Nut came off piston - how to resolve.

[RickB]

Punch lock it.

Otherwise known as "staking" a nut.

 

[RickB]

I had one come off on my dipper stick on my backhoe. It was a pain to pull the piston out, the cylinder is a good 3 feet long. I ended up using a rod with a notch cut into it that once through the center hole in the piston I could catch the side and pull it out. I replaced the nuts with locking nuts, not the kind with nylon insert but the all metal kind. I think they call them stover lock nuts. Never had one come off so they are my go to lock nuts. Locktite should work but I wouldn't want to find out that the hydraulic fluid dissolved it.
View attachment 492705

Those nuts are also called top lock nuts. Oil will not dissolve Loctite 271.

 

[bigdeano]

As far as the stuck piston I'd put the piston rod back in it to plug the center hole and apply compressed air. I'd lay in out on the grass so nothing gets damaged when it shoots out. I suspect you already have it out by now.

 

[teg]

...I suspect you already have it out by now.

He has another thread about this: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/373350-hydraulic-steering-failure-today-fix.html where he was planning to use air today.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I got it out, I got it out!!!! Woo Hoo.. OK, so I put the rod back in and used air to force it out. Took a good 20 minutes of negotiating the results but it came out.

Downside was that the nut chewed up the top of the rod as well as the piston. Piston I had a spare, rod I had to take to my Hydrualic shop. They laughed and said I should be able to do this myself. Probably right but they ground down the first few thread rows and put a new nut on.

 

[JRobyn]

Yeah! :thumbsup:

 

[woodlandfarms]

Oh, took my other cylinder apart (I have two cylinders for steering and had rebuilt both at the same time) and the nut on it was half way down. WOuld have sucked sooner or later.