Hey guys, I'm working on replacing the seals on the lift cylinders on a 955L (85J). Haven't gotten very far yet. I'm leaving the cylinders on the machine. I have all of the bolts on the heads loose, except one. Put a 1/2 inch impact on it, and then a 3/4 inch impact, and can't break it loose. I haven't put a big bar on it yet, because I'm concerned about breaking the bolt off. I also haven't used any heat yet...been trying to avoid that. Are there any problems with putting heat on that part of the cylinder? Also, any ideas on how much leverage I can put on that bolt without breaking it off? Any help would be appreciated. I read some of the previous threads on the topic of tearing down and replacing the seals on the tilt and lift cylinders, and got a lot of good information, so thanks!
Heat would be one of the last things I'd try, you could, but you want to heat the cylinder not the bolt and that would take a while and make a mess to clean out. Tighten the other bolts back down, try turning the stubborn one tighter first too, sometimes they break loose easy that way. Wrap some aluminum around the rod if there's any chance you'll ding it up. Get out the big bar, I wouldn't worry about breaking it off, then you can get the rod out of there and weld a nut onto the broken bolt and it will come out then.
Hit the head of the bolt with a sledge a few times and then impact, tight then loose back and forth. Later Bob
Thanks Delmer! Yeah, I tried tightening already, but no help. I guess I'll put the bar on it. I'm just afraid of breaking it off at the threads and then having to drill it out. I'm assuming those are hardened bolts.
Thanks Bob! Tried that with a heavy mallet, but not real hard. I'll give it a few more whacks and see if it helps.
If it breaks off drill a hole as far as you can into the bolt. Then heat the bolt and cool it with water. when it's cool put in an easy out and try to remove it. Heating will shrink the bolt and shrink more with hole in it. Later Bob
Raise the loader arms up to the level or higher position and secure the arms in that position so you will have enough clearance to remove the rod from the cylinder. That bolt will take a lot of pressure before it will break. 3/4 drive socket with a matching breaker bar should be safe a bet. My policy is to use a cheater pipe if needed. A small amount of heat would not hurt, not nearly enough to turn red. When you do get that bolt out, start all four bolts back in their respective holes. thread the bolts in about I/2". Next start your engine and extend the rod as far as it will go. It will probably blow the seal and start leaking, that is what you want. By blowing the seal you can easily pull the rod out of the cylinder, otherwise, it may be a beast to get the rod out of the boar as they seem to corrode in about the last inch or so. You are wise to leave the cylinder on the machine. When you pull the rod out take it around to your draw bar and pin it in there to hold it so you can break the big retaining nut. Block up under the eye end of the rod level with the draw bar. You may need heat on the big nut, just enough to break the locktite bond on the threads. Even if you have a big socket to fit the nut you will probably only bend your handle. I use a 24" or linger pipe wrench and a 8' cheater pipe. Once the big nut is removed the piston should slide off. If it refuses to move then you have a taper fit piston. that will require a small amount of heat and a smack or two with a ballpeen. Use locktite on the threads when you replace the nut To see pictures of the entire operation see my post in the track loader thread Cat 951 in my sites by nitelite. Good luck!
Thanks Nitelite! I've read your previous post (one of the ones I was referring to above). Lots of good info! I'm planning to do mine the same way....just gotta get this bolt out. I've got a 1" drive socket and breaker bar and a 10' piece of 2" square tubing to use as a cheater for the big nuts on the rods. I might go get my $200 back, shift gears, and go with the pipe wrench.
Make sure that the bucket and its arms are secure before you crack a hydraulic fitting or remove a end cap. If you need to you can pull up close to a large tree and rest the curled bucket against the side of a tree, but make sure, if you do that, that the loader is secure and cannot roll backwards. If you do have the tapered piston and use the ballpeen, wrap and tape cardboard around that expensive chrome rod so as not to put a ding or a scratch in it. Tap it square on the back end, not on its outside curved surfaces, otherwise you will just knacker it up, (as tctractors would say) The way I understand it, if you do knacker it up, from then on you will be called a bloke ! (correct me if I am wrong tc) To get the rod out you will need to take a hydraulic line off of one side or the other to break the suction when pulling the rod. The hydraulic hoses join, one side to the other. You only need to disconnect one line to service either side. If the fittings on the bottom end of the lift cylinders are a pita, then trace them back to a fitting under the floor plate and disconnect it there. In any case get your drain pan and five gallon buckets ready, if it starts to siphon, it will quickly empty your hydraulic tank. Good time to change hydraulic filter and or fluid. PS. As an alternate method to hold that bucket up, go in the bedroom and get the mattress, put it on the top of momma's car, park the vehicle under the bucket and block up as necessary. then lower the bucket, resting on the afore mentioned device. Note! do not try this if momma drives a convertible, in that case rent a car and opt in for the insurance coverage. Good luck!
Grease Gun, check out my last postings to the thread at Cat 951 in my sights So renting a vehicle to rest your loader bucket is not so far out after all, is it?
Grease Gun, that bolt will laugh at a 1/2" air gun and probably smile at a 3/4" gun, its a good quality bolt that can take some steam to undo it, dont be scared of a bit of heat Via a cutting set, if the cap bolt is giving you stick the rod nut should have you in tears, I use a fair bit of iron to undo rod nuts, its an 1"1/2 drive flogging bar that weighs about 60 lbs and I hit it with a 28lbs hammer, sometimes it takes 3 or 4 hits to make things happen, but it always seems to get things loose, I hope you have an easy time ahead, the taper fit piston can be hit off with the gland cap by standing the rod up vertical with the piston at the bottom, then slide the cap down the rod as hard as you can to hit the piston free, after you have managed this re-seal job you will be a "Sound Bloke" like Nitelite just not as coined up??? tctractors
A little more leverage and it came loose. I had a 5 foot bar and all of me (235 pounds) on it the other day and it didn't budge. Apparently somebody ran out of anti-seize on the last bolt back in the 80's or 90's. Put a 10 foot bar on it and broke it loose today. Those bolts are pretty solid....I was surprised that it didn't snap. So, TC, can you translate "coined up" for me? Thanks for the input!
