Backhoe Weeping Outrigger/Stabilizer Cylinders

[Deerelirious]

Hi,

I have a John Deere 2305 TLB (tractor/loader/backhoe) Compact Tractor that bought new in February of 2009, as a 60th birthday present for myself (nobody else was gonna buy it for me)! A few months after I acquired it, I noticed that it's left rear outrigger(stabilizer) on the backhoe was slowly weeping hydraulic fluid onto the arm below it when it was in the 'down' position while working the 'hoe'.

The dealer (who mainly sells trailers, and sells John Deere compact tractors. 'Gators', etc. as a side line) repaired it under warranty, and everything seemed okay when it came back. The tractor currently has a mere 22.5 hours on it. I hadn't used the backhoe much since then, until the other day. I was digging into the dirt bank alongside my driveway, and I noticed that both of the outrigger/stabilizer cylinders are weeping now. Both stabilizer arms had a one-inch wide 'trail' of hydraulic fluid on top of them, trailing downward from just below where the cylinder ram met the cylinder body, and dropping onto the top of the outrigger's pad.

That 'weeping' doesn't seem right to me. I worked around a lot of equipment (with hydraulics) during my 33 years in construction, and I don't recall ever having seen anything like that before... especially on a newer piece of equipment. It's not a major leak, but it is a definite leak at the ram seals, for sure. Maybe that dealer's mechanic? is not that well-versed in hydraulic repairs?

I park this TLB in my garage, and as there is no room to lower the outriggers and boom/bucket for storage, I use a length of 3/8-inch chain and a spring clip to tie the outriggers together in the 'up' position to keep them from slowly 'sinking' over time. I also block the bucket up against the back of the boom with wooden block that's screwed to a tin can that drops over a bucket tooth, and that keeps the bucket from 'sinking' (un-curling) while the tractor is parked. Is there anything wrong with this method of parking/storing the tractor and backhoe?

Before I contact John Deere about the leak, I would appreciate your thoughts. As I said, that 'weeping' of hydraulic fluid at the ram seals just doesn't seem right to me.

Thank you for your time....

Burn 'Em Up

(a 'greenhorn-wannabe' backhoe operator and shade-tree mechanic)

 

[jd110]

You are right, leaking cylinders on a new piece of equipment is not normal. There is nothing wrong with your methood of tieing the outriggers together as long as the chain is not against the cylinder rods and scratching them. Unfortunately, the outrigger cylinders are prone to damage since the rods are exposed while digging and you can dump rocks on the cylinders or contact the bucket to cylinders if not careful. If the cylinders don't show any damage, you have a good case to have them repaired due to extreme low hours and history of previous leak. Your warranty is probably technically expired on the backhoe. It only 12 months I believe. Good Luck!

 

[Deerelirious]

Hi,
JD110, Thanks for the reply. I'll post wih Deere's response to my inquiry tomorrow. I'll try to attach a photo of the leak to this message......

 

[Deerelirious]

Hi,

My attempt to attach a photo to the previous posting was successful, so here's two more photos of the leaks:

 

[etcallhome]

I had a leak on one of my stabilizer cylinders also. I took it off gave to service manager at dealer, they repaired it I put it back on this was about 2 1/2 yrs ago and no more leaks..

 

[Deerelirious]

Hi,

An update on the 'weeping' stabilizer cylinders. I finally heard back from John Deere, via e-mail... "Thank you for contacting our Web site. For any warranty information on your 260 Backhoe, LV0260X020830, please contact your John Deere dealer. Our dealers administer, diagnose and determine if items are warrantable." From that reply, I believe that the backhoe is still under warranty. They could have at least answered my question about the warranty period on the backhoe itself.

Anyway, I haven't phoned the dealer yet. I had the tractor out yesterday, digging in this damp, rocky Sierra Nevada red clay. I kept checking the stabilizers as I was digging, watching for any sign of 'weeping' hydraulic fluid. They did 'weep' but very little, not nearly as much as they did the other day. I had to move the tractor several times during yesterday's digging operation, and each time I set it up, I wiped the stabilizer arms clean of any hydraulic oil that was on them. What I found was that sometimes, they would 'weep', and at other times, they wouldn't.

After I finished and cleaned up the tractor, I set it up on it's front bucket and stabilizers, and let it run at 2k RPM for about 15 minutes... without actually operating the backhoe... no sign of any weeping on the left stabilizer, and only a drop or two (at the very beginning of the test) out of the right one.

I cleaned up the two drips of hydraulic fluid on the right stabilzer arm and shut the tractor off. I left it sitting there, raised up on it's stabilizers and bucket for a few hours afterward. The stabilzer arms were dry after that, with no sign of hydraulic fluid drips.

So, it appears that whatever is causing the leak(s) is intermittent....'ya gotta love those 'intermittent problems, right? I hesitate to call the dealer and have them come and get the tractor, and then find out that it won't leak while they have it. I'd hate to be the proverbial boy who cried 'wolf'!

I will have owned the tractor for two years at the end of next February, and as far as I know, that is when it's warranty will run out. Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

'Diggin It'... Deerelirious

 

[kennyd]

Cylinders can leak after sitting a long time, the seals "relax" a little with no pressure on them. Since it has sat for so long, that's what could have happened to yours, and now that you are using it the seals have re-sealed.

Like JD110 wrote though, the two year warranty is on the tractor alone, "implements" and "attachments" are only warrantied for 1 year.

 

[Deerelirious]

Hi,

kennyd, thanks for the quick reply:thumbsup:. A quick phone call to the dealer just now confirmed what you said about the one year warranty on 'implements'. So, if the stabiilzers ever do need to be re-packed, I'll be taking care of that myself.


'Diggin It'... Deerelirious

 

[wdchyd]

Deerelirious,

If you have the time you ought to do a test to see how tight the glands are, I'm talking slop or egged shaped glands.....many cyls get repacked and there is excess clearances in the gland, which shortens the life of the seals....

Leave hoses hooked up, take off pin on hyd rod end and support cyl barrel out....run cyl out to the max and shut off tractor and relax pressure using control valve....wiggle side to side, up and down and check for slop in cyl assy.....you should not see any movement between the rod and barrel ....if you do then you'll need seal kits and glands the next time they are done.....

Sometimes this gets overlooked when they get repacked......

 

[Cocre]

The stabilizer cylinders on my 447 hoe weep a bit of oil just about anytime I use it. I rebuilt them, but soon thereafter they started dripping again. It bothered me to start with, but I got over it.

It is difficult to tell exactly where the drip comes from, but I think it is from between the gland and the cylinder rather than the rod and gland. The cylinders actually had a bit of rust on the inside down a bit past the first o-ring. I figured this came from the unit sitting on the dealer's lot with the stabilizers pointing up and exposed to the elements.

My tractor is no longer new to me so I am OK with it, but I do understand your frustration.