LA 1150 Lift Arm Seals Replaced Without A Hitch; Well One Anyway
I have been busy with other emergencies and did not update. For those interested I thought I would do so now. After I made a fool of myself driving to a hydraulic cylinder shop, 45 min one way, all the time thinking the worst I ended up laughing at myself. The guy stopped what he was doing and took me in immediately. He had a bench-mount chain-vise to secure the barrel. He also had a sturdy 7mm, dual-pin spanner. He had to hammer the spanner pins into the end cap receiver holes because they aren’t quite 7mm. Also I didn’t know the caps were aluminum. After clamping the barrel, it took him probably less than 3 minutes for each cylinder to tap the cylinder and end cap with a 3 or 4 pound hammer then using a long pipe, he broke the caps loose. I ‘bout fell out on the floor it was so easy/fast. I really did spend a lot of time and put a lot of torque on the one I worked on to no good. The main reason is that my Auto Zone spanner is a bit of a weak design. Also, even though the pins were fully inserted into the end cap holes I just had no way to keep said pins in the receiver holes. It never crossed my mind to pound the next size larger into the cap holes. It all boils down to having the right tools!
Once I removed the piston, taking pics as I went and making notes, I found no scoring to speak of inside the barrel. The blown seals were obvious in the end cap, or is that what is called the gland nut? Further, the big nut on the end of the plunge rod, opposite end of the cylinder came right off with 120 lbs with my pneumatic impact. The nylon, phenolic or whatever material the ring is made of that is on that top-end piece at said top end of the rod was in perfect condition, as was the o-ring underneath it. For anyone reading this with intention of tackling this job for yourself, that nylon ring can’t be removed intact. Just split it. I also did not go buy a $200 tool to install the new nylon ring. I have strong fingers. Thank you to whomever suggested warming it b4 trying to install.
The part I scratched my head on for, like 30 seconds was putting that sole seal that resides deep inside the end cap in place without damage to the seal. I didn’t really want to spend $20 on a seal bending/installation tool that I would only use for this one job. I just used a tiny zip lock to squeeze the seal together at the center, put one side in place then cut the zip tie. Worked like a charm. I took a lot of pics, but I have issues and challenges, so I didn’t try to figure all that out as far as trying to post them. If anyone expresses interest in seeing said pics, especially the zip tie trick, please advise.
I only did one cylinder bc if I fired it up and hydraulic fluid went squirting out like a geyser on steroids b4 even moving the tractor then it was time for plan E. Off to the “professionals”. That would be the same ones at my Kubota Service Center that screwed up one of two holes in the end cap and did not get it loose. Pair that with the fact that they quoted six to eight weeks turnaround and, err, umm probably would never happen, regardless of the price quote. Long story longer, fluid did not erupt at startup and also,,, I chained my rear tires to my front tires before testing my rebuild job, so that when forcing my bucket down to the ground the tractor lifted itself entirely off the ground!!! WOW!!! It was amazing to see!!!
I have been busy with other emergencies and did not update. For those interested I thought I would do so now. After I made a fool of myself driving to a hydraulic cylinder shop, 45 min one way, all the time thinking the worst I ended up laughing at myself. The guy stopped what he was doing and took me in immediately. He had a bench-mount chain-vise to secure the barrel. He also had a sturdy 7mm, dual-pin spanner. He had to hammer the spanner pins into the end cap receiver holes because they aren’t quite 7mm. Also I didn’t know the caps were aluminum. After clamping the barrel, it took him probably less than 3 minutes for each cylinder to tap the cylinder and end cap with a 3 or 4 pound hammer then using a long pipe, he broke the caps loose. I ‘bout fell out on the floor it was so easy/fast. I really did spend a lot of time and put a lot of torque on the one I worked on to no good. The main reason is that my Auto Zone spanner is a bit of a weak design. Also, even though the pins were fully inserted into the end cap holes I just had no way to keep said pins in the receiver holes. It never crossed my mind to pound the next size larger into the cap holes. It all boils down to having the right tools!
Once I removed the piston, taking pics as I went and making notes, I found no scoring to speak of inside the barrel. The blown seals were obvious in the end cap, or is that what is called the gland nut? Further, the big nut on the end of the plunge rod, opposite end of the cylinder came right off with 120 lbs with my pneumatic impact. The nylon, phenolic or whatever material the ring is made of that is on that top-end piece at said top end of the rod was in perfect condition, as was the o-ring underneath it. For anyone reading this with intention of tackling this job for yourself, that nylon ring can’t be removed intact. Just split it. I also did not go buy a $200 tool to install the new nylon ring. I have strong fingers. Thank you to whomever suggested warming it b4 trying to install.
The part I scratched my head on for, like 30 seconds was putting that sole seal that resides deep inside the end cap in place without damage to the seal. I didn’t really want to spend $20 on a seal bending/installation tool that I would only use for this one job. I just used a tiny zip lock to squeeze the seal together at the center, put one side in place then cut the zip tie. Worked like a charm. I took a lot of pics, but I have issues and challenges, so I didn’t try to figure all that out as far as trying to post them. If anyone expresses interest in seeing said pics, especially the zip tie trick, please advise.
I only did one cylinder bc if I fired it up and hydraulic fluid went squirting out like a geyser on steroids b4 even moving the tractor then it was time for plan E. Off to the “professionals”. That would be the same ones at my Kubota Service Center that screwed up one of two holes in the end cap and did not get it loose. Pair that with the fact that they quoted six to eight weeks turnaround and, err, umm probably would never happen, regardless of the price quote. Long story longer, fluid did not erupt at startup and also,,, I chained my rear tires to my front tires before testing my rebuild job, so that when forcing my bucket down to the ground the tractor lifted itself entirely off the ground!!! WOW!!! It was amazing to see!!!
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