Old Hydraulic Log Splitter

[Danny_In_Illinois]

My parents gave me an old wood splitter that they no longer use. Its been sitting uncovered out in the weather for the past 5 years. You operate the splitter by connecting the hoses to a tractor's hydraulic system. The hoses are pretty checked and weathered and will probably need to be replaced. I recently bought a new Kubota tractor with rear hydraulic ports and was told to keep the ports and hoses clean so as not to introduce any dirt into the hydraulic fluid. Because this wood splitter has been sitting unused for many years, I'm concerned that there may be rust or other crud inside the hoses and cylinder. Should I be concerned about this and if so, is there any way to flush out a hydraulic cylinder? Thanks for all responses.

-- Danny

 

[Wayne County Hose]

The easiest way I found is to leave one hose attached and put the end in an empty bucket. Blow shop air into the other port until the cylinder bottoms out. Now swap the hose to the other port and do the other side. Look at the condition of the fluid from the cylinder. Hopefully, there's no rust or other gank in it. Just be careful as any time you're messing with anything under pressure there is risk of injury.