I purchased a ford 555 backhoe this spring. I am having problems with one of the stabilizer arms falling from the up position when not using it. For instance if I am hauling dirt with loader bucket, one stabilizer arm will drop. So about every 10 minutes or so I need to grab the control lever and raise the arm. I now have a chain on them when not in use so they stay up. Am I looking at a single cylinder repair or is it deeper than that to correct this problem? Thanks Wally
You most likely have worn out gland packing's in the cylinder. It is a fairly inexpensive thing to repair, if you can do it yourself. Costs will vary from different hydraulic repair shops, if you have one of them do it. There is also a possibility the valve that controls it is not holding it up do to leakage. If you want to narrow it down to one cause or the other without fixing either, you would be to have to remove both hoses from the cylinder and put a valve in each line. Then raise the cylinder with both valves open, then close the valves and see if the cylinder stays in the upright position.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. So if I put a valve in each line, open the valves and put my stabilizers up and close the valves. If my stabilizer drops the packing in the cylinder is bad? If they do not drop then it may be in the controls? Thanks Wally
Yes. If it were mine I would just reseal the cylinder. The odds are fairly high that is where the problem is.
Thanks again for the help. I will find the parts and reseal that cylinder. Have a great Thanksgiving!