Then check on getting the PS cylinder rebuilt so that the tractor isn't stuck and unusable for an extended period of time.

I have the same question about mine, can you follow up with what you find?

 

[John P.]

(quoted from post at 08:28:35 08/29/23) I'm curious if you've had them repair a cylinder and if you have a ball park estimate on what it would cost?
I called them today and they need to see the cylinder to give an estimate. It makes sense, but I'd like to know a rough idea before I decide to get it rebuild. I might have to pull the power steering off and convert the tractor to manual. Then check on getting the PS cylinder rebuilt so that the tractor isn't stuck and unusable for an extended period of time.

I have the same question about mine, can you follow up with what you find?

 

[duckrock]

I did call up to the shop. They have done them before, but weren't able to give me an estimate over the phone. He said there were to many variables. I'm going
to send them some pictures and see if that helps them get a ballpark estimate. I'll update this post once I have more information.

 

[pomester]

There's a fellow who posts here occasionally as 'Bob57' who rebuilds row crop cylinders and control mechanisms. Oklahoma. I've sent him three cylinders and have been happy with the results.

The original cylinder cannot be rebuilt (the rod is not removable/replaceable without cutting the cylinder open). So the cylinder you get back is modified to allow disassembly and replacement of seals and rod.