Another Top N Tilt Question

[JRP]

John,

My top link compressed some when it was first installed. I operated to extremes several times and most compressibility went away. I suppose you could temporarily set your cylinder such that the hosesare are up and let air rise toward the valve. Operate the lever driving the cylunder to extremens to cause gravity to force the air up and out.

My top link is 8" stroke. A typical top link has an adjustment range from 19" to 29". A 10" adjustment. But my cylinder is 8" stroke, so I have already lost 2" of stroke. The limiting factor in my setup was the length of the end caps and rod end. For this reason, I fabricated a rod end that screweed on the rod threads, then cut off the rod a short as possible while still getting good thread engagement. The tractor end of the cylinder has been adapted such that the cylinder is as close as possible to the pin hole as would fit.

Desierd Result: Get the most stroke in the shortest possible package. Modify the cylinder ends/adapters, not the stroke, if at all possible.

 

[John_Mc]

Thanks, everyone for your tips. It looks as though I'll have to shorten my cylinder on both ends. I checked, the next size down that is easily available is MUCH too short (not to mention shorter stroke).

I've also got to get the dealer to move my hydraulic side link over to the right side. He put it on the left, which is a pain, since the control is on the right. Also, the hoses are already chafing on the top link, even with only a few hours of operation. I had asked for the right side, but apparently they forgot.

 

[Bird]

John, my cylinder also has the 8" stroke, and you wouldn't want any less. The Tisco cylinder I have, had what I'd consider an extra long rod and an extra long connection on the other end, too, which allowed shortening the ends pretty easily without affecting the stroke.

Bird

 

[John_Mc]

Bird - Sounds as though you've got the same cylinder I do. I think it's a Tisco. 20" retracted, 28" extended (at least until I get it cut down).

 

[Keoke]

John, you want the hyd cylinder mounted on the side opposite of the crank tilt adjustment. This will give you the max tilt angle range.
It really makes a difference when doing a ditch with your blade.

george

 

[Bird]

Yep, John, sounds like the same cylinder; Tisco model HTL2102.

Bird

 

[John_Mc]

<font color=blue>you want the hyd cylinder mounted on the side opposite of the crank tilt adjustment.</font color=blue>

George - Thanks. I was aware of that. I plan on putting the manually adjustable link on the left side, in place of the fixed link.

Three reasons:
1) my controls are on the right... it's easier to see the adjustment while operating the controls if you can turn to the same side the controls are on.
2) the remote outlets are on the right; the hoses have to cross over the top link to get to the hydraulic cylinder on the left side. I've only used this a few times, and the hydraulic lines are already starting to chafe on the top link.
3) the hydraulic lines to the side link on the left make it a pain-in-the-butt to disconnect the PTO shaft (side link lines make it tough to raise the top link, which makes it tough to raise the PTO guard.)

 

[John_Mc]

Finally got my top link cylinder back from the dealer. I decided to try just cutting the back end off short - had them cut out the flat stock, and reweld the ball joint right on to the back of the cylinder. I looks as though I'll be able to get away without cutting down the cylinder shaft.

I'm still getting some significant compression of the toplink cylinder under load. The service guy who put the system on said all I need to do to bleed the air is operate the valve to the extremes in both directions, and hold it there. I did this, and still get 3/4" compression of the cylinder even under a light load (i.e. lowering the box blade to rest on the ground). If the seals in the cylinder were damaged, would this be one of the symptoms? I don't see leaks anywhere.

 

[Bird]

John, I don't know enough to say for sure, but it does sound to me like you have a bad seal in that cylinder. The service guy was right about bleeding the air; that's the way I was told to do it, too, although even that was not necessary on mine. Reckon they took the cylinder apart before welding? Otherwise they may have overheated the seal. And then of course, it's always possible to get a new defective product. My top link cylinder had a pinhole leak where they welded the hydraulic line fitting onto it when they made it; just took a little welding to fix it, but needless to say, I'm not too favorably impressed with Tisco products.

 

[John_Mc]

Thanks Bird-
Is there an easy way to check the seal, or is it basically a matter of disassembling the cylinder and looking?

If the seal were leaking, would you expect the position of the top link to keep drifting under load until it hit the end of it's travel? If this is so, is that different from air, where it might stop after a certain amount of drift?

John