Is cylinder repair a do it your self job?

[ultrarunner]

Last week I noticed the left angle cylinder on my D3 Dozer is leaking... not much, but 2 drops a minute.

My questions are:

1. Is this a do-it-yourself project?
2. What is the conventional wisdom on repair vs replace?
3. Any idea about how much this will cost for parts vs repair?
4. Would I be better off going to an independent or my CAT Dealer?

 

[6sunset6]

I tried to repair the dipper stick cylinder on my hoe . two of us got it down but there was no way we could get the nut off the end of the cylinder. Finally brought it in to the dealer.
I would suggest taking off and bringing it in. Cost more but less hassle.
But then I guess it depends on the size of the cylinder.

 

[Jimbrown]

Well I am with 6sunset it is no big deal, simple O rings ect. IF - IF you can get the thing apart. Give it a try and if not take it somewhere. I used to live in Hawks prarie

 

[ultrarunner]

I've never attempted to take a cylinder apart. This one is good size compared to anything on my Kubota, but it is not so big that I shouldn't be able to take it off.

Jim, you wouldn't recognize Hawks Prairie today if you haven't been here for a year or two. We now have a couple of Home Depots less than 10 miles apart and a Lowes in the middle. It really is a beautiful corner of the country.

I'm hoping to stay, but right now my Property Tax Assessment increased 80% in one year... so who knows if I have a future here...

 

[Reg]

Last week I noticed the left angle cylinder on my D3 Dozer is leaking... not much, but 2 drops a minute.

My questions are:

1. Is this a do-it-yourself project?
2. What is the conventional wisdom on repair vs replace?
3. Any idea about how much this will cost for parts vs repair?
4. Would I be better off going to an independent or my CAT Dealer?

I repaired a 5 inch bore by 24 inch stroke log splitter cylinder with no special tools and very little knowledge. I'd suggest taking it apart to see what shape the seals are in. If you do this for WORK and can't afford the down time it would probably be best to just replace the thing.

 

[Willl]

1. Is this a do-it-yourself project?

Now how can we honestly answer that, we don't know what you're capable of.

 

[ultrarunner]

Now how can we honestly answer that, we don't know what you're capable of.

Willl, you have a point... I did list in my profile that my hobby/interests are antique machinery and automobiles, not to mention my TBN Gold Member Status ;-)

Though, I've never tried my hand at rebuilding a leaking cylinder... yet

 

[ScottAR]

1. Absolutely. You'll need to buy some heavy duty tools. (Bonus right?)
2. I'm not conventional in most uses of the word but I'd repair unless the piston rod is badly scored. Then replace the rod itself.
3. The seal kits for my Case 580 are about $20.00 a cylinder.
4. I'd go to the dealer at least on the first one. That way you get a full kit.

I just resealed two cylinders on the 580. I posted some pics of the insides.
It's not a complicated process, just everything is heavy.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Cat dealer is about $750 to rebuild your D3 cylinder. I just resealed 5 off a D3C that burned in a fire, Seals were melted, had to re-machine a bunch of parts in the lathe, 2 rods were bent, machined and welded on 2 new rods, whole bill for all that was $1100. Cat dealer doesn't do anything different from anyone else.
By the way, the bolt holding the piston to the rod took me bouncing on my 3' breaker bar to remove.
If you want to do this yourself, look up Hercules-Bulldog Sealing Products. This is the place for hydraulic seals.
One thing I can tell you about this cylinder, there are 2 rod seals in the gland. One is simple to install, the other had me swearing for a couple hours. Had to heat the gland to about 120 degrees, and heat the seal in a bowl of water to 140 degrees. And was still a royal pain.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Last week I noticed the left angle cylinder on my D3 Dozer is leaking... not much, but 2 drops a minute.

My questions are:

1. Is this a do-it-yourself project? Only you can answer.
2. What is the conventional wisdom on repair vs replace? Repair unless unrepairable
3. Any idea about how much this will cost for parts vs repair?About $40 thru Hercules, $80 from Cat for the same kit.
4. Would I be better off going to an independent or my CAT Dealer? See my above post.

For the hundred or so it will cost to just have it done, is it worth it to play with it?

 

[EddieWalker]

Last week I noticed the left angle cylinder on my D3 Dozer is leaking... not much, but 2 drops a minute.

My questions are:

1. Is this a do-it-yourself project?
2. What is the conventional wisdom on repair vs replace?
3. Any idea about how much this will cost for parts vs repair?
4. Would I be better off going to an independent or my CAT Dealer?

