Steering Cylinder Seal Blowout

[Omega Woods]

Started up my 4520R on Christmas eve to haul some stuff out of the garage to the dump pile. I let it warm up for five minutes before driving it, it was probably 40 degrees outside (I live in east TN). As I drove up the (gravel) driveway, I noticed the steering was very heavy. When I got to the house, the left side of the steering cylinder was leaking about 2 or 3 drops per second all over the garage apron. Not good. I drove it back to the tractor barn and parked it. I have a local place that does hydraulics so I'll take it off and have them fix it.

Anyone else have trouble with cold seals on their cylinders? The tractor has about 130 hours on her and is not quite two years old. I changed the fluid as required by the manual.

Finally, when I get it back, do I need to do anything in particular when I reinstall it or just hook it up, fill the hydraulic reservoir, start it up and cycle the steering some?

Thank you!
Russell

 

[DavesTractor]

Started up my 4520R on Christmas eve to haul some stuff out of the garage to the dump pile. I let it warm up for five minutes before driving it, it was probably 40 degrees outside (I live in east TN). As I drove up the (gravel) driveway, I noticed the steering was very heavy. When I got to the house, the left side of the steering cylinder was leaking about 2 or 3 drops per second all over the garage apron. Not good. I drove it back to the tractor barn and parked it. I have a local place that does hydraulics so I'll take it off and have them fix it.

Anyone else have trouble with cold seals on their cylinders? The tractor has about 130 hours on her and is not quite two years old. I changed the fluid as required by the manual.

Finally, when I get it back, do I need to do anything in particular when I reinstall it or just hook it up, fill the hydraulic reservoir, start it up and cycle the steering some?

Thank you!
Russell

Talk to your dealer about this. There was a batch of steering cylinders that were prone to leaking. We went 14 years selling Branson's without a single failed steering cylinder, then we saw a rash of them for a bit, and now all good again. Apparently a small dimensional change was made to the center tube, allowing it to wiggle a little and then it would roll the o-ring into a position where it would leak.

Not a hard job to change out, except a little messy. Branson has been very good about getting any affected tractors fixed. And to answer the next question before it is asked, we do not have a serial number breakdown of the tractors that had this problem cylinder. Typically this problem occurs in the first few months and in the first 100 hours or so, but it is variable because folks might turn more of less and with a load or not and that affects how much work that cylinder is doing.

You could just replace the o-ring, but if this is one of the "short" cylinders, and Branson will swap it out for you, you might as well do that.

And yes, hook it up and cycle the steering some. Then park it a bit to let any air bubbles in the hydraulic system vent into the transmission (which is the reservoir) and then put it to work. If it feels notchy, do that again.

That's a great tractor. Sorry you had this problem.

 

[Lagwagon]

Both my seals went at 40 hrs on my 6225. Was a cold morning, has been sporadically leaking since, sometimes dribbling sometimes the odd drop.

 

[Lagwagon]

2016 model

 

[Mcaanda]

Taking mine in tomorrow. Dealer said he's seen a number of them to the point they have 2 cylinders in stock for replacement.

 

[Omega Woods]

The saga continues. I contacted my local dealer to do the warranty repair (bought March 15, 2016). Since I bought it elsewhere, they don't even want to deal with me but said they would do it "in three weeks or so behind all of OUR customers" but the service manager stated that since I had contacted them about it, it would be covered under warranty. That was this morning. Then, this afternoon he calls me back and says that Branson says it won't be covered under warranty unless the repair is completed by 3/15! That's a heck of a way to do business. I called another not-quite-as-local guy who was happy to help me and is going to do all he can to get my tractor picked up and fixed within a reasonable period of time.

I'll keep you guys posted on what happens. If I have to pay for this repair out of my pocket, I will consider trading off my Branson and going with a different brand. I can't stand being jerked around.

 

[DavesTractor]

The saga continues. I contacted my local dealer to do the warranty repair (bought March 15, 2016). Since I bought it elsewhere, they don't even want to deal with me but said they would do it "in three weeks or so behind all of OUR customers" but the service manager stated that since I had contacted them about it, it would be covered under warranty. That was this morning. Then, this afternoon he calls me back and says that Branson says it won't be covered under warranty unless the repair is completed by 3/15! That's a heck of a way to do business. I called another not-quite-as-local guy who was happy to help me and is going to do all he can to get my tractor picked up and fixed within a reasonable period of time.

I'll keep you guys posted on what happens. If I have to pay for this repair out of my pocket, I will consider trading off my Branson and going with a different brand. I can't stand being jerked around.

Bummer on that cylinder. We had a rash of them, but haven't seen any fail in a while. The improved replacement cylinder solves the issue.

A solution to your particular problem is to take it to your selling dealer, he should get you fixed up ASAP. Assuming you have not moved since the purchase and that your selling dealer has not moved or closed or dropped the line, then that dealer hasn't gotten any further away since you bought it.

My experience with Branson is that they will do the fair and honorable thing regarding warranty. They are very fair about things like this. Branson won't say "gotcha" on the warranty due to being out of time if you have documented the failure during the warranty period. The problem needs to manifest itself during the warranty period, the repair can come after that. So if returning to the selling dealer is not an option, you might just take your tractor to the local dealer before your time is up and have then inspect and verify the issue to document it. Hopefully you can build a relationship with your local dealer that is good for both of you.

 

[Omega Woods]

Bummer on that cylinder. We had a rash of them, but haven't seen any fail in a while. The improved replacement cylinder solves the issue.

A solution to your particular problem is to take it to your selling dealer, he should get you fixed up ASAP. Assuming you have not moved since the purchase and that your selling dealer has not moved or closed or dropped the line, then that dealer hasn't gotten any further away since you bought it.

My experience with Branson is that they will do the fair and honorable thing regarding warranty. They are very fair about things like this. Branson won't say "gotcha" on the warranty due to being out of time if you have documented the failure during the warranty period. The problem needs to manifest itself during the warranty period, the repair can come after that. So if returning to the selling dealer is not an option, you might just take your tractor to the local dealer before your time is up and have then inspect and verify the issue to document it. Hopefully you can build a relationship with your local dealer that is good for both of you.

Thanks, Dave. I found a closer local guy who's willing to help.

 

[James oslin]

Thanks, Dave. I found a closer local guy who's willing to help.

Hello Dave I need a cylinder as well I have a 30 45 century tractor

 

[kantuckid]

Not to complain about the above post at all, but why does tractorbynet persist in having a forum headed under the Century tractor brand name which google tells me they became defunct in 2003 and when many of us own a current Kukje product called Branson?
FWIW, when I recently searched for other Branson groups, aside from Facebook (where one is OK and the other a sales listing for dealers with no other use) this is the only one I found.
"Here" continues to be the better of the two-FB and here.
My point is a repeat of others who have called for Branson getting it's own forum here. Might easily lead to better participation thus better information. Not about my personal feelings, etc., just a practical matter.

Admins: are you listening???