Finished up a job last week , went to pick up my 416C and started it to load it and found that the homeowner had used it and it had a busted hose. They could have called and told me about it , but anyway I am replacing all the original hoses on the back and repacking all three cylinders as well as 1 swing cylinder. I packed the other swing cylinder last year. The cylinders were getting wet on the wiper and I think one or more was bypassing some. Picked up 3 hoses today and a paper sack the size they use for a 6 pack and was already in just shy of a grand. The tractor is in good condition I have owned it since 2001. Only 4700hrs so far. My goal is to push it up to the 6000 hr mark then possible upgrade. I was going to repack the cylinders myself until I got them of , too much weight with out the proper table for repair. So I think I'll run them to the dealer or my other field guy and get them to repack them and I'll reinstall them. New fan belts are in order as well as oil and if the budget permits new rear tires.
3 hoses and a paper sack = $1000.00. What was in the paper sack ? Seal kits ?
I often leave the cylinder barrel on the machine and just pull the ram out for the rebuild. It holds everything solid to take the cap off and less weight to lift. Will not work on all due to space constraints but will on many. Don't have to remove hoses either.
The paper sack had 5 seal kits in it plus the orings and stainless balls for the resolver on the loader. I called the Cat dealer today to see if they could reseal the cylinders and how much. The guy told me 5 hours labor per cylinder around 1500 in costs just to reseal 3 cylinders , after I threw up I started looking elsewhere. That's freaking ridiculous. Old iron , my thoughts exactly on the cylinders leave the barrel on , but they are so tight in the bores I removed them to take them to a shop. It was a bad winter , and its rained like hell everyday for the past two weeks , I need to get this behind me.
If those rods and pistons are so hard to pull out of the barrels be sure to check the rods for straightness. I know the feeling you had, I had to pay $85.00 for a front wheel bearing seal that is no longer made. They are now $165.00. I almost s### my pants. I ddidn't pay the 165 . I still ssstutter thinking about it.
I ended up taking the three cylinders over to my go to guy that has the proper bench and press for said cylinders. Dropped them at 11:30 this morning and he has two already fixed , they gave me the wrong kit for the third. Then they told me they were non returnable. We will see about that. The main thing , the cylinders are getting fixed , hopefully tomorrow afternoon I can reinstall them and finish up my other repairs. Need fan belts , fresh engine oil , examine air cleaner and I need to reseal the tilt cylinder on the front bucket. I will pull this one off myself come hell or high water. Being its not 500lbs I should be ok. I am curious to see what the labor on the cylinders will be.
A little info for who ever may decide to do this. I called the Cat dealer and was quoted 1500$ to put the seal kits in the three cylinders. I had a reputable guy do the work and it ended up costing 520$. I know the guy that did it well , and I'm confident he done as good or better job than the dealer. I'll take saving a 1000$ any day.