Greetings and salutations Wayne,
I am glad we found out what happened, Neil may have to have a stop tube machined for the new cylinder rod unless he buys one-which ever is less time consuming.
As far as the needle valves go you should shorten both hoses coming to the cylinder to properly fit the needle valves if you buy them or replace them with new ones-which is what I would do out of general principle simply due to hose stress from pressure surges
The set up should be like this:
Two ninety degree pipe to pipe steel hydraulic elbows-one for the barrel end and one for the rod end of the cylinder.
Two way needle valve(hand adjusted)
Restricted flow in BOTH directions only!! as other wise the same problem will occur.
The needle valve should have good flow marking settings on the valve to equalise oil flow for the rod end and barrel end, no jerking, spongy operation or lag time that way.
That way you can just work at a slow pace and not have any worries period.
The probelm with working a back hoe in any case is not knowing what is down there unless you are the one who knows where it is and what it is.
The cylinder barrel mount is the only way as the valve body itself does not have the area to plumb the needle valves at the spool for the circuit :^(
The needle valves with Female Pipe Thread on both ends are standard as a rule Parker Hydraulics has them too.
Two straight JIC to Pipe thread steel hydraulic fittings (depends entirely on the barrel port pipe thread size) most likely a half inch but Neil should have everything on hand or he can obtain it quickly for you. These fittings are screwed into the open end of the needle valves to mate with the female hose swivels.
Wayne please take note:
I would not reuse the old hose unless you can obtain the exact same fittings for the hose manufacture as they are all different and mixing fittings hose can and will create deadly consequences.
Please be sure to fill cylinder prior to installation of the fittings- that said; two JIC fitting caps will hold the oil in the cylinder-buuuuut be sure to attach the barrel end hose first on the cylinder be sure the boom is on the ground with the lower boom fully extended and on the ground and the rod fully retracted and cylinder full of oil then install rod end pin and pin retainer. Have fun etc.
If the rod end pin or barrel pin s are bent they will not go willingly back in- roll them on a flat surface and if they hesitate; well you know you need two new ones. :^(
leon
questions
lzaharis@lightlink.com