Hydraulic cylinder leak on JCB 1400B backhoe

[Anonymous Poster]

Well a Hydraulic cylinder has started to leak on the backhoe boom of my JCB 1400B but it still has loads of digging/pulling power. Of course its the cylinder that controls the up and down of the entire hoe and goes up inside the backhoe boom so I cant see exactly where the leak is coming from but with a flashlight I can tell its coming from the end of they cylinder where the piston protrudes, it doesn't appear to by a leaky hose. I know it will be a fun task pulling the cylinder out for repairs /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

What is the easiest method to pull this cylinder out? Should I dig a hole as deep as possible, put the boom down in it as far as it will go down so I can pull the cylinder straight up and out with a cherry picker or are their better methods?

What do you think the cost will be to get this cylinder repacked or rebuilt?

Some pics of my backhoe can be found at backhoe pics

Thanks much for any advice!

 

[RobS]

Your hoe layout is similar to my little JD hoe. If you swing all the way to one side, then stretch the bucket, stick and boom all the way out could you pull the cylinder? Once you pull the pins you should have a fair amount of space to work in. Might need a jack stand under the end of the boom.

BTW, nice looking machine in a nice looking setting /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Richard]

Mine (1550-B) does same thing and I've been eyeballing exaclty same method.. my initial thinking is it's gotta weigh a small ton...I did the bucket cylinder and it took some grunt to carry it. This thing is what, almost 2 times larger?

anyway, my initial thinking was to extend all flat to ground, take out bucket side pin, then retract cylinder and try to pull out of where the hoe pivot is.

I hadn't thought of moving way to side, that's rather brilliant!!

post back what you ultimately do... you can call your local JCB dealer and I'm sure they'd ballpark the price.. I (again) did the bucket cylinder, but was 1 1/2 years ago and dont remember... if I had to guess, I'd suspect I paid around $150 for it (and they welded the metel "hose" back on) The 150 is really just a wild guestimate though... I just bit tongue and paid it & tried to forget it. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Richard

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I got some responses from another forum as well (see below) It looks like diggind a deep hole and extending the boom straight down into it is the way to go...I may use a cherry picker to pull the cylinder as I bet it weighs over 250lbs /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

"I would dig a hole so you can lower the boom down to a hight that is comfortable to work on,first remove the remote greasing hose from the rod eye end if fitted,block up the cylinder,all pressure off,take the pin from the rod end,start the engine and retract the rod into the cylinder,pressure off,remove the hosed,take out the bottom pin and you can manhandle the cylinder,when you get it out of the boom put the bottom end back in its place keeping the other end over the boom and put the pin in the bottom,block up the barrell enough to be able to undo the gland nut,when you get the gland nut undone pull out the rod,take the barell down,put the rod in its place to hold it to undo the piston nut,piston off pull the gland and reseal,keep everything clean,make sure the equipment is secure and won't come down.
Good Luck
AJ "

"Been there. like others said dig DEEP hole, you may also have to jack stabilizers down . i made a drift punch slightly smaller than the cylinder clevis pin to help get it out. left the cylinder barrel on the machine. i was trying to reassamble the piston/rod/endcap by myself. i did not have the strength to hold the weight and align the endcap and screw it on. i got one of those cheap air compressor spray attachments that you use to siphon liquid. ran a hose from the siphon barb fitting to the piston end of the cylinder. used it to create enough vacuum to pull the piston and assemble up against gravity and hold it while i screwed in the end cap. not as bad a job as i had imagined. good luck. oh, be carefull of dropping tools down into the hole you have dug for the bucket. rhudson"

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well I spent a good part of last Saturday pulling the hydraulic cylinder. The pin that mounts the piston to the upper half of the backhoe slid out with little effort but the pin that mounts the lower half of the cylinder to the backhoe to the tractor frame didn't want to budge. I used an 8lb sledge to coax it out and after a few hours of intense beating along with a few sprays of WD40 it finally obliged. I broke the bushing in the cylinder that the pin slides through during this process so have to add that to the new parts to buy list.

I took it to a local cylinder rebuilder who guesstimated it will take 3-4 hours of labor to rebuild/install new seal kit and he also mentioned having the piston rechromed wouldn't be a bad idea which will cost close to $200........I was hesitant at first but thought I might as well do it right the first time as I don't want to go to all this trouble just to have it start leaking again after a few hundred hours.

Total cost with labor, rechroming, tax,etc will be around $450 or so, I don't know if this is a good price or if I would have been better off just buying an entire brand new hydraulic cylinder from Surplus Center but it should be done this Friday and I will get it installed this weekend.......just in time too as I am having serious tractor withdrawals and need some seat time /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Good news, I got the leaky cylinder removed,fixed, installed and no more leaks /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

My land is very rocky (I am talking boulders) and the places I tried to dig were just too rocky so I decided to back up to edge of a hill and extend the hoe as far down as it would go (I did have to move a few rocks out of the way to accomplish) This made it a little more challenging to work on but worked out fine.

I must say it was quite a chore removing the cylinder as the pin that mounts the lower part of the cylinder to the frame do not want to move, I must have beat on it for 2-3 hours with an 8lb sledge and it finally gave but destroyed the bushing in the process (after I got the pin out I ground down the one side some to make it easier to reinstall) the upper pin the mounted the piston to the boom slid out easily.

I used a cherry pick strapped into the back of my pickup to remove and reinstall it, this worked well as it made the cherry picker more mobile and also increased the lift height

The cost to rebuild and rechrome was about $450 not sure if I could have bought a new one for a little $$ more but I shouldn't have anymore trouble with it for a while.

So I am back in business, thanks for your advice folks!