Boom cylinder won't retract all the way

[rScotty]

I did some light work today and when I went to put the machine away the BH boom cylinder wouldn't retract far enough to engage the latch. It needed another couple of inches and just wouldn't respond. What's happening?
rScotty

 

[Thomas]

Could there be rock etc...notice anything bent on boom..pin in good shape???

 

[rScotty]

Could there be rock etc...notice anything bent on boom..pin in good shape???

Everything is pretty much brand new. No dents, no obvious anything. Nothing is jamming.
rScotty

 

[M59 Jim]

This may not be the best place for my first post but here goes. I have a M59 and I experienced the same problem. The boom would retract up to the last couple of inches then just stop. The dealer replaced the seals which did not fix the problem. They finally replaced the boom cylinder. I have only used it a couple of time since but it is now retracting to the lock position. I suspect you did nothing wrong and maybe there is a design flaw.

 

[mrmikey]

The nut's backing off the piston and hitting the end of the cylinder maybe. In case it is watch the boom doesn't suddenly drop.....Mike

 

[rScotty]

The nut's backing off the piston and hitting the end of the cylinder maybe. In case it is watch the boom doesn't suddenly drop.....Mike

Mike I never did get around to thanking you for that warning. But I did think about it and then took a look at the parts book to see how the cylinder is assembled and completely agree. A likely cause for a cylinder not contracting would be the internal piston-to-rod nut backing off.

I immediately stopped using the backhoe. Thanks again. There's just no reason to risk the boom suddenly dropping. Scarey stuff. It was frustrating not to use the hoe for a month; after all the hoe still worked fine in spite of not retracting enough to latch it anymore. But I could see it was possibly dangerous.

So I went to see the dealer. Turns out this boom cylinder thing is a known M59 problem and Kubota had heard of it before. In my favor was a having a good dealer plus posts about the same problem by other M59 owners on this forum. But against me was that the darn cylinder didn't do this until it was almost a month out of warranty - not very good timing. The story has a good ending: Kubota stepped up to the plate and agreed to replace the defective cylinder with an updated one if I would pay for the mechanic's time to swap it out. The mechanic is a genuine good guy so no fears there. He did that today, it went smoothly, and everything works normally again.
Operation successful!
Thanks guys & thanks to Kubota too,
rScotty

 

[wdchyd]

Glad everything worked out......Today I had a local Kubota dealer bring in work and they admitted they will honor all kinds of out of warranty stuff on machines bought from them......Pays to keep in touch with your local dealer and push the issues as they arrive....:thumbsup:

 

[mrmikey]

You're more than welcome, glad it worked out for you.....Mike

 

[Chuck K.]

Mine did the same thing. Fortunately is was still in warranty but was the second Hyd. problem during the first few months of owining the machine.. Knock on wood no problems since then:thumbsup:..
Chuck.

 

[59 Sons]

Mine also started to refuse to raise completely shortly out of warantee. My dealer talked to Kubota and they gave me a new cylinder. I opted to replace it my self as I dont have transportation for the tractor and the dealer is 70 miles away. The new cylinder is still awaiting install as I finish my barn so I'll have a dry place to do it in this wet winter weather.