How to Disassemble, Rebuild or Repair Hydraulic Cylinders
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Hydraulic cylinder use and repair preparation
Whether you are a small farmer, or have a large ranchette, you probably own a tractor or some other type of equipment which utilizes a hydraulic cylinder for some function or another. Most modern tractors, both large and small, use these simple devices for the power steering system.
These same types of hydraulic cylinders are used extensively on many types of combines and cultivation equipment, as well as more and more types of machinery. Eventually the seals will start to leak oil a little but there comes a time when the amount spent on hydraulic oil makes it imperative to rebuild the cylinder.
This article takes you through the steps needed to breakdown the cylinder and replace the o-rings and other seals on the piston and gland. Although not a difficult procedure, it is very important to take your time with the process.
Hydraulic system repairs
Before you begin
There are so many different types of hydraulic cylinders manufactured for all kinds of functions and machines that you should try and locate the correct repair or rebuild kit before starting your dis-assembly. The parts numbers are usually stamped into the end cap or on the outside of the cylinder.
If your particular cylinder is a major make, such as a Case, John Deere , or other well know brand, you simply go to the local dealer and buy or order the kit you need. You can also get a print out of the parts diagram which may prove very helpful in the rebuilding process.
You may have to order the parts on the internet, but as long as you have the parts numbers this should be no problem. It is always best to have the parts when the process begins to ensure the new and old parts are the same size and type.
When the cylinder is used for raising or lowering heavy objects or for other weight bearing purposes, always brace or otherwise support the weight with jacks or blocks to prevent injury to yourself or the equipment. Some of these pieces some of these pieces are quite heavy, so be aware of the danger of crushing fingers or hands during the repairs.
Starting the job
Breaking the hydraulic cylinder down
Hydraulic cylinder disassembly
The hydraulic cylinder being rebuilt in this article is one of a pair used for raising the bucket on the front end loader of a Case 580C backhoe. I have already rebuilt several of the other cylinders on the backhoe part of the machine. Each cylinder, or set of cylinders, has a different gland and seal kit.
I do not have all of the correct wrenches for each gland so I make my own. Eventually I will have a wrench for each cylinder, or so I hope. The glands have four holes used for unscrewing them from the cylinder. An adjustable gland removal tool can be found on this page and I sure need one! I just found this one for sale myself.
The tool I constructed here uses two prongs of spring steel cut from a spring tooth out of a peanut combine. Soft steel may work but not on a large cylinder.Measure the distance between two of the opposite holes and place the two prongs the same distance. A cutting torch and welder is the best tools a small farm or homeowner’s shop can possess. Blow the holes through, insert the prongs and weld tight. Works well and costs very little, not too pretty though.
Before doing anything be sure all pressure is released from the cylinder. Loosen or remove the hydraulic lines on each end of the cylinder as this will allow all pressure to escape. You may be able to unscrew the gland without removing either end of the cylinder assembly from its end connections.
In this case we needed the room, so we pulled the pin from the piston rod end. Using the new tool, the gland is unscrewed from the hydraulic cylinder. In some cases a slight tap or bump with a hammer may be applied to the tool to break the gland loose. Once loosened, the gland should unscrew easily and pull away from the hydraulic cylinder if there is room on the piston rod.
With the gland removed, pull the piston rod from the cylinder. Large hydraulic cylinders may have to be supported to keep them straight while removing the piston rod. A winch is sometimes used for large cylinders but is not required in most cases.
Try to keep the piston rod from falling into the dirt or against other metal objects when it pulls out of the cylinder. Protect all parts, such as the fine threads inside of the cylinder from any damage, this is a very important and potentially costly precaution. Do not hurry!
When the piston rod is free put the rod end back into its pin connection and unscrew the retaining bolt which holds the piston to the rod. In extreme cases this bolt may have to be heated if a thread locking substance has been used in a prior rebuilding process. Try not to heat the piston any more than necessary and this should work well. Place the parts in order and take a photo or two for later reference if needed.
