Hi Kent
Funny you should ask as I was just thinking in the last few days that I should provide an update. The new cylinders are working just fine and I am very pleased with them. I am still surprised by how much more I can lift with them and that really helps me in my work. I have the forks on my machine at least as much as the bucket as I move a lot of pallets, rocks and other objects that are more suited to forks than a bucket. As I expected the up and down of the loader is a little slower then before because the L45 has to move a little more oil for an equivalent amount of lift but I actually like it as it is easier to be more precise with the forks when trying to fit in narrow spaces like pallet openings.
I don't have any drawings or part numbers for you. As Rscotty suggests just go to a hydraulic fab shop and they will be able to make new cylinders for you. You can either take a cylinder off your tractor or in my case the existing cylinders were measured on my tractor and they made new ones to fit. The tricky part on the lift cylinders is making sure the end pieces will fit within the space on the loader arms where the pins go and not bind when you bring the loader all the way down. They had to do a little bit of extra machining to chamfer the corners of those pieces on mine to ensure there was no contact. The outer diameter of the cylinder itself is 1/2" larger and so that is where I get the additional lifting power.
I haven't broken any axles or other components since making the change and I only wish I had done it sooner. Good luck with your modifications.
Regards,
Lauren
Funny you should ask as I was just thinking in the last few days that I should provide an update. The new cylinders are working just fine and I am very pleased with them. I am still surprised by how much more I can lift with them and that really helps me in my work. I have the forks on my machine at least as much as the bucket as I move a lot of pallets, rocks and other objects that are more suited to forks than a bucket. As I expected the up and down of the loader is a little slower then before because the L45 has to move a little more oil for an equivalent amount of lift but I actually like it as it is easier to be more precise with the forks when trying to fit in narrow spaces like pallet openings.
I don't have any drawings or part numbers for you. As Rscotty suggests just go to a hydraulic fab shop and they will be able to make new cylinders for you. You can either take a cylinder off your tractor or in my case the existing cylinders were measured on my tractor and they made new ones to fit. The tricky part on the lift cylinders is making sure the end pieces will fit within the space on the loader arms where the pins go and not bind when you bring the loader all the way down. They had to do a little bit of extra machining to chamfer the corners of those pieces on mine to ensure there was no contact. The outer diameter of the cylinder itself is 1/2" larger and so that is where I get the additional lifting power.
I haven't broken any axles or other components since making the change and I only wish I had done it sooner. Good luck with your modifications.
Regards,
Lauren
