730 ford loader

peahauler · Mar 14, 2010

Hi there, I am new to this site and I have a question about rebuilding a lift cylinder on a 730 ford loader. I have removed the cylinder from the loader and unscrewed the cap at the top of the cylinder using a 2" wrench. I put compressed air in the cylinder to force it out but it comes to the end of the ram and stops. How do I remove this to rebuild it? Any help would be appreciated, Thanks, Randy

kennyd · Mar 15, 2010

peahauler said:
Hi there, I am new to this site and I have a question about rebuilding a lift cylinder on a 730 ford loader. I have removed the cylinder from the loader and unscrewed the cap at the top of the cylinder using a 2" wrench. I put compressed air in the cylinder to force it out but it comes to the end of the ram and stops. How do I remove this to rebuild it? Any help would be appreciated, Thanks, Randy

Welcome to TBN Randy

Often, there is a internal snap ring that must be removed. Try pushing the piston down to see it. There are MANY different type of cylinders-so some pictures of yours will help us further help you...

peahauler · Mar 15, 2010

I am not sure how to put pictures on here, I will give it a try. I tried pushing down on what appears to be a thick felt or composite washer, it will not move. As you can see in the center picture i tried to get the washer or whatever it is out, you can see where I picked at it. The pics are kinda small. You will have to enlarge the pictures by pressing ctrl and then +. I am new to this computer fad. It is just a passing fad isnt it?

peahauler · Mar 16, 2010

I got tired of waiting for an answer so I hooked it between a tree and my truck and gave it a quick jerk. I put a hitch pin in each hole and wrapped a chain around the pins. If anyone else has one of these there are no snap rings, just remove the threaded cap and give it a tug. Thanks, Randy

peahauler · Mar 20, 2010

I am still waiting on the parts to repack my cylinders. The new hydraulic oil filter for the loader arrived today and I put it in. An old timer told me once that when you buy a new piece of machinery to make sure and replace all the filters because the paper element will break down over time. Sure enough when I took out the old filter it was starting to come apart. Hard to see in the photos but it is very soft and just falls apart with the slightest pressure, I think I caught it just in time. The filter is in the left frame arm and this is also the oil tank for the loader. I also replaced the power steering filter, pretty tight getting at that with the loader on. When the parts come for the cylinders Ill let you know how my first attempt at repaking hydraulic cylinders goes. Randy

kennyd · Mar 20, 2010

Thanks for the pictures Randy...:thumbsup:

peahauler · Mar 20, 2010

Thanks for the help and warm welcome to TBN kennyd, do you have any advice on the steps to putting the cylinders back together? My plan was to lube up the new packings with some vaseline and tap the ram gently back into the bore. Thats plan "A" anyway, plan "B" is about the same only with "gently" left out. Thanks again Randy

kennyd · Mar 20, 2010

I use hydraulic fluid to lube the seals. If there is and internal grove for a snap ring (which I don't think you have) I use a sheet of brass shim stock to wrap the piston so the seal slides past the groove easily without getting damaged. It also help to attach the one end of the cylinder back to the loader so it's held solid. Push as straight as possible.

peahauler · Mar 21, 2010

Ok, thanks, Ill give that a try. There are no snap rings on these particular cylinders and the bore has a bevel at the end so hopefully it will go in pretty easy. When my parts get here Ill let you know how it went. I think they must have sent them by stagecoach.

peahauler · Mar 23, 2010

My packings came today but when I went to put the cylinders back together I noticed that the gland that the top packing fits into was cracked, I checked the other one and it is also cracked. I went to the dealership and Ford no longer services these, a fancy way of saying they can no longer get them. So, onto plan "B". I am having a set made out of solid steel at a machine shop. The originals were cast pieces so these should be much stronger. I circled the crack on the picture, it runs all the way into the ring where the oring seal goes and is all the way through

to the other side. The guy at the machine shop said he could have them done in a couple of days, so they should be done in about a week.

kennyd · Mar 23, 2010

Good catch PH...

peahauler · Mar 30, 2010

I got my parts from the machine shop today and he did a good job on them, the picture is of one of the new glands he made. The first thing I did was made sure everything was spotless and then lubed up the cylinder housing and packings with hydraulic oil, then I secured the ram to my rear blade with a bolt through the mounting hole to steady it. Here my dad shows how we put the bottom packing of the ram into the housing, and then stood the cylinder up to install the top gland. The orange seal wanted to catch on the bevel inside the cylinder so we smeared a little vaseline around the gland and it slid in with no problems. To fully seat the gland took a few taps on the nut so it would catch the threads. I reassembled everything, ran the tractor at 1200 rpm and cycled the loader (no load) for 15 minutes to bleed the air out. I then took it out and worked it for 4 1/2 hours moving trees and dirt. I have to say I was pretty proud taking a few pictures of my leak free cylinders!! Total cost was $52.00 for each packing kit and $120.00 for each gland I had made. Had I been able to get new ones from Ford they would have been around $130.00. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and I saved a bunch of money doing it myself, (just kidding Dad)! My next job is to replace the hydraulic filter in the tractor. Thanks for your help Kennyd!!

kennyd · Mar 30, 2010

Nice job PH, good to see pictures of the old Ford!

Bedlam · Mar 30, 2010

WELCOME

Harley1283 · Aug 2, 2012

Hi Guy,
Do you by chance still have part #'s and vendor info for the re-pack kit's? By the way, I just replaced the hydraulic filters and rebuilt the lift cylinder on my 67 Ford 3000. Not that difficult and the lift works great now!

peahauler · Feb 24, 2013

Good job! Sorry, no I dont have the part numbers, I went to the Ford dealership and they were able to order them.

leelynx · Apr 27, 2013

I'm looking for a replacement filter for my Ford 730 loader. Does anyone know the part number for this, and/or an online source for it? This is the same loader as the one in this thread, although the stamped plate on the loader says "component" 19-529 and I have not been able to find "730" anywhere.