Installing the new kit parts
Reassembly and finishing up
Most hydraulic cylinder rebuild kits will furnish a diagram for correct installation purposes so look this over well before replacing the o-rings and seals in the gland and piston.
All will be slightly different from each other so you will have to identify each new seal and o-ring. Some of these seals are very thin and may be damaged if not installed evenly.
In some cases the old seal may be used as an aid to reinstalling the new piece. Be careful to put these in very evenly or they may be damaged in the process.
Examine each o-ring in each groove and remove and install these one at a time to keep from getting confused as to correct placement. Clean each groove and seat carefully before replacing with the new part.
Reverse the process when reassembling the piston to the rod using a thread locking adhesive when replacing the piston rod bolt. Oil all parts well and use a piece of wood on the rod end if needed when tapping the piston back into the cylinder
Do not use a thread locking substance on the gland threads when screwing the gland back into the cylinder. Replace the hydraulic lines and test for leaks around the new seal. Follow the same basic procedure for most cylinder types. Good luck and be careful at all times!
Hydraulic Related Supplies
 | For removing most types of glands from hydraulic cylinders. Amazon Price: $78.95 List Price: $139.95 |
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Hydraulic Repair Books
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Tractor and Backhoe Hydraulic Cylinder repair
- How To Rebuild Or Repair Tractor Backhoe Hydraulic Cylinders
More info on repairing tractor backhoe hydraulic cylinders. Fully illustrated step-by-step instructions and tips to help you save money and time on repairs.
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I can identify Artemus. Our tractors, mostly John Deere, have hydraulic leaks as a matter of course. Thanks for reading!
Randy
Good info thank you.
In regards to hydraulics, when it gets really hard to disconnect the tubes from the ports, is that because the hydraulics are "old" or more likely because the pressure hasn't been taken out of the tubes?
Richard
It can be both, Richard. Always relieve the pressure before working on any hydraulic system. Old connections are sometimes difficult to detach anyway. Thanks!
My old case has 3 or 4 bad seals that I have to fix. Thank you for all the info!!! Never having done a seal on a cylinder before, your pics and set by step info really gave me the confidence to do the job. It cost me $500 for somebody to come out replace one seal the last time.
This is great, raw-case! You certainly saved a bundle then. I'm glad you found the article helpful and tackled the job. Thanks for your great comments and good luck on future repairs.
Randy
Good article Randy. I have experience with hydraulics on bulldozers, shock absorber rebuilds and car and truck hoists up to 100 tonne.
Safety is the big issue around tractors and heavy machinery. Some of the hydraulic pressures experienced with bulldozers when logging are high enough to do serious injury.
Car hoists work really hard in a busy workshop, and they sometimes fail at the top with a vehicle on them. If it is a mechanical failure such as a seized ram, it can be hell to get it down again. Best to service at the slightest sign of oil weeping.
Thanks Earnest! I don't have any experience with car hoists, but every tractor we have, and most of our farming equipment, uses hydraulic cylinders of some sort. It seems like I am always repairing a cylinder or ordering kits.
Wonderful things though!
Thanks for taking a look!
Randy
Great reading. I have a steering cylinder leaking on my JD 2350. this one does not look like it has a screw in end cap. How do I get it apart. I have managed to pop out the first dust seal.
Hello Blane! I am unfamiliar with your particular steering cylinder so I cannot give you much help there. Some hydraulic cylinders use snap rings or some other such retaining devices.
Simply get the model number and contact a John Deere dealer for a complete breakdown of the cylinder parts to find out what type you have. It may be possible to find a diagram online.
You will need to get the new seal kit anyway and a parts dealer will usually print out a copy of the parts diagram for you. I am repairing a similar steering cylinder for a Case backhoe and it has a different retaining gland too. Sorry I cannot help and good luck on your repairs.
Randy
any tricks for loosening a frozen gland?? I have an adjustable spanner witch i broke. Tried heat and a pipe wrench with a cheater, no luck.. I am thinking of welding right to the gland. any tips would be appreciated.. and awesome tutorial thanks. I am actually doing the same cylinder but on the left side of a case 580b. need this fixed and the local jack man wants $200 bucks if i bring him the cylinder.
