Leaking dump cylinder- DIY?

[N80]

I have a Kubota L4400. About 20 years old. Was moving some (too big) logs today and noticed a hydraulic leak on the bucket end of the dump cylinder. Not spewing out but steady drip when pressure on it.

I know nothing about hydraulics other than servicing car brakes. So several questions:

Is this a DIY job or should I take it somewhere?

Even if it is not a DIY job and I need to take it somewhere is removing the cylinder a DIY job.........and if so, is putting it back on a DIY job?

To remove it it just looks like you remove the two hydraulic hoses. The loader is off the tractor now so can I assume there is no dangerous pressure in the cylinder? The pins have a nut and bolt through them to hold them in place. Are the pins hard to remove? More importantly, are they hard to get back in?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[TMGT]

If you are mechanically inclined at all it's a fairly simple process to remove and even repack those cylinders. A large adjustable will remove the gland nut(or a pipe wrench if you dont mind chewing up the gland from the jaws).

I can't remember the nut size for the piston, but its not overly large, if you have a regular 1/2 impact set you should be good.

You can replace the seals carefully with picks and a small screwdriver, but the seals tools are pretty cheap off Amazon.

Most likely you'll be repacking the other cylinde in short order.

Sent from my SM-S921U using TractorByNet mobile app

 

[AntiqueIron]

I have a Kubota L4400. About 20 years old. Was moving some (too big) logs today and noticed a hydraulic leak on the bucket end of the dump cylinder. Not spewing out but steady drip when pressure on it.

I know nothing about hydraulics other than servicing car brakes. So several questions:

Is this a DIY job or should I take it somewhere?

Even if it is not a DIY job and I need to take it somewhere is removing the cylinder a DIY job.........and if so, is putting it back on a DIY job?

To remove it it just looks like you remove the two hydraulic hoses. The loader is off the tractor now so can I assume there is no dangerous pressure in the cylinder? The pins have a nut and bolt through them to hold them in place. Are the pins hard to remove? More importantly, are they hard to get back in?

Thanks for any advice.

It’s not a hard job. They aren’t light but they’re not hard to take on and off. Just make sure you support everything for safety.

Word of caution- anytime somebody asks me if they can do something themselves, that to me says that at the least they should study some educational materials to learn more about the subject.

Yes you can do it, but if you’re unsure and have never done this type of work before, I’d have somebody walk you through it.

 

[N80]

Thanks guys. I'd say I'm moderately mechanically inclined. I've removed the bevel gear assembly from this tractor to have it serviced. I've taken the bed off my F150, removed the fuel tank and replaced fuel pump. Stuff like that. I've got decent tools but no special skills or experience either.

I can watch some videos and my B-I-L farmer just down the road has a pretty big tractor shop and he can walk me through it and/or bail me out if I screw it up.

But now I am wondering if it is fairly simple it might also not be too expensive to have someone else do it?