mroberts3
New member
Recently had a hydraulic line on my MF 40b tractor / backhoe (eary 80's) start leaking. Since I lost a significant amount of hydraulic fluid, I thought it was a good time to remove the MF 34A Loader Lift Cylinders and have them rebuilt as well as one of the outriggers. This is the first time I've ever had cylinders rebuilt. I called a hydraulic / cylinder shop in Hagerstown, MD and I was told that if everything was good it usually takes an hour of labor ($85) and the parts (seals) usually run $30-$40 for each cylinder. He told me that if I wanted to get the exact price, I'd need to bring them in and they could estimate it better. So, I thought best case probably $400, but possibly $600 if its harder to break down.
So weeks later, I removed the cylinders and took them into the shop. He said I'd need to leave them and they'd call me with an estimate. So, I get the call today and he tells me the estimate is $1532. I was driving, so I asked to call him back, so I could go over the numbers.
So apparently, they've had to do $425 worth of work so far to get all three of the cylinders apart and cleaned in order to give me an estimate. He said that one cylinder was hard to break down and took longer. I told him that was a lot of of hours to work on it without first calling me to let me know the situation. So I went over the remaing numbers. The seals for the cylinders are $32, $32, and $45, which is total of $109 for parts. Two of the cylinders need to be rechromed for $200 each, which is a total of $400. Currently, the cylinders are ready to be put back together. So, $1532 - ($425 [breakdown] + $109 [parts] + $400 [Rechrome]) = $598. Also, unless the two cylinders are rechromed there is no guarantee on the workmanship. So $598 is for putting the cylinders back together with the new seals. This is about 7 hours of labor at $85/hour. This is 4 more hours than what I thought I was going to pay for the entire job.
Just wondering if this seems right? I'm between work right now, so I don't really have the money to be spending on a backhoe thats not worth much more than $4000. I would appreciate any advice as to how I should proceed. Should I just pick up the broken down cylinders and pay the $425 and have someone else rebuild them or ??
So weeks later, I removed the cylinders and took them into the shop. He said I'd need to leave them and they'd call me with an estimate. So, I get the call today and he tells me the estimate is $1532. I was driving, so I asked to call him back, so I could go over the numbers.
So apparently, they've had to do $425 worth of work so far to get all three of the cylinders apart and cleaned in order to give me an estimate. He said that one cylinder was hard to break down and took longer. I told him that was a lot of of hours to work on it without first calling me to let me know the situation. So I went over the remaing numbers. The seals for the cylinders are $32, $32, and $45, which is total of $109 for parts. Two of the cylinders need to be rechromed for $200 each, which is a total of $400. Currently, the cylinders are ready to be put back together. So, $1532 - ($425 [breakdown] + $109 [parts] + $400 [Rechrome]) = $598. Also, unless the two cylinders are rechromed there is no guarantee on the workmanship. So $598 is for putting the cylinders back together with the new seals. This is about 7 hours of labor at $85/hour. This is 4 more hours than what I thought I was going to pay for the entire job.
Just wondering if this seems right? I'm between work right now, so I don't really have the money to be spending on a backhoe thats not worth much more than $4000. I would appreciate any advice as to how I should proceed. Should I just pick up the broken down cylinders and pay the $425 and have someone else rebuild them or ??