@case 580 b-where did you apply the heat and how hot did you allow the gland to get? Welding directly to the gland should be a last resort but it can be done!
Unless the gland threads were coated with thread lock it should not be difficult to break loose. Heat usually allows the thread lock substance to give way!
I just heated it with a small plumbers butane tank. I heated the cylinder itself around the gland trying to stay away from the front. I do have torches but didn't want to burn up the o-ring. Is that all i would hurt by going red hot on the cylinder?? I need to make your spanner as it would be a little more heavy than my set up. However I did torque it pretty hard and now I am using a 24" pipe wrench with a 3' cheater bar. If more heat is OK i will try that but i don't have any nice plate stock here to make that tool so i need to find some.
Thanks,
Steve.
The less heat needed the better of course, but you will have to heat it up pretty well! Probably not red hot, though! The O-rings will be replaced as well as the other meltable parts! No worries there!
It's best to heat the thread area all around the cylinder while someone puts a lot of pressure on the wrench or tool!
The gland should turn before the heated area gets too hot!
If this fails you may have to give in and take it to a repair service! Sorry, never ran into this problem on my Case hydraulic cylinder rebuilds! Good luck and thanks for reading!
Randy
Randy, Thanks so much I appreciate all your help. I am going to make the tool and try heating with the torches. I will let you know how I make out.
Thanks again,
Steve.
Please do let me know the results, case 580B!
Thanks
Randy
I have an old cylinder off a set of cultivators, there is a warning label on the cylinder that it contains a built in restrictor valve and not to repair it just purchase a new one. Have you ever heard of this? I can not find a brand name or serial number on the cylinder and the company that make the culitvators has long been out of business.
I've never run into this type of hydraulic cylinder, Jim! I have rebuilt some with restriction valves before but haven't heard of the throw away type.
Myself, I would take it apart anyway just to find out how it worked, but I would not advise you to do so. Some cylinders may be dangerous to disassemble unless you are very familiar with the process.
I am wondering what function the hydraulic cylinder performed as I am a farmer myself. A replacement cylinder may be found on the Amazon ads on this page or through one of my favorite low price farm equipment repair companies-AgriSupply Corporation.
Sorry I cannot be of further service to you!
Thanks for reading and the question!
Randy
very nice.. but only disassembly is given.. what about repair (honing and fabrication) and assembly
Reverse the process, zizu. This article is not intended for repairs to the cylinder. It is only for replacing the seals in the gland and piston.
Randy,
I have taken a cylinder apart and rebuilt it, replacing all seals and O-rings. Putting the cylinder back together was no problem but I am at a loss as to how to reinsert the lock ring. The Cylinder head is not threaded.
The lock is a piece of square spring steel about eight inches long that slides through a small slot in the Cylinder case and into a slot in the cylinder head just below the edge of the cylinder case. To remove it you rotate the cylinder head till the end of the lock ring stock appears in the small slot in the cylinder body. Keeping the end of the lock coming up out of the slot you continue to rotate the cylinder head till the other end of the lock ring comes to the opening at which time the small hook on the end of the lock ring comes out of a notch in the cylinder head and the lock ring stock can be removed.
My question is how do you reinstall it? Do you hook the end of the lock into the slot in the cylinder and rotate the head to pull the ring into the slot in the opposite direction from the way it came out?
@Fred-I have only had experience with one of these type gland locking devices, and to be honest with you, I do not remember how I managed to reinsert the pseudo-snap ring device.
I think I had a helper lightly tap on the gland itself while I fed the retainer ring into the slot. I"m sorry I cannot give you better info on this type of lock ring
retainer, but I have little experience with them.
If you manage to get it reinserted, please come back and relate your experience. Others will surely appreciate your rebuild info on this type of hydraulic cylinder repairs.
