I am under the shade tree trying to rebuild the tilt cylinder on my D 4 E. I removed the guard plate that protects the cylinder. Next I disconnected the two hydraulic lines. The 5" cylinder cap has holes for a spanner wrench. I have a 5" spanner wrench and I tried a cheater pipe on the wrench. At this point I think the wrench will break before the end cap gives up. Tomorrow I will go get my oxygen/acetylene tanks filled and use the hot wrench on the cylinder. I don't have a pipe wrench big enough to fit around the 5" cap. I don't particularly like the idea of heating the cylinder but I see no choice. Does someone have a better idea?
There is a very useful method to loosen tight glands, used by a very crafty & wirey ol' bloke, also from Tennessee, discussed in this thread - & yes it works :thumbsup
For sure, that is how to do it. I posted that I was having trouble with the same cylinder cap removal. Alrman posted a link to the post in the above thread. I had just gotten my hot wrench re filled and planned to use it. I read the thread first, and I tried it. About 25 hammer peens and a 2 foot cheater on the spanner and it turned. Took less than 5 minutes to remove the gland nut. Damm, Tennesseans are smart! At least some of them are. I have no idea how much time and trouble I was saved on that step of the tilt cylinder rebuilding process. I understand that there is another tight nut to remove from the rod after I remove the cylinder can. The plan is to leave the end of the rod attached to the blade and loosen the nut with a large adjustable pipe wrench and an 8 foot cheater pipe. Does this sound like the right method to proceed with, or is there a better method for that process too? Will I need to heat the nut first? Thanks!!!!!
A 1" drive socket and breaker bar would be better than a pipe wrench. If there is any sign of locktite you should heat it a little to soften the loctite, not even enough to smoke the oil though, definitely no color, something like 300 F. You can peen the nut he same as the cylinder, hold a big hammer behind the opposite flat and hit each flat with a ball peen several times. Make sure you don't bend or ding up the rod when you get the cheater on.