An afterthought about this repair occurs to me: If the only reason for re-sealing the cylinder is because it’s leaking from the end... then there is little reason to replace that difficult seal on the piston at all.
Just replace the O-rings on/in the piston and on the end-piece and get-on-down-the-road. Any internal leakage at that piston will likely be resolved by the o-rings alone...and any other will be insignificant and inconsequential anyway.
There is a procedure you can try while the cylinders are on the tractor to evaluate how much repair might be needed.
This, if it my attempt to add an image works:
yeah my thought was the same for years, if the piston seal ain't broke don't replace it
you have to buy it as part of the kit
you are taking the cylinder apart to replace the gland seal and dust seal which means the piston has to come off.
the piston has to come off, you have the seal, it's real easy to replace. There is no sense NOT to unless you're plum lazy. if you don't and later on something is up with the loader and it's not lifting properly, you'll be questioning yourself, why was I stupid that day?
That video showed that it was difficult to get the center seal on the piston into place. They ended up buying a $140 tool to get that on.
So my question, is there a cheaper tool out there or a "trick" to make getting that seal in place easier? I didn't damage mine but I was afraid I was going too.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
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For future reference, for about $10 I made a spreader cone out of (2) 3/4 x 1-1/4 pvc busings glued inside a plastic coupler to create a thick, solid plastic cylinder. I glued (2) 3/4 x 1/2 bushings in the larger bushings to center a piece of 1/2 pipe in the very middle to align the tool in the piston center hole. (you have to turn down the bottom of the 1/2 pipe a bit to fit it into the piston center hole.) I milled the cylinder into a cone with a bottom diameter matching the piston using my drill press and a wood chisel for a lathe. Used a plastic pill bottle for a pusher. Slit the bottle lengthwise about 1/2 it's length to create about 8 flexible "fingers". Put an o-ring at the bottom of the fingers to keep them tight against the spreader. Heat seal to about 140 in a pan of water. Lube the spreader and push the seal straight down with the pill bottle. It goes on EFFORTLESSLY! Re-compress the seal with a screw track hose clamp with a plastic protector over the seal and stick it in the freezer for a half hour so it takes a set. Cost about $10 and 2 hours of my time.
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