Since were on the topic of hydraulic cylinder repair, I have a couple of questions. I have a couple leaking cylinders on my JCB. (I know, don't say it, it's leaking because it's a JCB.) When I looked at them closer, it appears that the piston rod itself, has a ding in it. It looks large enough to damage the seal and cause the leak. What would you do in this case. JCB wanted around $300 for a piston rod. Is it worth the time to have the ding fill-welded and then machined? I would have to get it chromed and I have no idea what that costs. I currenlty have a damaged outrigger and bucket dump rods damaged. Any thoughts?
Repairs You might ck prices on the repair you mentioned and compare to having a new rod made. Shop here stocks rod and sells by the inch. The drill and thread piston end and use your pin end--just weld it to new rod. I ask about recrome some older rods I have and they said a new one was cheaper. I'd ck prices. If your not pickey you might try to smooth out the nick and put in a new seal and just see how long it lasted. Rod seals are cheap if you have time to mess with it.
Call around to some local hydraulic repair shops. They aren't going to really want to give a solid estimate because they simply don't know exactly what it will take. But they may be able to put you in the ballpark. But I have some guys around me that work wonders and are very reasonable.
If there is only some small damage to the rod there is repair systems available. Some of the welding firms have special welding sticks that u use, and then use a file and grinding paper to get it smooth. The metal welded on is very soft and can be smoothed enough after some work. U use different grade of grinding paper. But as stated before here, the best solution is to contact the rebuilding shops. They weld on your old eye to a new rod. And change the seals, all in one job. If ther's problems with the tube they weld on a new one there too. And of course if your unlucky and get damage to a rod, go on it imediately with a file and remove the sharp edges. Might save your seals if you do it immediately.