Coined up = having money, wealthy, even if only for a day. Example. Worked 70 hours last week. Really coined up today.
Okay....so between work and the weather, I found some time to get back on my cylinder project. I took Nitelite's advice and left the head bolts threaded in about 1/2 inch, and eased the rods out with the hydraulics as far as they would go. But then I took it a step further and removed the bolts completely, and eased the pistons the rest of the way out under power. I had two straps on each rod, so I would ease the rods out some and then adjust the straps so as not to put the rods and pistons on a bind, go a little further, adjust the straps, etc....until they were out. Then I just eased them over to the side, backed the straps off, and lowered the rods onto plywood on the tracks. The big nuts on the end of the rods were tough, but heat and leverage won out. Also, in the pics, you can see that there are two different types of pistons. Somebody had been into one of the cylinders and had changed the piston, for whatever reason. I went to Cat today and ordered new nuts for the rods. I priced a new piston, because I would like them to match, but after hearing the price, I decided I would get over it. Anyway....updates to follow.
A
Okay....upside down....gotta figure that out.
Still upside down.
Sounds like tc is giving you an A on this project. Cat will bust you good on parts. Try Off Road Equipment Parts Inc. Just a for instance, you should have been able to purchase all four of your cylinder kits, lift and tilt, for under $100.00. Off Road # 888 379-7895, ask for Jeff.
Okay....now we're right side up.
Well done that man for undoing those nuts, the rod nuts are not to costly to replace after the nyloc bit melted with the heat treatment, I dont think the piston job is going to cause you any trouble, I must say the shovel looks a "Cracker" being a treasure item now in the U.K. as these shovels soon managed to be exported from our rock to Africa and other parts of Europe, leaving a good void with track shovels that had any work left in them, its tough to find a knacker job only fit for the torch now, its hard for me to understand how these shovels sort of vapourized from our shores even good 951's are just so near impossible to find, so good luck with your repair work and look after it. tctractors
Thanks TC. It's a pretty decent machine. It's really just a toy at this point....but I keep finding excuses to use it. I know what you mean about these machines....they're hard to beat. I've run the newer machines, but I prefer the older style. I love my 955, but I used to run a 977L back in the late 80's....and there's nothing like running a '77.
Absolutely agree! I just placed another order with them for my 955L. I need to rebuild my cylinders, too. Just haven't mustered the motivation. They are a little wet, but nothing serious. I started into them a little on the 4-n-1 and couldn't get the pins to budge with a BFH, so I need to get a XLFH. I saved that project for another day. :drinkup That is a slick spot for a fire extinguisher! I'll have to remember that one!
I never liked using a hammer on the pins, so I built a home-made pin puller. I'll post pictures of it once I get the loader back together....part of it is in use with the safety lock for the loader support. This one only works on some of the loader pins....not sure about the bucket pins yet, but I'm pulling those next. I haven't tried Off Road Equipment yet, but I will. I got my seal kits from Hercules.....they were real good to deal with and reasonably priced.
I'm not a fan of beating them out myself, but the 4-n-1 doesn't have threaded holes. I'm going to make an adapter for my slide hammer when I attempt the others. I'd like to see what you came up with! Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
On that 4/1, look the pin bosses over really well, my unit has lock pins as well as cross bolts unsure why but both are in there to lock the pins in place. Get all the side load pressure off the pins prior to working with them to move them, in many cases is better to set the bucket off(unpin and remove) on a rack or short bench to do this kind of work where there is no chance for lift arm sag or hydraulics creep to set things amiss.
I did not think of looking for another retaining method. I'll take a peek at the ol' parts book and see if there is a hidden surprise! Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
Okay....so lift cylinders rebuilt and back on machine. Project turned out well. As promised, here are some pictures of a homemade pin puller. It just so happens that a 2 5/16" ball (hitch) with a 1 1/4" shank has the same thread size as the female on the large pins on the 955. And a 2" or 1 7/8" ball with a 1" shank fits the smaller pins. So I welded a nut on the top of the ball, screwed the ball into the pin, got a piece of 1/2 inch threaded rod, some large washers, and a nut. I also got some 4" PVC and a threaded cap, and the solid threaded plug. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the center of the solid plug. Basically, you slide the PVC apparatus over the threaded rod, and put the washers and nut on, and start drawing it down until you get a fair amount of pressure. some of the pins won't have much resistance and will come on out. Others, you can keep pressure on with the apparatus and play with the hydraulics until you find the sweet spot where there is no binding on the pin from the loader, and it should pop out a little bit. The only ones I've had trouble with so far are the two bottom bucket pins. But the great thing about this, is that the ball can be threaded into the pin, and serves as a great target for the sledge hammer without damaging the pin. Just make sure the ball is threaded all the way in. And don't use the one you just welded a nut on the top of. I recommend using a ball that has the hexagonal base so you can get a wrench on it to get it in and out.
Now that's some slick thinking! I was expecting something on slide hammer. Now, you'd better get the plumbing back together before someone flushes and gets a surprise! Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
kb9tci, you have to admit that Grease Gun does have his priorities in order.