skipmarcy
Veteran Member
When I was ready last year to get a toplink cylinder, CCM was out of stock of their smaller cylinders, plus the retracted length of their cylinder wasn't short enough for my tractor. I built my own cylinder, getting the cylinder & check valve assembly from Surplus Center and the weld-on swivel eyes from TSC. To measure what retracted length I wanted, I simply set my original toplink to level my boxblade and then subtracted a couple inches in order to get some good forward angle, this was a little shorter than my manual toplink would adjust. I made my retracted length right at 16" - this gives me excellent forward angle when I need it for my boxblade and also when loading my rotary cutter on my trailer and when sharpening blades. The 8" stroke of my cylinder gives me a rearward angle that is beyond what I ever need for my equipment but occasionally I roll my boxblade back that far to do a fine drag to level gravel etc., works similar to back dragging your loader bucket. I've been extremely happy with my setup. It's a shame no one makes the cylinders with retracted lengths around 16" or 17", I'm sure alot of tractors in the size range of my 4110 could well benefit from them. A 19" retracted length wouldn't even allow me to get my boxblade level, much less get some forward angle.
