PT Steers Hard When Oil Gets Warm?

[ponytug]

Low hours?

Not entirely kidding; seals need some amount of movement to stay lubricated, and if they sit for a long period of time in one position, the rubber seal can bond to the metal.

I think more likely is that there was some particles in the cylinder from when it was made that didn't get flushed out with use. Hydraulic systems are assumed to be perfectly clean when they are built, but...there is sometimes material in a hose, or a cylinder that ends up someplace that causes a problem before the filter catches it.

So...if you keep things clean during the rebuild, you should end up better than new.

Good luck,

All the best, Peter

 

[woodlandfarms]

I rebuild my steering cylinders once every three years.

I will say this. I had a lift tilt dump cylinder I could not get apart. I took it to the machine shop and it turned in to a HUGE deal with half the shop (8 guys) doing various things to crack the head off. Eventually a combination of heat and a pipe wrench that was massive, like 6ft long arm, got it apart.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Oh and one other thing. You will chew up the cap on the steering cylinder when you take it apart. I was pretty emotional about that the first time, not so much anymore. Also the kit costs an arm and a leg for what it is. the black seals are generally easy to find but the white ones are nearly impossible leading every hydraulic shop I have dealt with to say to jsut order the kit from the factory.

 

[SpringHollow]

Yes, I could make the pistons and buy the o-rings but the one seal was the problem.

I have better pictures if you need them. They are still on my phone from 2 years ago when I rebuilt the FEL cylinders.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

On the subject of filtering... didn't we all determine that the only fluid that is filtered is the stuff being sucked up by the charge pump on the variable volume pump, so it's not a tremendous amount of fluid that's getting filtered compared to the fluid sucked up by the PTO pump and the steering/aux pto pumps.

 

[BobRip]

I believe the charge pump pulls in 4 gallons a minute. The system holds 10 gallons. I think that means that the entire oil system gets cleaned about every 2.5 minutes. Tell me where I am wrong.

 

[MossRoad]

The main PTO pump and steering/fel/aux PTO pumps pull a combined what? 8 for the main and someone mentioned 4 for the other I recall, so that's 12gpm combined thats sucking through the same tank without getting filtered. My point being, if some debris, metal shaving, etc... gets in the tank for whatever reason, there's a good chance it will get sucked into the steering/fel/aux PTO circuit.

With that said, the flow through the cylinders isn't that great, and if the seals aren't leaking, taking into account the volume in the cylinder VS the length of the hoses, and fresh fluid may never reach the cylinders.

Anyhow, I often ponder the flow in those systems when I'm looking at the machine in operation.

 

[MossRoad]

Anyone remember this?

From this thread...
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/336064-oil-recirculation-closed-loop-system.html

Several of you offered to drive up here and slap me around to get me to stop listening to myself think about hydraulics! :laughing:

 

[SpringHollow]

Yes, i saved it

Ken

 

[joshlee]

Oh and one other thing. You will chew up the cap on the steering cylinder when you take it apart. I was pretty emotional about that the first time, not so much anymore. Also the kit costs an arm and a leg for what it is. the black seals are generally easy to find but the white ones are nearly impossible leading every hydraulic shop I have dealt with to say to jsut order the kit from the factory.

I was wondering if these little mennonite hydraulic repair shops around here would have the stuff the fix them, so I'm glad you filled us in on that. In the last ten years there have been about 4 shops that opened up around here in central PA that repair cylinders and make up hoses.