Hydraulic Cylinders

Please educate me. I have a used rear blade. It is rusty and doesn't want to swivel. I came up with the bright idea of putting a hydraulic cylinder on it. The cylinder has two hoses, one on each end. BUT, the cylinder will only PUSH the blade and I've gotta back against a tree to swivel it back the other way. Are my hoses connected wrong? Is this a one-way cylinder? Is it possible to get a two-way cylinder? Thanks.

If it goes one way but not the other swap the hoses and see if it will go the other way . Sounds like the seals are blown in the cylinder

2 hoses, it's a 2 way cylinder. Either your tractor hydraulics are wrong, or the seals in the piston are blown. Even with blown seals, it should swivel with as little weight as a blade is.
AaronSEIA

Is your valve single or 2-way valve???

It always seemed to me a two-way cylinder should push more than it could pull. Just due to the design and having the piston rod inside the bore on the pull side.

You say you put the cylinder on it. Did you weld the pin mounts or was the blade already sit up for a cylinder. One has to mount the cylinder in mid stroke so it will push and pull. If you remove the cylinder from the blade will it work BOTH ways?

Right, you have to subtract the area of the rod diameter. Hense, a cylinder with a large rod will return quicker but have less power, fine for something like a wood splitter.

(Especially for 44 Massey) The tractor is a 1955 Farmall Row Crop. Maybe it is only a one way operation on the middle of the three hydraulic control levers???

Turn the knob on the valve assembly under the dash to 2 way. The valves on the tractor can be set for 2 way or 1 way operation.

Are you sure pressure is being applied to each side of the cylinder?

If the tractor valve is set up for a one way cylinder, it will only apply pressure to one hose, the other will only be a return to tank.

A true one way cylinder will almost always have a large rod, almost the same size as the bore. The rod seal will not be capable of holding pressure, it only serves as a dust seal.

If you are sure you are getting pressure to each end, and the cylinder is not responding, you will need to check the internal seals.

Disconnect and plug one hose, leave the cylinder port open. Block the cylinder mid way on the stroke, operate the valve to pressure up the attached line. Hold the valve and watch for oil to come out the open port. Once the slack is out and the cylinder is not moving, there should be very little, preferably no oil coming from the open port. You should also hear the engine load and see the line pressure against the blocked cylinder. That proves pressure is being delivered.

Reverse the procedure, remove and cap the attached line, attach the other. Same test, should give the same result.

If oil flows through the cylinder, the piston seals are bad. If the engine/pump do not load, there is no pressure being applied to that circuit.

Switch the hose connections to your tractor and see if it swivels the other direction. Sounds like a tractor problem to me, but possibly if this is a used cylinder that you acquired, someone could have removed the breather on outer end and thought they could make it double acting, by adding a hose there.
Loren

The hydraulic control valves can be set to be used in single or double acting. If you connect the cylinder to one of the other sets of hydraulic couplers, you may find that the cylinder works in both directions. The adjustment, to change this is on top of the control valves. You will need to gain access by removing the dash panel. Before you do that, dis connect the battery. Otherwise you will have a light show.

What makes you think his valves are in the dash panel They are mounted in many different places depending on brand and model, and older tractors DO NOT have means to change between single and double acting unless they have a 3 position valve, without doing some mechanical work, and/or plumbing changes.
Loren

He said 55 Farmall Row Crop. So I assume it is a 300 or 400.