Randy Godwin
I have a case 580k and am doing the large dipper piston on the backhoe end. I cannot get the piston to budge i had a come along on it yet it won't move out of the cylinder. It feels like it may be hydraulic pressure i have removed the hoses but it still wont pop any advice? Now I'm wondering if it will go back in if I ever get it out! ugh!
Hello Paddy! I had the same problem with the cylinder on my 580C. Since the piston rod is so long it tends to sag downwards when you try and pull it out.
This will cause the piston to bind inside the cylinder. I used a come-a-long on this one too but you must be sure it is pulling out very straight. You may have to give it a few licks with a heavy hammer when you get tension on the rod to get it moving.
It will slide back in easier that it came out, at least mine did. Good luck!
Randy Godwin
No problem,Paddy! It may be necessary to drive the piston back into the cylinder a short distance to get it out of the bind before getting it straight enough to start the extraction process again.
Thanks for visiting and for the question. Feel free to ask for more info if needed.
Randy
success! but now I am having trouble with the bolt 2-3/16"! I'm sure it has locktight. I got the socket at sears $31 3/4 drive and a 4' pipe,bent the handle on the breaker and not a twitch from the bolt. should I heat the head of the bolt? there's not much else I could do. Thanks again
Yes, heat the bolt head and it will come right off. I always try to keep the heat isolated to the bolt head as much as possible.
The only time heat is not acceptable for loosing the retaining bolt is when a pressure relief valve is used. The cylinders which move the backhoe side to side usually have these pressure relief valves.
The cylinder you are repairing now does not have this feature. Check back if you have any more concerns.
Randy
Hey Randy , thanks for all the help. I still can't get that bolt to budge. I heated it with acetylene torch and still no luck I wonder if I heated it too much?broke the handle on a 18" pipe wrench right in half this thing does not want to let go haven't moved it at all! Any advice?
@Paddy-I've always been able to get the bolt broke loose by heating it red hot before trying to turn it. I don't know, unless you wish to try a machine shop. Sorry, I haven't run into this problem before. Be sure you get it hot enough!
Randy
OK thanks Randy, I'll give it another try today. Did you try turning it while it was red ? I am worried that the metal might twist when it is that hot, what about the piston would heating that up hurt it ?
Yes, turn it while it is red hot, Paddy! The first time I ran into this problem I was leery of getting the bolt too hot, like yourself.
I took the piston rod to a John Deere dealer nearby and they placed it in a vise and attempted to loosen the bolt with an impact wrench with no success.
After heating the bolt red hot they immediately used the impact wrench to easily loosen the bolt. Since that first time running into the problem, I learned to heat the bolt red hot before using a 3/4 drive socket and pull handle with a long pipe as a lever to loosen the bolt after heating.
I hope this works for you in this situation too!
Randy
Randy, finally got it! Took the piston to machine shop and he referred me to the local towing co. Shop. A buddy of his just got a new 3/4 drive air impact gun from snap on took the bolt out in 5 seconds w/out heat or anything ,amazing . I could have saved my whole weekend . Cylinder is reassembled and back to work digging full steam thanks for the help buddy.
Great news, Paddy! Your retaining nut must have been really torqued on tight for it to be so difficult to remove. Most are not so much trouble. Glad you got it back together and working well. Thanks for stopping by and reading my article and for your questions and comments.
Randy
Thanks for the instructions! I had absolutely no idea where to start with my hydraulic cylinder repair, so this article really helped me out a ton!
Great step by step instruction! Us Marines here on Camp Pendleton need all the help we can get hah! So for that we thank you.
-Combat Logistics Battalion 15-
Thanks Tom, glad to be of service and I do appreciate your nice feedback on my article.
Randy Godwin
@Shoe Box-And I thank you in return for your service and for your nice comments here. I'm always pleased someone can use my articles to help them with their repairs.
Good luck to all of you guys at Combat Logistics Battalion 15 and please ask if I may be of any assistance to you.
Randy Godwin
Case 580C Frt. Bucket Tilt Cyl.-The Gland won`t break loose. I borrowed the spanner wrench and afraid it might break! I have used 2` cheater on breaker bar to no avail.
