New hydro thumb...bleeding necessary?

[alabamatoy]

Kubota BH77...I have added a hydraulic thumb. Everything is installed, but I have not reconnected the hydraulic lines to the tractor yet.

It occurs to me that I have added 2 12 foot long hydraulic lines and a 30inch (extended) cylinder to the system. How do I bleed out the air that's currently in these lines and the cylinder? Just cycle the cylinder, or ?

Please educate me. Searching on the subject doesn't seem to give me a clear answer.

 

[old and tired]

Don't worry, system will self bleed once you cycle it a couple times... you may need to top off the hydraulics.

 

[TMGT]

Just cycle the cylinder a few times and the air will bleed out.
Only time I've had an issue is when the cylinder is restricted and I can't get a full stroke, sometimes it takes more cycles or I'll take one end of the cylinder off to cycle it.

Sent from my SM-S921U using TractorByNet mobile app

 

[rScotty]

We just got through replacing a hoses to our backhoe thumb.

You could probably bleed it by loosening a connection at the highest point, and doing that would let trapped air bubbles and fluid flow out immediately....
After all, loosening connections is exactly how we bleed the fuel lines when we run out of fuel or replace a fuel filter.

But bleeding any system is always messy. And although fuel sytem bleeding is required, lt's just not necessary for a tractor hydraulic system. Simply cycle the thumb a few times. The hydraulic fluid flows through the hoses quickly enough to carry the air bubbles down to the sump where they dissipate out the sump vent. You'll never even notice what little air is left behind, if any.

Congratulations on putting a thumb on the hoe. We use ours a lot.

 

[alabamatoy]

Y'all are correct...cycling it 6 or 8 times seemed to smooth it out and now it operates as expected. Soil here in Tennessee mountains is very rocky, looking forward to picking them up!

 

[old and tired]

What?!?! No photos of it....