I have archived it and haven't much luck, can the swing cylinder be removed without taking the hoe off? I can't see how to get the gland nut off and pull the shaft out through the slot out back or how to pull the whole thing out. The manual I have covers both 4500 and 5500 and doesn't match up to mine. Anyway any ideas would be appreciated. steve
just remove the rod and rebuild piston and gland nut,,, unless the cylinder has damage, this done often, even if the hold unit is easy to remove
jimg984: Thanx for the info. I'll crawl under it this weekend and check it out. It doesn't look like there room but I often wrong. thanx again. steve
Hi Gents, I bought a 4500 last March, great machine previously owned and maintained by a local Township with only 1943 original hours on it. It was sold at auction by the town, and the guy I bought it off gave me the town guys contact info. Great folks, his father and grandfather both operated it before him and if it weren't for a new politician, they would have kept it, he sent it to the auction block for a few bucks. This is a great machine, and I have confirmed from the town workers that the only thing I need is to repack one or both of the Swing cylinders, while driving the. I a boom dangerously will swing on its own, real hazard. I'm mechanically inclined but completely inexperienced with heavy equipment, and I do have reproduced manuals that I purchased. Can you tell me if/how I can remove one or both of the swing cylinders without taking the hoe off? I will then just take them to a shop that is reasonable and have them repacked, and put them back in. Thanks
The simple answer is there isnt! sometimes you just have to resign yourself to your fate and go deeper than you want to. If it helps any I am going to have to do the same thing. Unless I can sell the machine first lol
Workshoprat92 thanks for the quick reply. I searched another tractor forum and confirmed that the hoe must come off to get the Swing cylinders out, and then found these steps to do it: (quoted from post at 21:25:48 04/26/10)]Basically, lay down a sheet of plywood under the hoe. Extend the dipper stick out about 1/2 way, curl the bucket all the way and lower the boom until the pressure is off. Lower the stabilizers. Now loosen the connecting hardware. Should be 2 nuts that are about 1 1/4" to 1 1/2". Somewhere in that range. I actually have different ones on each side -- stuff happens over 45 years.... Then pull the connecting hardware up and back out of the way. It will be sort of stiff unless you have done it recently. With it out of the way (the hoe won't jump off), slowly raise the hoe by pressing down with the stabilizers. Raise it up (and straight by manipulating the dipper stick) until it is free of the saddles (bottom connection point). I like to put 3 or 4 strong jack stands under the hoe box on top of the plywood. 2 in the back and 1 or 2 in the front. Then lower the box down onto the stands, but still at least 2" clear of the saddles to allow for settling. The shut off the engine, take off the hoses, loop the hoses. The smaller one goes on the TRACTOR SIDE and the larger lower pressure return hose is looped on the hoe side. Then just drive off. Hopefully, you are on a dead flat area. If not, situate it so you drive off slightly uphill. That will make reattachment easier. The trick on it is to get close and use the hoe hydraulics to move the last couple inches. Hopefully you have enough hose to do that. (I don't and it's a PITA). I'm definitely gonna take my time considering a 5k lb hoe wont be easy to manipulate once detached, but I'm gonna go for it, I have no choice. I just need a day above freezing temps up here!
I'm unfamiliar with a 4500 series machine, but when I was in high school, dad bought a 550 Ford backhoe. The first time he had to repack a swing cylinder, we both took it apart then put it back together. The second one, he gave me a heads up about it and I had it out and laying on the tailgate by the time he got back from town. Point I am trying to make is it sounds way worse than it really is, at least it wasn't too bad on that particular machine and after reading the process above it sounds very similar. If I remember correctly, I don't think I removed any hoses other than the ones off the swing cylinder itself and I wiggled it down out of there. He showed up and asked if I was ready to split the machine and I pointed to the cylinder on the tailgate. Had to take it to a friends shop that had a vice big enough to clamp it in to bust the gland nut loose, repacked it and put it back in action. Good luck to ya
I just got done changing the swing cylinder in my 4500 (the barrel was too wore to rebuild) and it wasn't near as difficult to do as splitting which I have had to do twice recently. I have a home made gantry that I welded wide steel rollers onto and use two long pieces of channel iron upside down to slide on. It makes it all a lot safer. I built it to pull a engine out of a d2. As soon as I replace the chain hoist with a winch it will be really nice. steve
On mine I think I need to pull the cab to have the room to lift the hoe section up. I may just leave the cab off anyhow as it makes anything up front impossible to see