My next step will be applying heat to the O.D. of the cyl. end.
How much heat should I apply? I have elec. heat gun,propane torch and acetylene. I`d prefer not to burn the paint off.
Thanks, Ronald
@Ronald-application of heat is okay as long as you do not apply enough to warp the cylinder. I have used a torch soaringly to remove a stubborn gland.
Try applying heat while someone keeps steady pressure on a long "cheater bar" lever at the same time. Someone probably used the thread locking substance on these threads.
I hope this helps you with your problem.
Randy Godwin
Randy, I want to thank you for your advice. I tried the elec. heat gun to no avail.Next I used the propane torch, still couldn`t break the gland loose. Finally I got a four foot cheater bar.With a little more propane heat and the 4 footer it finally broke loose! And most of the paint survived! This was accomplished without an assistant.
The rest of the rebuild went smooth, I`m back to digging!
Best Regards,
Ronald
Good to hear, Ronald! It's amazing what a little heat in the right spot will do sometimes. Usually the retaining bolt will be have to be heated instead of the gland, but as you probably know, nothing ever seems to work out exactly as expected. LOL!
Glad to hear you're back diggin' again! Thanks for your question and for coming back and letting me know how things worked out.
Randy
Randy, Glad I found your instructions, going to give it a try next week. I have a 1976 Case 580 service manual and your description is much easier to follow than the Case manual. I found the torque specs for the piston bolts along with a cylinder parts breakout drawing that I scanned into jpg files. Being new to hubpages I haven't figured out how to upload these files without making a new Hub page.
Dobbs
Thanks Dobbs! I tried to make the step-by-step photos as I was going along--tough to do without getting hydraulic oil all over the camera--to aid in understanding the process and parts identification.
Welcome to HubPages and be sure and check out the Learning Center for detailed info on uploading images and other essential facets of the site.
Thanks for your time and comments.
Randy
Just reporting back that we fixed the backhoe Dipper cylinder without a problem last Saturday in about 3 hours after we spent about 2 hours making the gland wrench from spare metal. We can use it again. We had to use a 10ft cheater on the 1" breaker bar to loosen that big nut on the piston. It worked, no heat needed. Thanks for the great instructions.
Dobbs
Thanks Dobbs, I'm glad you found my article useful and can use the gland wrench again. I make my own, especially if there are more than one size cylinder on the machine.
Good luck with future repairs and feel free to stop in again with any pertinent comments. Thanks again for your time.
Randy
Thanks Randy , Saved me a lot of time and money not taking it to the local hydraulic shop!!
Glad to be of assistance, Thedooryder! Thanks for you comments and for reading!
Randy
Great Hub Randy, full of step by step info, just the way I like it. The only work I've done with Hydraulics is the plow pistons on my old truck, same operation, just on a smaller scale. Voted up and useful
Thanks Eddie! Yep, basically the same repair procedure. thanks for your comments and time.
Randy
is there a way to tell which seal kit to buy on the loader cylinders all i have is the following info
Model 580 CK
Number 8655254
J.I. Case Company
Hello JT! You must use the part number on the cylinder to get the right seal kit unless you wish to wait until you remove it from the cylinder first before personally going to the Case dealer or ordering it over the phone.
Sometimes several different cylinders are used on the same machine. I hope this info helps you, but if not, feel free to ask me for more info.
Randy
Well I havent been able to find a part number on the cylinder but I will keep looking. Thanks for the info.
Hello again, JT! You may simply have to measure the dimensions of the cylinder to get the correct seal seal kit. Using a micrometer, measure the diameter of the piston rod and the inside of the cylinder when you get it apart.
If there is a Case dealership and parts supplier nearby they can assist you in getting the correct seal kit for your particular hydraulic cylinder. or, you may find the correct kit online. I hope you find what you are looking for!
Randy
Artemus Gordon 2 years ago
Nice instruction here. I have a Ford tractor that continually gives me fits on its hydraulic lines.