Rebuilding hydraulic cylinders?

[nepa]

I have an older Furukawa FX-040 mini excavator. Some say it is a gray market knockoff of a Kubota FK-040. It has a Kubota V2203 engine. A couple of hydraulic cylinders leak fluid where the chrome rod goes into the cylinder otherwise it performed as it should. I took the cylinder off and bought it to a reputable shop that rebuilds hydraulic cylinders. It has been 5 weeks now and the shop can not figure out what seals etc are needed to fix the cylinder. How many manufacturers of cylinders are there that this could be so difficult to figure out? Are there no standard sizes? Is it not just a matter of replacing rubber O rings on the piston and a seal at the end cap where the rod comes out? I am getting behind on my work.

 

[ptsg]

Time to take it to another shop? One that's actually interested in helping you out.

Or pull the seals out yourself, measure, check Hercules or Motion Industries catalog and order some.

 

[2manyrocks]

Way past time to find another shop.

 

[TractorTech]

Did you ever get this resolved? Kubota kits available from several sources worth talking to about similarity or difference

 

[nepa]

Did you ever get this resolved? Kubota kits available from several sources worth talking to about similarity or difference

Yes. After sitting in the first shop for seven weeks I picked up the cylinder and brought it to another that measures the sizes of the needed seals. Picked it up 3 days later. But over $650? Is this typical? The only work needed was seals and rings.

 

[TractorTech]

Sounds excessive to me for just resealing and seals. Labor rate$150/hour perhaps? Still over priced.

 

[scootr]

Last year I paid $500 for a large cylinder rebuild. That included 2 ranch visits to R&R the cylinder.
Buddy told me he had a Kubota cylinder nobody could fix (?) and he bought a $1700 replacement to get back to work.

 

[ptsg]

That's a crazy price to me but after following similar threads over the years with similar pricing, it looks like hydraulic shops have some kind of greed tax or something.

When I built my loader, including building all 4 cylinders from scratch, I bought all the seals, chrome rod stock, pre-honed steel tubing, round cast iron stock (for the gland), plus some steel for the pistons and some odds and ends for less than $280. That's all the stuff for 4 cylinders.

 

[scootr]

That's a crazy price to me but after following similar threads over the years with similar pricing, it looks like hydraulic shops have some kind of greed tax or something.

When I built my loader, including building all 4 cylinders from scratch, I bought all the seals, chrome rod stock, pre-honed steel tubing, round cast iron stock (for the gland), plus some steel for the pistons and some odds and ends for less than $280. That's all the stuff for 4 cylinders.

I do remember giving MF $100 a kit for the FEL lift cylinder parts more than $20 yrs ago. To their credit there was about 20+ parts in each but that is still a bunch of $5 O rings.

 

[ptsg]

I do remember giving MF $100 a kit for the FEL lift cylinder parts more than $20 yrs ago. To their credit there was about 20+ parts in each but that is still a bunch of $5 O rings.

That's why I typically suggest going to an hydraulic shop to get the seals but then we got cases like this where the hydraulic shop just gets over zealous on the bill.

Maybe it's time for the OP to learn how to change seals and save a lot of money. I bet he could get just seals for less than $50.

 

[TractorTech]

Last year I paid $500 for a large cylinder rebuild. That included 2 ranch visits to R&R the cylinder.
Buddy told me he had a Kubota cylinder nobody could fix (?) and he bought a $1700 replacement to get back to work.

Scootr, what was the cylinder from?

 

[nepa]

Rebuilding myself would not be a problem for my Case 580CK, but ordering the right parts for a Furukawa FX-040 is very difficult.

 

[LHF2019]

Yes. After sitting in the first shop for seven weeks I picked up the cylinder and brought it to another that measures the sizes of the needed seals. Picked it up 3 days later. But over $650? Is this typical? The only work needed was seals and rings.

I send my cylinders to a hydraulic shop. Only know of one and it is a 1.5 hour round trip and any cylinder is going to run $4-600 for repair.

Why do I go.

Lack the tools and knowledge for a proper rebuild. They utilize higher quality product then I can order from OEM. If I do my own I would be taking a chance on improper measuring. Again Knowledge. Cylinders are all they do and if they do it wrong they back up their work. Comes with warranty. And as I found out last year when they made a mistake they made it right and their insurance went above and beyond to cover all damages. Had I done the same mistake I would have been &^%$ out of luck.