$100 Hydraulic Top Link

[Lowrider2120]

Well, mine broke in the weld between the ram and the ball thingy where it attaches to the top of the box scraper. I don't think I was abusing it at the time since I was grading a sand road with very few <2" rocks. Top link is back on and the cylinder is laying on my welding table. I haven't tried welding it yet but the break is "grainy" metal (kinda like pot metal when it breaks) and doesn't look like quality steel to me. I only have .023 wire for my MIG which won't really allow me to put enough heat to get good penetration. I will grind the edges so I can weld from the inside out all the way around the cylinder ram.

 

[LD1]

Did you buy the assembled one from agri-supply? or something else?

The "grainy" structure is probably because the ball ends are forged steel most likely.

Any pics of what you have and what the break looks like?

 

[ovrszd]

You have nothing to lose. Weld it with it fully extended. Wrap a water soaled towel around the ram at the barrel to keep the seal cool.

Something caused the failure other than the light work you were doing. I see this often. "I wasn't doing anything when it broke" yeah,,,, but what about yesterday?

 

[Lowrider2120]

I pushed snow some this winter but mostly used the front blower. No heavy stress on it that I'm aware of anyway. Yes, bought from Agri-Supply.

I can take pictures but may not be smart enough to post it...I'll try. I'll look again but I think it was the weld that failed. Like the dentist says....fillings usually come out eating a muffin not chewing ice.

 

[Lowrider2120]

Guess this worked.

 

[Lowrider2120]

It's all welded up and I put a "spine" on top of the weld to add a little extra strength. We'll see how she works out.

My neighbor has a similar cylinder on his back blade but his is made in USA. He asked if I would buy an airplane made in China...point made.

 

[Eagleview]

That ram didn't just let go, the pivot has come into contact with the bottom of the fixed yoke and bent it until it broke . Probably when the attachment was lowered . I would be checking the clearances that ram has in the full up and full down positions .

 

[Texasmark]

TSC has new Cat I for 20 bucks and Cat II for 30.

 

[Lowrider2120]

Eagle,

I sorta did that when I first put it on and it looked OK. Mostly I was checking hose clearance. When I put it back on the tractor I'll check it again. I will also re-check where the lever stop is placed to make sure it can't be raised too far.

I pushed over and dug out stumps on about 40 dead trees yesterday and the box with the stock top link worked just fine to pile up the broken branches laying on the ground. Used the loader bucket to pile up the trees and stumps to burn. I was actually pretty happy with the performance of the loader moving trees up to maybe 8". The hydrostatic transmission sure take away a lot when pushing and lifting at the same time.

 

[Lowrider2120]

Eagle,

You're on to something. There was an indication the ram hit the bottom of the box scraper yoke which would have happened when the box was raised too high. There wasn't any indication on the ram it's self but it is hardened and the metal on the yoke look like it had a very faint rub mark under where the ram could have hit the yoke.

I get the cylinder back on the tractor I'll check to see if that can happen. I had the level limiter set to restrict the upward movement but I wonder if it might have slipped...I do pull on it pretty hard some times.

Thanks for the idea.