Replacement tilt cylinders for a KL6010 loader.

[JimR]

We had a 27 inch snowstorm last week. I somehow bent both of my tilt cylinders on my loader. I was able to straighten one of them out. The other one snapped when I tried to straighten it out. Has anyone found an alternate to these cylinders other than from Kioti? I could rebuild it if I could find the parts. I do not see a breakdown for the piston on Kioti's parts website. I am going to call a local hydraulic place to see if they can do anything with it. Update, I did find the breakdown for the tilt cylinders.

 

[ptsg]

Michigan Iron Equip lists just the rod for $280 or the entire cylinder for "only" $846.

Either way, an hydraulic shop should be able to make to new rods easily. Don't know about the pricing though.

 

[JimR]

Michigan Iron Equip lists just the rod for $280 or the entire cylinder for "only" $846.

Either way, an hydraulic shop should be able to make to new rods easily. Don't know about the pricing though.

Thanks, I looked up the parts again and found the cylinder breakdown on the parts sheet. Not cheap on a cylinder. I'm calling the local place now to see what they say. I also see the complete seal kit is available. My outer seal is leaking on the cap.

 

[ptsg]

Thanks, I looked up the parts again and found the cylinder breakdown on the parts sheet. Not cheap on a cylinder. I'm calling the local place now to see what they say. I also see the complete seal kit is available. My outer seal is leaking on the cap.

Inspect the gland/cap very closely for any possible damage. Bent rods can damage the gland in an hurry.

 

[JimR]

Inspect the gland/cap very closely for any possible damage. Bent rods can damage the gland in an hurry.

The plan after going to a hydraulic shop is to rebuilt them myself. I'm going to buy two new piston rods and replace them and anything else that is damaged as in forward seals in the caps. Cost to rebuilt one cylinder was quoted at a minimal of $600 - 700. I can do this work myself. If I was still working I could have made my own piston rods on the lathes there.

 

[JimR]

Update, The piston cylinder end caps do have some rub wear from the bent piston rods. I know that I could clean them up and they will seal fine but decided since everything moving inside is going to be new that I will replace the caps for another $121.00 for the pair if the place honors their prices. Total parts comes out to $657.79 + shipping if the advertised online prices are correct. If not, then the price is more like $764.02 + shipping to rebuild both cylinders. Either way that price is cheaper than the cost of one new cylinder at $846.02 + shipping. that price is not much more than to pay a company to rebuilt one cylinder. Time to be a little bit more careful. It was simple to take them apart right on the tractor. I disconnected the rod pin and blocked up the pistons. Using a spanner wrench the end caps loosened right up. The two outer tubes show no internal damage and a straight edge on the outside shows no bending of them. Now to order my parts in the morning.

 

[JimR]

Michigan Iron & Equipment got my order for all my parts to repair my cylinders. All the parts are in stock at the warehouse. I'm having them drop shipped directly from Kioti in N.C. to me to cut down on downtime. My parts should ship out today and arrive on Friday. Looking forward to warmer weather now that Spring has arrived.

 

[JimR]

Parts arrived at 2pm yesterday and my tractor was back together by 4pm. The bucket curl works so much faster now than ever before. Two of the seals were flipped over. I'm thinking that this has been this way since new. Total cost was a bit more than expected. The cost was $959.02 to rebuilt both of them.

 

[LD1]

So my question is how did the rods bend? And whatever you were doing, have you learned what you did wrong as to not repeat it once repaired?

 

[JimR]

I have owned 3 tractors since 1978 and never bent a tilt piston on any of them. The only thing I did with my tractor last week was back dragging heavy snow away from my barn doors and large garage shed door over at the farm. I don't recall getting hung up on anything that would have caused this to happen. My guess is that the bucket was at too sharp of an angle and the snow was too heavy. I have done a lot of work like this before without doing any damage. This machine is mostly used up in the woods for taking down trees with a logging winch, hauling logs, moving cord wood in totes with pallet forks on the loader, etc and never bent a piston rod before. Those rods are cased hardened. You can see it in the metal where it snapped off.

 

[LD1]

Trying some serious back dragging with anything beyond a 45° bucket angle is really not a wise idea on a tractor loader

 

[JimR]

Trying some serious back dragging with anything beyond a 45° bucket angle is really not a wise idea on a tractor loader

Obviously and costly. I think once in 45 years is really pretty good odds though.

 

[Threepoint]

Great job on the cylinder rebuilds, Jim! In only two hours!

Thanks for posting about this.

 

[JimR]

Great job on the cylinder rebuilds, Jim! In only two hours!

Thanks for posting about this.

Thanks Threepoint.

 

[nlarson]

Old post, but I recently had the same issue - bent a rod on my KL6010 doing grapple work. It had a very slow leak out the gland nut, but I figured I should get it repaired, so I bought the seal kit and tore the cylinder down only to find extensive internal damage to the piston. The damage did not seem related to the bend rod, and might have been a warranty issue, but the dealer wanted my tractor for min. of 3 weeks to take a look and I can't be without it that long. After pricing everything to rebuild it, it ended up being about the same price or maybe a hair cheaper to just buy a whole cylinder. I was quoted $624 + shipping by my local dealer to have it drop shipped from Kioti NC to my place.

 

[JimR]

Old post, but I recently had the same issue - bent a rod on my KL6010 doing grapple work. It had a very slow leak out the gland nut, but I figured I should get it repaired, so I bought the seal kit and tore the cylinder down only to find extensive internal damage to the piston. The damage did not seem related to the bend rod, and might have been a warranty issue, but the dealer wanted my tractor for min. of 3 weeks to take a look and I can't be without it that long. After pricing everything to rebuild it, it ended up being about the same price or maybe a hair cheaper to just buy a whole cylinder. I was quoted $624 + shipping by my local dealer to have it drop shipped from Kioti NC to my place.

I caught mine right away when they got bent. My damage was at a minimum.

 

[nlarson]

I caught mine right away when they got bent. My damage was at a minimum.

On mine there was some wear damage from the bend, but I think that all would have been fine with a straightened or new rod and seals. The damage to the piston head was the real problem - a chunk of metal broke free from somewhere and just tore things up. Even left scars in the cylinder wall, so likely would have never sealed right even with new internals. Perhaps that was from the bend, but I don't see how since this was not just abrasion from rubbing on the bent side, something pushed through the piston rings leaving gouges. Attached a photo.

 

[JimR]

On mine there was a some for wear damage from the bend but I think that all would have been fine with a straightened or new rod and seals. The damage to the piston was the real problem - a chunk of metal broke free from somewhere and just tore things up. Even left scars in the cylinder wall, so likely would have never sealed right even with new internals. Perhaps that was from the bend, but I don't see how since this was not just abrasion from rubbing on the bent side, something pushed through the piston rings leaving gouges. Attached a photo.

I tried straightening my piston rods on a hydraulic press. They both snapped in half.