Horn loader

Still working on the New Idea Horn loader with the 2 stage lift cylinders. I have one apart for the first stage and no seals on the bottom of the center. Not sure how this works. My first 2 stage.

As you extend the loader higher and higher, the cylinders telescope by themselves. I have a NI/Horn on a '49 JD B.
Loader will reach a surprising height. Considering it's age it was fairly well conceived. Lift linkage is rather Rube Goldberg, but it works well.

I have a Horndraulic loader on my Farmall M, I have had the cylinders off and resealed them. Right now I only have single stage cylinders on it. Back when I was growing up on the farm this trip loader was the only loader we had. Back then it was always mounted on an Farmall H and it had the telescoping cylinders on it like yours. At some point the farmers ..my uncle and Dad.. took one to a tractor dealer to see about getting it repaired. Left it there to long and it got threw away. They bought a second Horn loader and it had the single stage cylinders on it that I am using now I had to fill in some rust areas on them with JB weld and file and sand them down. What I call the cylinder stop on the end of the ram where you expected to see seals or packing will screw off so you can slide the aluminum gland off and replace the large orings in them. There are also dust seal in there that I did not attempt to change. I never even tried to source any by size at a bearing and seal place. The ram area that the push take place on is at a cross section of the cylinder rod as it passes through the large oring in the aluminum gland. Clear as mud I suppose. Now to explain how they work. Say for a hypothetical demonstration purpose for you and your buddy to figure this out you assemble the aluminum gland back on the cylinder tube leaving the ram out. You have positioned the cylinder vertical like a rain gauge. You are on a ladder so you can look down in the open gland. You have your buddy on the seat operate the valve it fills the cylinder tube with oil. When the oil gets within 2 inches of the oring your buddy releases the valve. You have a foot long piece of shaft the same diameter as the ram. You then insert it inside the gland and push it through the oring to the level of the oil 2 inches down. Now you are holding the shaft down into the cylinder. You tell your buddy to operate the valve, as the oil fills those last 2 inches it pushes the shaft out because it is being displaced with the fluid. That is how it works, when you have the rams in there and let it down the ram displaces the fluid and pushes it back in the reservoir. That is how all cylinders work by displacement. The larger first stage works exactly the same way, it activates first because its slightly larger diameter gives it more surface area so more force. You will also find plugs at the top of the rams for the purpose of bleeding out air. If none of my explanation make sense, sorry it is the best I can do.

It works by the seals inside the gland making the seal to the rod/ram to keep the pressure in the barrel. Oil pressure in the barrel acts directly on the end of the rod pushing it out. It does not need seals on the inner end of the rod or a piston with seals on the end of the rod. The same principle applies to the cylinder's telescoping sections. Stepped up rod end diameter or stop rings on the rod, or telescoping section, are used to prevent the rod or sections from being pushed out through the gland at full extension. There are a number of videos on the web showing single acting and multi-stage (telescoping) cylinder principals and operation.