Hydraulic top link on BX

   / Hydraulic top link on BX #21  
For the things I'll be doing with this tractor, I don't know if I'll ever need it, but what about a tilt cylinder? Am I going to have a tough time finding a cylinder that works for me there?
Depends on where you look. This is really a custom part (with a price to match).

You can find them here
fitritehydraulics.com-pricing

I have been thinking about this for a decade, maybe this will be the year I order one, so next year will be the year I actually have one.
 
   / Hydraulic top link on BX
  • Thread Starter
#22  
I see (and thank you). So it's even tougher to get right than the top link.
 
   / Hydraulic top link on BX
  • Thread Starter
#23  
I'd like to give an update. Especially with the Pat's added the top link is not so hard, and I plan to try to source that locally. However, the tilt is not so easy.

Here's what FitRite can do for me/us:

"I would build your T&T units with 2" dia cylinders and 1 1/4" dia rods similar to those pictured.
Here is what you would be getting and what those costs would be.

A cat 1 top link with a working length of 16 3/4"- 23 3/4" allowing for the added length of the Pat's QH. $315
A side link built to provide an equal amount of tilt angle to both sides. $455
2 hose kits made with 1/4" hose and 1/4" male AG type couplers. $120
2 sets of flow restrictors, these allow for slower smoother adjustments of the hydraulic links. $30
UPS 4 day shipping costs of. $109

So for $1029 you can have this complete top & tilt set built for your application and shipped to your door.
Current lead times are running a minimum of 30 weeks."

Quoted from Brian at FitRiteHydraulics.

I plan to order the tilt cylinder from him and just deal with the wait. I don't have any 3 point implements yet.
 
   / Hydraulic top link on BX
  • Thread Starter
#24  
I've been digging into this a little more.

Most of the HTLs I see listed or mentioned that will work only have a 4-6" stroke. My oem manual top link has about 10" of adjustment.

Without having done a lot of ground engaging 3ph work before, is that little bit of stroke going to suffice? I'll keep the original top link too for oddball situations I might encounter, but on a regular basis is that going to be fine with, say, a box blade, a set of 3ph forks, a rake, or a rear blade?

Also, I have found a top link with almost perfect closed/extended lengths, but it is a 1.5" bore as opposed to a 2" bore. On my BX would a 1.5" bore cylinder be fine?
 
   / Hydraulic top link on BX #25  
I've been digging into this a little more.

Most of the HTLs I see listed or mentioned that will work only have a 4-6" stroke. My oem manual top link has about 10" of adjustment.

Without having done a lot of ground engaging 3ph work before, is that little bit of stroke going to suffice? I'll keep the original top link too for oddball situations I might encounter, but on a regular basis is that going to be fine with, say, a box blade, a set of 3ph forks, a rake, or a rear blade?

Also, I have found a top link with almost perfect closed/extended lengths, but it is a 1.5" bore as opposed to a 2" bore. On my BX would a 1.5" bore cylinder be fine?
Check where in the adjustment range of your top link an attachment would be level. I found my factory top link on Bobcat CT2025 allowed way more back tilt than forward tilt and was longer than needed. The hydraulic cylinder I purchased is a little over 8" stroke, everything is level a midstroke and it has made using a box blade a totally different experience. I used that entire range when grading my driveway, I wouldn't want it any shorter. 4" would be too short in my opinion, 6" might be fine if the center point is perfect.
 
   / Hydraulic top link on BX
  • Thread Starter
#26  
I stumbled across a FB marketplace listing for a Fitrite top link made for the BX tractors for 325 shipped, with hoses. Assuming the deal goes through as planned and it arrives in the shape it appears to be, I'm quite stoked about that!

It is not sized to accommodate Pat's, but I have been on the fence about whether to spend the money on Pat's anyway. Implements for a BX are relatively light, and so far I don't mind hooking them up the "hard" way.
 
   / Hydraulic top link on BX
  • Thread Starter
#27  
Woo hoo!

IMG_20220124_172959056.jpg


IMG_20220124_173014354.jpg
 
   / Hydraulic top link on BX #28  
THAT was a "needle in the haystack" find...

Quick, go buy a lottery ticket while the Leprechauns are still with you!!!

Mine was 30 weeks - but worth the wait from Brian at Fit-Rite.
 
   / Hydraulic top link on BX
  • Thread Starter
#29  
I definitely got lucky! In the FB thread where the guy advertised it for sale several people were badgering him about how his price was too high, you can find a $100 cylinder that works blah blah blah, but all the while I'm messaging him saying I'll take it IMMEDIATELY! Haha

I was going to order one from Fitrite sized to work with Pat's, or source one that I thought would work from Surplus Hydraulics. However, when I saw this available and available NOW I decided I'll be fine without Pat's! If I ever desire I'll just go with a quick hitch now I guess.

However, I'm finding I don't mind using the 3ph directly so far. Implements for this tractor are light, making hookup no big deal (so far). Edit- OOPS, already said all that. Sorry!
 
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   / Hydraulic top link on BX #30  
No point telling someone their price is too high, really. Talk is cheap and if you price too low what you're really doing is giving your time away and overbooking yourself. Anyway...

Have you considered that the lower arms of the 3pts are not ALL the same length on various tractors? There's a pretty good chance you could just find some slightly longer ones that will work on your tractor. I just swapped a set from a B8200 onto my B6100 because while they were very slightly longer, the attachment points for the lifting links moved outward by proportionally more than that, theoretically incrementally improving the lift capacity of my tiny tractor by whatever small amount. I have a power top link on that B6100 with a 10" stroke and i use all of it. I haven't personally found much need for adjusting the tilt link but.. I did just order a $25 ratcheting load binder that I intend to cut the middle out of and weld into the middle of my tilt link, which is coincidentally basically a cat0 top link. Still manual but maybe easy enough that i'd mess with it occasionally vs never.
 
 
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