bent hydraulic cylinder???

[Diamondpilot]

Hey guys.

I was abusing my 7 year old tractor trying to pry some 8" and bigger stumps up. Anyway I bent one of the curl cylinders slightly. It now has started to leak. I ordered a gland kit for $25 to rebuild it but want to know about how to straiten the piston rod.

The cylinder is a 1.75"x24" stroke cylinder. The piston rod is 1" in dia and the bend is so slight the pictures I took do not show it. I laid a metal strait edge on it and in its 24" length its out about 3/16" to 1/4" max. Its really a bow more than a bend and its right in the middle of the piston rod.

Thanks

Chris

 

[magicheater]

I had luck putting a cylinder in a shop press, supporting it from either end and applying force to the peak of the bend. Make sure you put a buffering pad (I used aluminum sheet) so you don't mar the cylinder rod.

 

[Bedlam]

I agree I did the same with mine once, I applied pressure to go just beyond the straight mark and then when released it was straight enough to use.I used the same packings etc. and no lead .I do have it in the back of my mind now and 'favor' it more than the others..Its worth a try ...

 

[Toyboy]

That's all good & fine but you also have to use a dial indicator with V blocks. Roll the rod between them w/dial indicator to see if you've got it straight. Otherwise your just guessing and probably wasting your time.

 

[Eagleview]

Hey guys.

I was abusing my 7 year old tractor trying to pry some 8" and bigger stumps up. Anyway I bent one of the curl cylinders slightly.

The curl cylinder should be under tension in that situation , not compression , it should not have bent . Are you sure it does not foul the arm when the bucket is fully dumped ?

 

[oldnslo]

Hey guys.

I was abusing my 7 year old tractor trying to pry some 8" and bigger stumps up. Anyway I bent one of the curl cylinders slightly. It now has started to leak. I ordered a gland kit for $25 to rebuild it but want to know about how to straiten the piston rod.

The cylinder is a 1.75"x24" stroke cylinder. The piston rod is 1" in dia and the bend is so slight the pictures I took do not show it. I laid a metal strait edge on it and in its 24" length its out about 3/16" to 1/4" max. Its really a bow more than a bend and its right in the middle of the piston rod.

Thanks

Chris

Chris,
not sure what part of Indiana you located in but would suggest you take this cylinder to a repair shop that is set up to either straighten or replace the rod. Presuming your existing rod is Chrome plated there is a chance that the chrome is cracked and even if straightened will in time flke off. These chrome chips are like razor blades and will eat bearings, seal etc. Also if not straight it will wear out the rod bearing.

If you are close to Chicago there is a very good repair shop in Elk Grove Village: Universal Hydraulics ask for Tom @ 847/228-5750.

I have no affiliation with them, just have used them in the past to repair cylinders.

If you are close to Indy or any other major town I would suspect they also have cylinder repair centers.

Roy

 

[Diamondpilot]

The curl cylinder should be under tension in that situation , not compression , it should not have bent . Are you sure it does not foul the arm when the bucket is fully dumped ?

It does not hit but I was also working the tractor back and forth in the creeper gear, very slow at 60' per hour at WOT, while pushing on the stump with the cutting edge of the bucket. It may have happened some other time but was noticeable after I tried using it as a dozer.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I have a shop press and a hydro shop a few towns over. I will live with it for a week or so before I take on this job. Worst case a new cylinder is $240 plus shipping.

Chris

 

[tawilson]

I straightened the power steering cylinder on my tractor by using a 2X4 and turning the wheel. It stopped leaking too. I'd take a stab at using the tractor hydraulics to straighten it before buying a new cylinder.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I straightened the power steering cylinder on my tractor by using a 2X4 and turning the wheel. It stopped leaking too. I'd take a stab at using the tractor hydraulics to straighten it before buying a new cylinder.

Great idea. This can be easily accomplished against the loaders frame. I will try it later today or tomorrow. I bet I can get it close like you did.

Chris

 

[MarkV]

Diamond I also straightened a cylinder rod on a backhoe, in the most primitive way, by blocking under it and using the hydraulics. I believe 3RRL did something similar and documented it in the archives. A search will pull it up. It is kind of like, " what do you have to loss".

MarkV

 

[Diamondpilot]

Well I went out and lifted the loader, disconnected the piston rod end from the bucket and flipped them over and re-pinned them. I then used a block of 2x4 and worked one side at a time against the loader frame bending the piston rod using the tractors hydros by manipulating the curl on my loader. I did it in small steps checking with a metal strait edge as I went. I was able to work it back from 1/4" bow over 24" length to less than 1/16" of bow. I am happy.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Chris

 

[3RRL]

Hi Chris,
I see Mark already pointed you in the right direction and you fixed the problem already too.
Great job! If you didn't find the link to what I did, maybe Mark could post his thread link where he straightened his out. I remember reading about it and it works. My original post was when I re-positioned Loretta's cylinder attachments on her Jinma 284. The factory fel cylinder attachments allowed too much dump and actually caused the rods to bend. I did it all at camp. You may have read about it?
Rob-

 

[Diamondpilot]

Hi Chris,
I see Mark already pointed you in the right direction and you fixed the problem already too.
Great job! If you didn't find the link to what I did, maybe Mark could post his thread link where he straightened his out. I remember reading about it and it works. My original post was when I re-positioned Loretta's cylinder attachments on her Jinma 284. The factory fel cylinder attachments allowed too much dump and actually caused the rods to bend. I did it all at camp. You may have read about it?
Rob-

Yes, I remember it Rob. You did a fantastic job at re-engineering the loader to not allow that to happen.

Chris

 

[BWBrown]

I've bent two cylinder rods.

One was just slightly bent, maybe 3/4 inch out of straight - used the hydraulic press - a couple careful pushes - and put it back to right.

The other, well, was really bent - more than 45 degrees - a real kink! Tried the press, all was going ok, 'til it started making all sorts of cracking noises.
Turns out there is a hard surface/plating on the rod that doesn't like to do a lot of stretching and bending, ended up with literally thousands of surface cracks.
So... I treated my bucket truck to a new cylinder.

I like, and have made mental notes on, some of the ideas posted here - hope I don't have opportunity to try them out too awful soon though.
Thanks,
Bob