One of the lift cylinders hard lines on a D4D dozer is pinched. Is it a fools ploy to cut out the flat section and heliarc it back together? Could go a step further and weld a slip sleeve over the repair to help with support. The line in question is on the front of the RH cylinder attaching with four bolts at the lift cylinder bottom and running to the top without support where a rubber line joins it, also with a four bolt flange. I am guessing the reason the blade comes up cocked is from the restriction at the pinch.
For best flow if you can, just find a suitable tube that will just slip over the ends where you cut the section out, deburr everything well and TIG it back together. Being able to weld a half inch or more back from the cut ends will make it much easier to avoid oil contamination which seems to be my biggest headache when welding anything hydraulic.
Yup, like you said. Will measure it up and source a "sleeve". Thanks!
My old Allis has two hard lines to the 4/1 bucket, the hydraulic shop by me made two five foot replacements for less than I could waste too much time on patch fixes that won't hold. Check with anyone that does major hydraulic installs near to you, the price is cheap not to have later issues.
If the line is right up against the cylinder body youll have an awful tough time getting a tig cup around the back. Mig is more likely to reach. Any oil will fill either weld with the same amount of porosity
The old CATs all the hard lines unbolt at flanges, makes it a relative joy to repair. Newer machines with welded on tubes, yeah fuhgedaboudit.
Regarding a repair being cost effective... it'll be free, just time. I was curious if it was a smart thing to do or just making trouble for later.
go for it, whats the worse that can happen, it leaks a little and you fix or replace at that point, after welding flush out the welded line of any contaminants that could get into the system before hooking the fixed line up..tig welding would be the cleanest and give you the most control while welding, just make sure it is clean as clean can be , before welding..
Make sure that the sleeve is rated for the pressure.
We used to weld cracked hard lines on excavators all the time. A lot of times they'd crack or blow out where the flange was welded on. We'd just vee out the crack with a grinder, clean off the oil and weld it up with a mig. No big deal. This was at a dealership too.
My hydraulic hard lines generally fail pretty close to where the tree limb hits bending or smashing it . Sorry about that ! LOL . We mostly glue them back with 6011 rods . http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lincoln-...-Fleetweld-Stick-Electrode-ED030562/100341078 Had good luck Brazing them back as well with the torch .
I'm thinking that is a heavier than normal wall thickness to survive without support. Try rounding up a new one. Part # 4K6611 https://www.machinerytrader.com/list/partssearch.aspx?partnum=4K6611&pst=starts
If you are brazing them wrap a coat hanger around the the damaged area. Make the space betweem the wire equal to the width of the wire. The wire increases the strength of the repair as does the the extra brass. Just considered a feild fix but a lot of guys can do that do not have a welder handy.
Thanks for the repair cheat, I had never considered using wire to add strength.
I've done that with copper wire for soldering, but never would have thought of it for brazing.
DMiller you are welcome but I did not thank of it either. It was a old timer lesson 35 years ago. I did one of those today, the first in many years, and really struggled with it. Accomplished it this way. Coated the very thin section of tube with brass. Tacked the coat hanger on one end. Then wrapped it around the tube and 3/16-1/4" is needed between the wraps. Vise grip it to the tube and tack that end. Ran brass back and forth with the length of the tube. Made a sold repair with the tube and wire without burning the wire in half. Holding 2700 PSI.