This is a pretty straitghtforward, simple repair. The trick is getting it apart. I've never worked on Cat, so there's probably gonna be a few variations that I haven't seen before. From what I've read in your posts, you have more then enough skill and ability to do this.

Cost of a rebuild kit will run you from $20 to several hundred. I found a local guy who will sell me just the seals that I need, so that's where I can do it for $20 or so. If I go to the dealer, I have to buy a kit with allot of stuff in there that I don't need and just through away. Lately, the dealer has started replacing their pistons, so I have to buy a new piston AND the rebuild kit. This is where it gets into the several hundred dollar range.

Twice now, I've had to take the cylinder in to have it done. One time, I just couldn't get it apart. Nothing I had would do it, and I spent allot of time trying. The second time was to have the inside of the case rebored. It turned out that somebody had used bolts that were too long on one of the brackets that thread into the side of the cylinder. Those bolts had dented the case.

The other couple dozen times I've rebuilt cylinders, have all gone pretty easily. Here is a thread that I posted awhile ago on one of those rebuilds.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/69127-rebuilding-cylinder-my-hoe-stick.html

Eddie

 

[woodlandfarms]

I am not much of a mechanic but my manufacturer convinced me I could do my own cylinders. For my application, I simply unhooked one end of the cylinder rod, and grabbed hold of the end of the cylinder that unscrews with a large pipe wrench and reefed on it, and reefed on it, and reefed on it....

Finally I took the other end off and went to the local machine shop. I witnessed the largest pipe wrench I have ever seen in my life along with a serious blow torch and some fantastic australian cursing (our little town has an aussie for a metal worker) to take the cylnders apart. And putting them back together was no easy task as the tube tolerances are very tight...

Carl

 

[GuglioLS]

I would say it's a DIY project provided:
1 You can afford the down time to work on it yourself.
2. The rod does not need replacing.
3. You can actually get the cylinder apart (as many have stated)

Keep in mind that once the cylinder is apart, the Rod will have to be separated from the internal piston in order to replace the rod seals. Might as well replace the piston wipers & O-rings as well.

On my Komatsu Dozer there were two cylinder rods heavily pitted & seals leaking pretty bad. I removed the cylinders and took them to a hydraulic repair shop where they disassembled the cylinders, cut the clevis off the rod, Honed & polished the ID, then machined and threaded new metric rods, welded the clevis back on, replaced all seals, re-painted with matching color, then tested. Two completely rebuilt cylinders as good as or better than new cost a bundle, but cheap compared to replacing with two new cylinders.
I'm glad I had it done by someone who does this for a living, they did a great job, their turnaround time was 3 days.

Larry

 

[BTDT]

If you do it yourself, you will appreciate the labor that goes into repairing one of these things and won't complain so much about the cost of having someone else do it, if and when you do carry one in for repairs.

 

[starartist]

Anybody know how to get a "snap wire" type of retainer out of the end of a cylinder on a Kubota BF350 loader? Tried budging it loose or out of the groove by tapping a needle under one end of it. No luck. Tried tapping the seal ring further into the cylinder in case that is what is required to make enough clearance to get the snap wire out of the groove, but it didn't budge, so maybe that isn't the way to go either. Any ideas?

 

[California]

Maybe you could get under the tip of the wire ring with a dental pick or the similar o-ring tool?

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Anybody know how to get a "snap wire" type of retainer out of the end of a cylinder on a Kubota BF350 loader? Tried budging it loose or out of the groove by tapping a needle under one end of it. No luck. Tried tapping the seal ring further into the cylinder in case that is what is required to make enough clearance to get the snap wire out of the groove, but it didn't budge, so maybe that isn't the way to go either. Any ideas?

Post a pic dude. That way it's easier to see exactly what you're dealing with.

 

[2manyrocks]

Something like a pick hook might work. I thought most of these wire retainers had a bend at the end to grasp with pliars or a loop somewhere you could pry against.


I had a cylinder on a Terramite utility backhoe professionally rebuilt and it started leaking shortly after the reinstall. Tore it down and found a burr that the "pro" had missed. Put it back together. Won't bother with him again.

I think it's a messy job. Patience and a lot of clean rags help. For something as large as a cylinder on a dozer, I'd lean towards a professional rebuild, but not necessarily at the CAT dealer. I'd be asking for quotes up front to compare the costs.