Leaking Boom Cylinder 3710 Backhoe

[AchingBack]

There is a slow leak in the cylinder. I've been quoted $125.00 to repair. That sounds outrageous, as it seems to me a seal kit should be all that's needed. I was also told there is not a kit for the cylinder, just bring it in and they will replace needed parts. I'm not sure I believe this because there certainly are seal kits for loader lift and curl cylinders. I could be wrong, but it seems to me, I should be able to easily remove the cylinder from the hoe, obtain a spanner wrench for disassembly, remove and replace worn seals, and reassemble.

What do the experts here have to say?

 

[mcfarmall]

Doesn't sound that bad to me when you consider parts AND labor. I used to take some funky Japanese cylinders to a repair shop in town because it was too time consuming to chase down parts from Japan. They rebuilt the thing and I installed it back on the machine.

Remove the cylinder from the hoe, take it in to your local cylinder shop and ask to purchase all the soft parts. They will likely have to disassemble it to identify the parts and get them on order. Ask them about the spanner wrench used to disassemble the cylinder and get one of those on order as well. When the parts arrive, install them with your new spanner wrench and put the cylinder back in the hoe and test it. Or you can take the cylinder off the hoe, hand it to the cylinder guy with a buck and a quarter, pick it up when it's done, install and test it.

There is no free lunch, only buying lunch for different people. (you or the cylinder guy)

 

[AchingBack]

These cylinders are American made. And seeing as how my income is considerably less than the shop rate of $75.00 hr, I might pay myself to learn a new skill.

 

[Jabonee]

$ 125 sounds about right for a dealer repair. You will need a few specialty tools if you are going to attempt the repair the cylinder yourself.

 

[Navasot]

Sounds cheap

 

[AchingBack]

Sounds cheap

Why is that? Can the seals really cost that much?

 

[Navasot]

I wouldn't doubt it but im sure these don't. I was saying more of the time replacing. looks like not even an hour and half of labor. You can get into cylinders and it revel much more trouble than expected. Im just saying as far as what they quoted you they are treating you good

 

[DavesTractor]

$125 is a reasonable charge. Most shops are near $100/hour and would probably charge a 1 hour minimum for a cylinder rebuild. Plus parts. It's not a job that we love to do, since there is often a little blemish on the chrome or in the cylinder. You can tell the customer he needs a new cylinder and he will often be upset. Or you can do a little bit of a polish on the cylinder and put it back together and hope it doesn't leak, because if it does, you pull it apart again and you have made less than zero. On a cheap cylinder, we would rather replace it than rebuild it due to that.

But if you have the time to spare and some tools on hand, you can do it yourself. If you are of a mind to do that, by all means I'd do it.

 

[seal oil]

I have a leaking cylinder as well on my backhoe . It is only a small leak so I haven't bothered to get it fixed yet . I got a quote of $250. Canadian from a cylinder repair shop . If the cylinder chrome is damaged it will cost more . My problem is the shop is 200 miles one way .

 

[dickfoster]

Are you guys with leaking cylinders sure it's the cylinder? Unless the cylinder is leaking fluid and you're really talking about pressure bleed it seems to me it could also be the control valve that's allowing pressure to bleed off. Both of my stabilizers sag one much more than the other, the bucket curl sags as does the boom. Anything with gravity acting on it when parked anyway. I thought a certain amount of this was more or less kinda normal.