Hi, new guy here. Hope I've chosen the right place to post, if not just let me know. I'm hydraulically illiterate but sharp. I have a push-pull cylinder that is operated by a linkage actuated valve. I want to operate it at times with a pilot joystick actuated valve and be able to switch between the 2. Assuming Temperature, pressure, and flow are correct, can I use a 6 port valve backwards? I.e.: always the same cylinder but able to chose which valve operates it. Thanks, Dan
My first question is why? What is the cylinder on and what does it run?
We put a shuttle valve on a circuit that allows either buttons on joystick or a foot pedal to open/close a timber grapple. We did it to get proportional control for occasional fine delicate grabbing, while most of the time the non proportional joystick buttons are the more relaxed way to run it.
That sounds like a Rube Goldberg in the making. What are you gonna source for pilot oil? For clarity, you wanna run a link n lever valve in parallel to a pilot controlled valve?
Me and Rube go way back. I've been using my 80 year old forklift and my 35 year old skid steer and I'm getting too old to want to work on them. Climbing into and out of the skid steer and especially when I'm working alone and have something suspended by the bucket and have to climb up and over the top of the arms so I'm not passing under it is hard on me. I'm 76. I just want one newer machine that I can depend on and that's easy to get into and out of and will move pallets and grade and dig. If this turns out to be a dumb idea I can buy the X-Boom setup but it just seems awkward to me having all a pallet of stuff bobbing around so far from the center of the machine while going over rough dirt. I'm thinking of putting a skid steer quick mount where the blade normally is on a mini excavator and use the right excavator joystick to control the lift and dump of the bucket or forks or whatever I've hung on the quick mount when I want precise control. When digging, the quick mount would have the dozing blade mounted on it like normal and be controlled stock. I'm thinking the excavator needs to have the track widening feature so those channels through the swivel joint can be used for the bucket tilt circuit. The track widening cylinder would be replaced by a strut. I don't have any narrow places. This is for my use around my place only. I'm wanting to toggle between the stock control while digging and the pilot control when grading or moving pallets. This 6 port idea is to deal with the blade lift cylinder. Thanks, Dan
I appreciate where you're coming from. The problem I'm still seeing is, you have to have a pilot source. With link n lever, it's usually an open center valve and the pump just flows through without generating any pressure. With closed center, there's always pressure on the circuit so there's standby oil pressure which could be used operate pilot controls. I don't see where you could easily incorporate both off a common pump.
You could repurpose one function off your existing valve via detent. By having one function fully applied, you could generate a pilot and gain control of your additional valve. The downside is that this will generate heat and you would be sacrificing one function off link n lever manifold to gain pilot control valve. But you wouldn't have parallel control. I hope what I'm saying is making sense.
After writing all of this stuff it occurred to me that I could just accomplish the same thing without any valves by just routing hoses to a central location where I could use quick connectors to change where oil from any valve went. Don't intend to be changing things around often anyway. Dan
Want to thank everyone for contributing, some of it over my head which got me looking for a simple way. Does just switching hoses manually have any pitfalls? Dan
If you have the space to work with, quick couplers would help keep dirt out of your system. They have a their own issue though. Trapped oil in a circuit will make it near impossible to reconnect without bleeding off the pressure manually.
--Be careful when your pinky gets near the buttons, I just typed a bunch of stuff and now it went away-- I can route the hoses to a bulkhead, probably mounted on the side of the boom so the quick couplers are accessible while standing. I'll be back to learn about the pilot stuff, I haven't dealt with pilot operated valves before. But right now I'm leaving on a trip to gather up my machine from an auction site in PA. I'm in Tucson and with a family visit along the way will be away from my computer maybe 10 days. Dan