HYD Cylinder on FEL

[flyer61]

OK, I've got a question for all you hydraulic experts out there!

I've got a cylinder on my front end loader thats cracked and leaking. I've taken it into a hydraulic shop to see if I can order one and they told me they can't find one with the exact dimensions of mine. They said they could make one, but at a cost that's very expensive!

Here's the question, if I could find one with a bore, stroke close to this one, would it make a difference that would be unacceptable when mounted on the FEL? What I mean is should I replace both the lift cylinders or will two different cylinders work OK together as long as they are as close in dimensions as possible?

I'm thinking the two different cylinders should work alright, but I'm not an expert! Any ideas?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Kevin

 

[aczlan]

They have to match or you will bend your bucket as one side will be pushing/pulling harder than the other.
What size are they? It might be worth looking at Surplus Center for a new matched pair.

Aaron Z

 

[flyer61]

The bore is a common 1.5 inches and the stroke is 18.25. The rod is 1.125.

Aaron Z

Iv'e found a cylinder from Surplus Center that has a 1.5 bore and a 18 inch stroke. It also has a rod that is 1 inch. Do you think that will be close enough or should I just order two to match them up! Just trying to save some money!

Kevin

 

[aczlan]

Surplus center has a hydraulic calculator at https://www.surpluscenter.com/techhelp.asp?catname=hydraulic
Per that, at 2000 PSI the original cylinder will have a push force of 3,534# and a pull force of 1546#. The cylinder the the 1" rod will have the same push force and a pull force of 1,963#
So, will 417# more on one side than on the other hurt anything? I don't know, it depends on how strong your bucket is.
I would bet that you could sell the good cylinder for $50-100 on Craigslist (or on a boards that specializes in Bolens machines) and make back most of the added expense of replacing both cylinders.

Aaron Z

 

[J_J]

Just match up same as your current cyl bore and stroke.

You can go larger bore and more power, if you have the space.

You can also cut off rod ends for correct stroke and re-weld.

One or two in might not make any difference as long as they are the same.

 

[wdchyd]

Hydraulic Cylinders 219-206 Detailed Information

You could add a spacer internally .250" thick to this set

 

[wdchyd]

But then I don't think 1/4" should make that much difference

 

[SSdoxie]

1/4" difference in rod length may not seem like much but you need to figure in the geometry of the loader, distance form rear pivot to where cylinder rod connects and distance from here to bucket pivot. This could equal quite a bit of loader movement, twist to the laoder when fully rasied or stopping when shorter rod is maxed out how much loss of lift height is there. Just an example (geometry is definitely NOT my strong point so someone please feel free to check my calculations): If horizontal length of loader is 4' from rear pivot to bucket pivot and rod connected at the center/mid-distance, 1/4 rod travle equals about 5.5" of bucket lift. Figure out the overall lift height with the shorter cylinder(s) and decide if you can live with the reduced movement.
Down travel is going to be unequal with the larger rod trying to travel faster @ 1.1 in. per second for each GPM of flow. This could cause the either the lift arm trying to twist coming down or get cavitation in the rod end of the cyliner with smaller rod.

My suggestion is use balanced cylinders and decide if the shorter length will be OK for your use, or spend the $ to replace with same size cylinder.

 

[oldnslo]

Will the smaller rod support the load or will it buckle? Since FEL's are always twisting and bouncing that would be my concern.

 

[flyer61]

With the small size of the loader I don't think the difference in rod diameter should be an issue. I've seen bigger loaders that have the 1" rod in the cylinder so I think it should be OK on mine.

Some great advise folks! I appreciate it very much. I think I'll probably buy Two new cylinders as close as possible to the size of the old cylinders. That way, as several of you have advised, the cylinders will be balanced. It will still be less expensive to do that than have one custom cylinder made!

Thanks everyone! :thumbsup:

Kevin