Dump wagon with single hose cylinder

[5030tinkerer]

I recently picked up an old farm wagon with a dump feature. I tried the dump feature for the first time tonight. The cylinder itself only has a single large hydraulic line going to it. The other side of the cylinder (that could accept a second hydraulic line) instead has a cap on it with what appears to be a vent incorporated.

When it got up to about a 30 degree angle, however, this vent started spewing hydraulic fluid under pressure.

The cylinder would continue lifting the bed if I let it, but I imagine I'd lose about a quart of fluid with each dump. Can I just replace this vent with a second hydraulic line that could be connected to my rear remotes to allow the fluid to return or should I be doing something else to resolve this? The whole concept of a single hose going to a cylinder is new to me.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

What you have is a single acting cylinder. Basically, pressure up, gravity down. here is your problem. Inside the cylinder, at the end of the chrome rod, is what's called a piston. On this piston is a seal. Oil is coming in the hose side of the cylinder and bypassing the piston seal and coming out the vent plug on the other side. I don't like vent plugs in outdoor applications. They tend to let in dirty air which tears up the piston seal, and lets in moisture which rusts the inside of the cylinder. You have a couple choices. First, you could run a hose from the vent plug back to the top of tank. I would do this anyway. You could leave the piston seal in there if your cylinder has enough power to dump loads. But, it will only get worse which will lower the cylinders lifting power. Second, is to get the cylinder resealed. Personally, I would reseal the cylinder and run a hose replacing the vent plug and going into the top of the tank. Another alternative to the vent plug is one of those cheap plastic see thru inline fuel filters. The filter will clean the air going into the cylinder.
Good luck, Andy

 

[5030tinkerer]

Thanks for the great information! I'll likely just go ahead and get the cylinder overhauled - easier to do that than struggle with it for years to come. Given the symptoms, does anyone have an idea of what I should expect to spend for the rebuild if I carry it in somewhere?

 

[kennyd]

As Andy so eloquently said, that cylinder needs to be rebuilt-the hydraulic fluid is bypassing the piston seals. If the bore is not totally pitted and scored, then a rebuild should be about $50.00 to $75.00 or so.