Need help disassembling a hydraulic Cylinder

Dave in CT · Jun 8, 2010

This isn"t strictly a Farmall question - the cylinder is who-knows-what - but it"s mounted on an H.

The cylinder froze up and wouldn"t extend so I switched the hose and breather and was then able to force the rod back out. Pushing the rod back in by hand, I felt some metal-on-metal scraping towards the bottom of its travel so, something"s messed up in there.

I need to disassemble this to find out but I"m not sure how to go about it. The included images show it has one of those wires running around the outside of the top plate. A friend of mine and I (who are used to the cylinders which disassemble this way) tried forcing the top plate down with a clamp and by whacking on it with a block of wood and a five-pound hammer. It didn"t budge. Do I just need to hook a thin cold chisel under the end of the wire and then just continue working that or a flathead screwdriver around to pry it out that way?

This is the first time I"m attempting to upload a series of pictures so, you may need to bear with me until I get it right.

Thanks for your time.

47M · Jun 8, 2010

It sure looks from the pictures like if you can get that wire ring out, everything should slide out to where you can see what the problem inside might be.

Having said that, I just got done taking a cylinder from my model 33 loader into a hydraulics shop for repair, after I did my darndest to get it apart. My efforts included hammers, chisels, screwdrivers, vise grips, and eventually even a grinder to try to get the wire ring out that held it together. After finally admitting defeat, and after I figured I had ruined any chance for repair, I took it to a local hydraulics shop to see if they could salvage it.

Three days and $175 later, I had my completely repaired cylinder back, and it works better now than it ever has in the 22 years that I've owned the loader. I learned my lesson.

Good luck with yours.

Dave in CT · Jun 8, 2010

What did they tell you was required to extract the ring? The hydro tech who's been my primary in-person contact has quoted several big-pressure figures when tossing around possibilities - in previous discussions - not about this cylinder. This leads me to believe there are situations where, without the specialized equipment, attempts at disassembly are pretty futile. Still, I am curious what was needed to get yours apart.

Thanks for the reply.

MN Scott · Jun 8, 2010

You need to drive the end cap [the part the wire retains] inward an 1/8 inch or so and the wire will be easily removed with a screw driver. That end cap can be very hard to drive back but it has to go back to get the wire out. If it feels like its grinding metal inside it more than likely is not repairable without spending many times what a new cylinder would cost. Good Luck.

Dave in CT · Jun 8, 2010

What other methods might be used to drive that end cap back in? Is this the sort of thing that is normally done with a press? Might the end cap be held in place with some sort of rubber ring behind it - pressing it in the outer direction?

Roger in Iowa · Jun 9, 2010

Remove the breather. Is there something in that hole that is retaining the back side of the end plate?

Brownie 450 · Jun 9, 2010

Looks like a wire ring. Only shows signs of being a multi-turn flat ring at the one end. Do you have a press? I'd stick it in a press-- probably has rust in the groove/ring area. Most of the end caps have an o-ring inside & out.

IH fan · Jun 9, 2010

I'd take a big hammer and heavy brass or aluminum rod (1" dia. or so) as a drift and drive the end cap [u:aaf7a81657]in[/u:aaf7a81657] a little like has been suggested and the ring should come out fairly easily. Then using the piston as a battering ram from the inside to pop the end cap out. Helps to have a heavy bench and vice.

47M · Jun 9, 2010

My loader cylinder was a different design than your cylinder. Mine had a screw-on end cap, and a wire ring in a slot kept the end cap from unscrewing. See the (blurry) picture above that shows the slot with the ring in it.

When I picked it up after it was repaired, the guy who worked on it wasn't in the shop, so I don't know what all he had to do to get it apart. Sorry.

billde · Jun 10, 2010

Dave, set it up on end, soak the ring area overnight with Kroil. Slip a piece of pipe over the rod and smack it with a sledge driving the plug down and releasing the ring.

Dave in CT · Jun 10, 2010

All great ideas. Thanks to the submitters. I'm going to try one of them. I may have access to a press but I won't be able to get to it until tomorrow (Fri). I'll try to post back here what succeeds. In the meantime, that end is going to get its Kroil (or whatever I have - PB Blaster). Up till now, I've been using mostly the spin-off keeper rings found on some of the older cylinders. They appear to have their advantages for the limited shop.

Need help disassembling a hydraulic Cylinder

Dave in CT

Member

47M

Member

Dave in CT

Member

MN Scott

Well-known Member

Dave in CT

Member

Roger in Iowa

Well-known Member

Brownie 450

Member

IH fan

Well-known Member

47M

Member

billde

Member

Dave in CT

Member

Similar threads