tilt cylinder rod rust spot.

[bird watcher]

Hello folks, one of the tilt cylinders on my small dozer has a large rust spot, Missing chrome in that area. So far I sanded the area and keep it oiled. My fear is that it will soon damage the seals. Is there any fix short of replacement or professional re-chrome. No such shop on the Island, and I am hoping for a DIY fix that would last longer than sanding and oiling.

 

[Sportsman762]

It would help to post the make and model of dozer and number of hours used annually. There are a couple of options available, however given your location they may not be viable. You can have a cylinder re chromed however finding a shop to do it is difficult. Another option is to have a blank chrome rod ordered in then cut the end off of the current rod and weld it on. You can also run it as is, this could damage the seals however repacking a cylinder is cheap compared to the other options. What I would do if you are not running the dozer daily is take emery cloth and rub the rust down so that it does not have any sharp edges or feel very rough. This will prevent the rust from destroying the seals immediately. Given that your a home owner and not a commercial operator you will most likely have replace the seals in your ownership of the machine. To prevent it from expanding I would park the dozer with something under the blade so that the cylinders can stay retracted and there should not be much pressure on the hydraulic sy

 

[Soundguy]

i don't think i would have sanded it unless it was proud rust. otherwise steel wool or a scothcbrite pad takes em down good.

if you do sand it ( did ).. dress it with some 2000 or 4000 or polishing compound... keep it greased... whent he seals eventually wear out enough to repalce ( may be many,many years... just replace the rod...

 

[bird watcher]

Soundguy, thanks for the reply. Yes rust was advanced, loaned my little CD5b to a friend, must have dropped a rock or something on it, he parked it back on the trailer and it was quite a while before I took her down. Maybe if I had caught it earlier I could have done a better job of saving it. Used 4000 grid but never thought of rubbing compound. Will Keep it polished, and greased, but doubt if I will find a rod, unless someone is parting one out. Thanks again for the points.

 

[Soundguy]

by 'finding' a rod. i menat just buying a length of chromed cyl rod and cut to fit your application.

may be many mons before you need it depending on your use.

I run plenty of vintage equipment. some of them have less than perfect rams. and they run fine for light and medium duty use.

 

[bubbacuse77]

Also, it goes without saying, if you leave your machine outside without use for extended periods of time try to store with the cylinder retracted.

If your not loosing performance, I would wait to mess with it until you have to. You replace a lot of weeping fluid for the cost of fixing that rod.

Just my 2cents

 

[bird watcher]

Soundguy, thanks for the reply. Yes rust was advanced, loaned my little CD5b to a friend, must have dropped a rock or something on it, he parked it back on the trailer and it was quite a while before I took her down. Maybe if I had caught it earlier I could have done a better job of saving it. Used 4000 grid but never thought of rubbing compound. Will Keep it polished, and greased, but doubt if I will find a rod, unless someone is parting one out. Thanks again for the points.

 

[bird watcher]

Soundguy, I was reading on some similar tread at the bottom of my post, a log splitter ram; it as suggested that it be primed and painted. I have some Marine Clean and a can of POR-15 which is very self leveling, what do you think..

 

[Soundguy]

NO!!

paint will come off inthe hyds system and contaminate it!!!

 

[bird watcher]

Yes I expect I was doing the best by sanding and oiling. I Don't have cover for dozer yet, I am just looking around her for fix needed. This rust spot was one. Good to hear the seals may take some time to fail, Yes, some dozers does weep. Thanks for your 2 cents..

 

[BHD]

keep cylinder retracted when not using it,