ovrszd
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- May 27, 2006
- Messages
- 33,499
- Location
- Missouri
- Tractor
- Kubota M9540, Ford 3910FWD, Ford 555A, JD2210
Been wanting a Hydraulic Top Link for a while. Looked at several distributors. Then decided to sort of build one myself. Well,,,, I guess a better description would be that I modified a boughten cylinder to fit my needs.
I wanted a 3"x10" cylinder to fit Cat II. So I bought a cylinder from Surplus Center in that dimension with swivel eye ends. I also bought fittings to convert the cylinder taps to 3/8 NPTF. Bought two 3/8 hoses, one 18", one 30". Bought two male 1/2" tips. I already had two adapters to go from 3/8 hose to 1/2 tips.
Here's my invoice list from Surplus Center.
2 - 9-6902-8-6 SAE 8M to 3/8 NPTF 90 swivel
1 - 918-3230 3/8" x 30" 3/8 NPTM x 3/8 NPTM 4000 PSI Hyd Hose
1 - 918-3218 3/8" x 18" 3/8 NPTM x 3/8 NPTM 4000 PSI Hyd Hose
2 - 9-6348-A 1/2" Male Tip
1 - 9-7261-10 3" x 10" x 1.5" DA Hyd Cyl Swivel Eyes
Total cost with three day shipping as $258.45
Then I went to the local Tractor Supply store and bought a CAT II Weld-On Top Link Replacement end for $8.99
Took the brand new cylinder out of the box and whacked the barrel swivel end off with a chopsaw. The reason for that butchery was because I wanted to use all three top link holes on my tractor. The cylinder that I bought had the swivel end built too close to the barrel and would have hit the tractor bracket when in the lowest hole and lifted to the maximum. Dug up a piece of 3/4" thick x 2" wide x 2" long piece of flat bar. Welded the flat bar to the end of the replacement end I bought and then welded the assembly to the end of the barrel of the cylinder. All done with the cylinder fully extended so to not overheat the cylinder seals. I welded this all together with the hydraulic fittings on the side of the barrel to make hose placement easier. Painted the cylinder Kubota grey of course.
Put the hoses together and hooked it to my Quick Hitch. Here's what I ended up with at a total cost of $267.44.
I don't have a restrictor fitting in the assembly but the cylinder moves at a speed I think I can control so not worried about that yet. I'll know more after using it a while.
The first two pictures show the cylinder installed in the bottom tractor hole, fully lifted 3pt and fully retracted cylinder. Nothing hits or binds.
These next pictures show the versatility of a hydraulic top link, all adjustments made by a simple pull of a hydraulic lever.
Down fully extended.
Up fully retracted.
Now for a practical application set of pictures I hitched up my brush cutter. This was the motivator for me to spend this money. I use my brush cutter in timber land, crossing ditches, up and down steep hills. I need the cutter to be versatile and easily carried thru those obstacles. Check out what I gained.
First two pics would be with a standard length top link non hydraulic. First in lowered position, second in raised position. Not gonna cross any major ditches this way or cut over any sharp humps without the tail of the cutter coming off the ground.
These pics show how high I can carry the cutter and how low I can allow the tail to droop if going over a hump. Major difference.
In a do-over I might have lengthened my extension on the cylinder another 1". I'd like to be able to tilt the top of my quick hitch a bit farther away from the tractor. Otherwise works great.
I wanted a 3"x10" cylinder to fit Cat II. So I bought a cylinder from Surplus Center in that dimension with swivel eye ends. I also bought fittings to convert the cylinder taps to 3/8 NPTF. Bought two 3/8 hoses, one 18", one 30". Bought two male 1/2" tips. I already had two adapters to go from 3/8 hose to 1/2 tips.
Here's my invoice list from Surplus Center.
2 - 9-6902-8-6 SAE 8M to 3/8 NPTF 90 swivel
1 - 918-3230 3/8" x 30" 3/8 NPTM x 3/8 NPTM 4000 PSI Hyd Hose
1 - 918-3218 3/8" x 18" 3/8 NPTM x 3/8 NPTM 4000 PSI Hyd Hose
2 - 9-6348-A 1/2" Male Tip
1 - 9-7261-10 3" x 10" x 1.5" DA Hyd Cyl Swivel Eyes
Total cost with three day shipping as $258.45
Then I went to the local Tractor Supply store and bought a CAT II Weld-On Top Link Replacement end for $8.99
Took the brand new cylinder out of the box and whacked the barrel swivel end off with a chopsaw. The reason for that butchery was because I wanted to use all three top link holes on my tractor. The cylinder that I bought had the swivel end built too close to the barrel and would have hit the tractor bracket when in the lowest hole and lifted to the maximum. Dug up a piece of 3/4" thick x 2" wide x 2" long piece of flat bar. Welded the flat bar to the end of the replacement end I bought and then welded the assembly to the end of the barrel of the cylinder. All done with the cylinder fully extended so to not overheat the cylinder seals. I welded this all together with the hydraulic fittings on the side of the barrel to make hose placement easier. Painted the cylinder Kubota grey of course.
Put the hoses together and hooked it to my Quick Hitch. Here's what I ended up with at a total cost of $267.44.
I don't have a restrictor fitting in the assembly but the cylinder moves at a speed I think I can control so not worried about that yet. I'll know more after using it a while.
The first two pictures show the cylinder installed in the bottom tractor hole, fully lifted 3pt and fully retracted cylinder. Nothing hits or binds.
These next pictures show the versatility of a hydraulic top link, all adjustments made by a simple pull of a hydraulic lever.
Down fully extended.
Up fully retracted.
Now for a practical application set of pictures I hitched up my brush cutter. This was the motivator for me to spend this money. I use my brush cutter in timber land, crossing ditches, up and down steep hills. I need the cutter to be versatile and easily carried thru those obstacles. Check out what I gained.
First two pics would be with a standard length top link non hydraulic. First in lowered position, second in raised position. Not gonna cross any major ditches this way or cut over any sharp humps without the tail of the cutter coming off the ground.
These pics show how high I can carry the cutter and how low I can allow the tail to droop if going over a hump. Major difference.
In a do-over I might have lengthened my extension on the cylinder another 1". I'd like to be able to tilt the top of my quick hitch a bit farther away from the tractor. Otherwise works great.