What can I do with the Hydraulics Connections?

[Smalljobs]

Ron,
Thanks for your thorough explanation of this along with the hydraulic circuit diagram. This really helps me...thanks again!

 

[The Dougster]

This is a very timely post and I appreciate all the knowledge that has been presented here... let me explain.

I have a hydraulic dump trailer.. an antique for certain... It uses a 12-volt electric pump and I have nothing but problems with it.... even when it's working properly, it is painfully slow... Grrrr
Of late, I have been thinking about using the hydraulic system on my tractor, a Kubota L2800, to raise and lower the trailer. Now, I promise that I am a rank novice when it comes to hydraulics and this idea has been rolling around in my mind for some time now...
The hydraulics on the trailer now uses a Dexron fluid and I am assuming that once connected to the tractor, my best bet of to simply flush the existing ram of the Dexron with the fluid now used by the tractor.. Right? Wrong? Please let me know...

 

[Diamondpilot]

2 questions come to mind for me on your conversion? First, is the cylinder a 1 way or 2 way cylinder? Since you are a novice a 1 way uses pressure to raise and gravity down which is how most are on dump trailers and dump trucks for that matter. Easy way to tell is if it has 1 hydro hose going to the cylinder. A 2 way cylinder has 2 hoses going to it like a cylinder on most FEL's and uses hydro power to both raise and lower.

The second is does your tractor have remotes capable of doing what you want? If its a 1 way cylinder on the trailer you need one type of remotes. If its a 2 way cylinder you need another type. I am guessing a tractor like yours if equipped with remotes would be the more standard 2 way types and would not work with a 1 way cylinder like I am guessing you have. If this is the case the easiest way to modify things would be to buy a new cylinder for the dump trailer that is a 2 way cylinder. You could modify the tractor but would be more costly and a tougher job.

As for the fluid in the cylinder just remove all the hoses and drain then as you operate the tractor it will fill of the tractors system. You will have to top off the tractors sump as you first use the cylinder then all will be fine assuming there is no leaks.

Chris

 

[The Dougster]

The cylinder on the trailer has two hoses .. one is the pressure and the second is a drain and yes, it uses gravity (presumed) to allow the fluid to bleed back into the reservoir... does that make sense? Are you saying to replace the cylinder on the trailer?

 

[tommu56]

They might be using the back side of the cylinder as additional storage for the tank on the 12v unit if the tank inst big enough to supply the cylinder with out running low.

I've seen this on a couple trailers I looked at

tom

 

[Diamondpilot]

Like Tommy said. Either way its a 2 way cylinder and may currently be using gravity for down but at the end of the day its still a 2 way cylinder so you are in luck. If you have remotes on your tractor currently all you need to do is get the right length hoses and proper Quick Connectors to hook it up. All this after draining as much of the hydro fluid in the cylinder as possible. Hook the hose feeding the piston side of the cylinder to the down port of your tractor, this is the down side or retract side of the cylinder and hook the hose to the other end of the cylinder to the up port of your tractor, this is the up or extend side of it.

Make sure you keep a eye on the fluid level in the tractor and top it off as you use it the first time. The cylinder may take about a gallon of fluid if decent sized like the 4" x 24" stroke cylinder I used when I made my 3 point log splitter.


Chris

 

[The Dougster]

Many thanks... as always, I really appreciate the expertise and advice...

 

[Diamondpilot]

One last thing that came to mind. When using a double acting cylinder you have 2 sides, a extend side and a retract side. The extend side displaces more fluid than the retract side due to the retract side having the piston rod taking up volume. For example lets say you have a 24" stroke by 3" diameter cylinder and it has a 1.5" piston rod. The extend side may displace 1 gallon of fluid while the retract side may only displace 1/2 gallon. I am just making these numbers up for argument sake. The point is do not be a bone head like I was and the first time I ran my log splitter on my tractor I would move the cylinder 4 or so inches at a time and then add fluid. Well when I went to retract it guess what happened? The hydro fluid reservoir of filled and dumped out about a quart all over the back of my tractor through the vent. The idea is to find a happy spot where it has enough fluid but does not over flow.

Hope you guys can learn a lesson off of my dumb mistake.

Chris