cylinder leak?

[moojamboo]

Hi all,

New to tractors, don't know much, looking to learn.

This morning I noticed two leaks under my loaders bucket cylinders, one on each side, with hydraulic fluid on the tarp the tractor is on. (90 percent sure this is hydraulic fluid, oil like, not near the engine / front axle)

You can see where I *think* the issue is coming from, it seems the lower part where the cylinder head connects to the cylinder tube is the issue, the head looks wet, while the cylinder tube appears dry. Leak appears to be on each bucket cylinder at the same place.

Weather has gotten much warmer recently (for northern Vermont anyway, high 50's today). Any chance this could be parts just expanding as the seasons change, and will seal back up when temperatures moderate?

I have done some searching on the forum, and I have read a lot of options it could be: o rings, compression nuts, v-pack (whatever a v-pack is),etc. Is this anything that I can adjust/fix without taking everything apart? Is this something common that I can change fairly easily / cheaply?

Really at a loss here, have only had this tractor for about 3 weeks and don't know what the next step is to diagnose / fix. No experience in hydraulics.

Thanks in advance for any guidance,
Matt

 

[beenthere]

Is this tractor new to you? Just wondering if it has had a history of not leaking, that you know about.

Does it leak more (or not) when there is a load in the bucket?

Does it leak while setting idle for a few days with no pressure and the bucket at rest on the ground (relieve the pressure after the engine is turned off, and the joy stick moved to all positions)?

 

[moojamboo]

The tractor used to be my father in law's tractor. He is the only other owner of the tractor. The tractor and loader is a 1986 with 680hours.

I'm not sure if it leaks more with a load on it. This is the first time I noticed any leak. It has been sitting in the garage for a week not moving with the bucket on the ground. My father in law usually stored the tractor outside in a shed or under tarps now it is stored in a garage.

What do you mean by "(relieve the pressure after the engine is turned off, and the joy stick moved to all positions)"? The bucket was put on the ground and then the engine turned off we didn't move around the joystick or anything.

 

[thclimer]

The tractor used to be my father in law's tractor. He is the only other owner of the tractor. The tractor and loader is a 1986 with 680hours.

I'm not sure if it leaks more with a load on it. This is the first time I noticed any leak. It has been sitting in the garage for a week not moving with the bucket on the ground. My father in law usually stored the tractor outside in a shed or under tarps now it is stored in a garage.

What do you mean by "(relieve the pressure after the engine is turned off, and the joy stick moved to all positions)"? The bucket was put on the ground and then the engine turned off we didn't move around the joystick or anything.

I can answer the question about relieving pressure. After you shut off the engine to relieve the pressure you need to move the joystick to all its positions. Leave it in each position for 5 seconds or so, you might want to do each position more than once. This relieves the pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the loaders cylinders.

You should also check the level of the hydraulic fluid. If the level is low the leak or other leaks may have been occurring for a while. If the level is correct it may just mean before you took possession of it that it was topped off.

 

[RickB]

Monitor the leak. It is possible that it was due to trapped oil in the cylinders warming and expanding with the seasonal warm-up. You might get lucky and it will stop. Otherwise, the cylinders will need new packing kits.

 

[moojamboo]

I checked the hydraulic fluid. The dip stick has a smooth shaft with a textured end to it. i assume that the textured part is where the fluid level should be. the tractor was cold and the level was about 2/3 up the textured section. i don't know how high it was when we got the tractor a few weeks ago.

Should the fluid level be above the textured section? there is no min max label on the stick itself.

I will follow up with my father in law but he never said anything about seeing any leaks. Some of the the hydraulic lines were replaced last summer but nothing was done to the rest of the hydraulic system for the loader.

 

[thclimer]

I checked the hydraulic fluid. The dip stick has a smooth shaft with a textured end to it. i assume that the textured part is where the fluid level should be. the tractor was cold and the level was about 2/3 up the textured section. i don't know how high it was when we got the tractor a few weeks ago.

Should the fluid level be above the textured section? there is no min max label on the stick itself.

I will follow up with my father in law but he never said anything about seeing any leaks. Some of the the hydraulic lines were replaced last summer but nothing was done to the rest of the hydraulic system for the loader.

Funny you should as about the marks on the dipstick. Both my engine oil and hydraulic fluid dipsticks are smooth with 2 holes on each. I keep the level between these holes and closer to the top one. However, if you read my manual for both dipsticks it depicts the style you have with hash marks (or textured) and notes the top of them as the full mark.

 

[moojamboo]

My Father-in-law says he hasn't put any hydraulic fluid in the tractor in probably 5 years. But he did say that he put some new hydraulic lines in on the loader last summer. I assume that when the lines were changed the hydraulic system was drained to do this work. This means that 1/3 of the fluid was used in a year or 5 years depending on how the lines were replaced.

So the leak doesn't seem to be that severe but what if i wanted to fix the leak. has anyone done this work themselves? does it require any specialty tools to do this work? does anyone know of a good place to find parts for this fix?

 

[moojamboo]

Some above mention cylinder repacking kits. Is this something I get from a universal hydraulic shop, or something I need to get specific for a ford 770a loader?

Very new to this, no experience in hydrolics, a point in the right direction to buy these parts would be greatly appreciated!

Matt

 

[beenthere]

Visit some tractor dealers (start with Ford) in your area and ask them about places that have a kit or that do the work.

You should be able to track down what your options are for either doing the work (no experience, I'd question if you want to tackle it), or sending it out to be done.

Something like a Tractor Supply in your area might have what you need too.

SurplusCenter.com has some repair kits, but not sure how you would match them up to yours.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/sort.asp?catname=hydraulic&keyword=HORK