DIY rebuilding hydrolic cylinders.

[JasperFrank]

Having struck out finding any one local willing to rebuild the steering cylinder on my 87 ford 1220, I've decided to bite the bullet and do it my self. All ready bought the rebuild seal kit. Anyone know of a good instruction vid on doing this?

 

[LD1]

There are several different ways a cylinder can come apart. Some have a threaded gland nut, some have a snap ring, some have a wire ring that requires compressing the end cap a little, there are a few other ways too.

Dont have a video, but once apart they arent that hard. Just replace the seals and reassemble. Make sure the bore and rod arent scored up or it will eat new seals, and take note of the direction and location of current seals so you put them back together correctly.

Take a picture of the cylinder and we could better advise on how it comes apart

 

[Richard]

Yep, what he said.

I went cold turkey to doing them on my JCB. I had some fits getting the seal over and onto the piston. Seems like it was nearing 1/2" thick so it was pretty stout.

Once you do it, you're going to wonder why you ever contemplated paying someone to do it for you.

I had my harsh lesson when the dealer tried to charge me $1,200 to redo my dipper stick cylinder. As a courtesy, they lowered it to something like $900. Oh, they DID spray some new yellow paint on it, but did a crappy job of that too.

That was the last time I have ever set foot in that place. Did it myself INCLUDING that same cylinder a number of years later (now about a year ago).... if I recall, I think I spent about $75 for the parts and some elbow grease.

OH, and I once totally wrestled taking my trunion cylinders off.... was a nightmare.... now that I know what I know, I'd simply do them in place.

(smacks self on forehead)

 

[JimRB]

Abom79 on Youtube just made a tractor cylinder rebuild video the past month. He has a few cylinder repair videos. This install kit can help you get those impossible seals installed. I guess they are called wiper seals that can be challenging. https://herculesus.com/product.php?productcode=IT TOOL SET-A PROMO&pd=Y&cat=15468&pid=1625558

 

[BukitCase]

That's a great price on the seal tool kit - I paid more than TWICE that on Amazon about 3 years ago AFTER doing 6 of the 13 cylinders on my 580B, and did the rest in about HALF the time/agrivation... Steve

 

[JasperFrank]

Some pics. By the by, thanks guys for all the encouragement. Now i just have to figure out when I'll have a free couple days to work on them. I use the tractor everyday in the summer and fall. None of the other FEL cylinders leak, only one does. Should I do all four of them?

 

[hosspuller]

Do one. Then ... You will know you're ready to do the others after learning your limits of tolerance, perseverance, and strength.

 

[arto98607]

Some pics. By the by, thanks guys for all the encouragement. Now i just have to figure out when I'll have a free couple days to work on them. I use the tractor everyday in the summer and fall. None of the other FEL cylinders leak, only one does. Should I do all four of them?

Based on the photo of the steering cylinder I would suggest first degreasing and cleaning it out completely so you can find out where exactly it is leaking from?

By the way, it looks like the tierod above it is bent pretty good!

 

[LD1]

I agree that you need to clean it up and make sure the cylinder is indeed the culprit.

IF it is.....it looks like a thread in gland cap but it looks like one that takes a pin-type spanner wrench. (similar to the little tool for 4-1/2" angle grinders) just a bit bigger. IF you are handy....you can make one.

It looks like the pin boss in the end of the rod is a welded on piece. This means total disassembly. Gotta take the piston off the rod to slide the gland cap off that way. Like I said, pay attention to location and orientation of the seals and backup rings.

When putting back together, use loctite or even a chisel to stake the threads on the piston nut. You DONT want that coming unthreaded.

AS to the loader cylinder, pretty much the exact same deal only it has a hex on the threaded gland cap. And I'd only rebuild what is leaking. I use the "dont fix it if it aint broke" mentality on cylinders

 

[EddieWalker]

I used to rebuild my cylinders. The dealer sells a kit that includes parts for my tractor, along with a bunch of other models. You pick the parts that you need, and through away the rest. Cost kept climbing for the kits and then New Holland decided that you had to buy a new piston when rebuilding your cylinder and they no longer sold kits that would work on the original piston. The kit was around a hundred bucks, and the piston was over a hundred bucks.

The Parts Guy told me that they send their cylinders out to a hydraulic rebuild shop in town. They do not buy the New Holland kits, they are too expensive. I went to the Shop and they rebuilt it for me for a hundred bucks. They only need about $5 in parts and it takes them about half an hour to do the job. Easy money for them, cheaper for me, and I don't have to deal with it.

Getting the cylinder off is usually pretty simple. Greasy, but simple.

Opening up the cylinder is the first obstacle in the quest. On my New Holland backhoe, I have 3 different ways of opening them up. Each is pain in it's own way. You will need a big vice to hold it still, and plenty of tools to figure out how to unscrew it.

It all slides out pretty easily and you just replace all the seals one at a time from the kit. They are mostly plastic of some kind and they just slide over the piston, into place. This is super easy.

And then the hardest part of the rebuild is getting it back together without pinching or damaging all the brand new seals that are bigger then the worn out ones you just replaced. For me, this was pure misery.

Screwing the cap back on and installing it is really quick and simple.