Hydraulic cylinder rod

[140mower]

Dad's old garden tractor loader had a pretty serious oil leak on the one bucket cylinder, the old rod was badly pitted and no new seal was going to stop the flow, so I made a new one. Should be going to visit tomorrow and try putting it back together.
I wanted to machine it in a collet, and since it didn't fit in the 10" South Bend, I chucked the chuck up in the 4 jaw on the 13" and had at it.

I think it turned out ok.....

 

[DPittman]

Looks good. Did you use anything special for the rod?

 

[140mower]

Looks good. Did you use anything special for the rod?

I purchased a length of chrome rod for the project. ( Enough to make a couple mistakes ). Fortunately, I still have the leftover piece in the future project inventory. I was a little worried about cutting the chrome off, but it peeled off nicely with carbide.

 

[6.5 Fan]

Looks good, carbide is your friend with chrome rod. HSS just doesn't work well.

 

[Susquatch]

Did you know you can buy pre-cut and polished rod?

I know it's fun to make your own, and perhaps even a source of pride to do it well like you did.

But I just go to my local farm hydraulics supplier and buy it in the length I need. I especially like the black nitride for its corrosion resistance.

 

[140mower]

Did you know you can buy pre-cut and polished rod?

I know it's fun to make your own, and perhaps even a source of pride to do it well like you did.

But I just go to my local farm hydraulics supplier and buy it in the length I need. I especially like the black nitride for its corrosion resistance.

That is basically what this was.... Prechromed and I ordered the length I wanted.... 2 1/2 times what I needed, that way I could bugger something up several times before I had to scrap the part. Then it was just a case of machining the features to match the old one.
Here, not much is local, so it's important to keep in good standing with the local machine shop and businesses with quality scrap piles. I usually like to bring odd bits of tooling and such that I have picked up that I have no need for but is more suited to them. That way, when I need something, they kinda owe me one.....

 

[JustaDB]

Holy smokes! I've never seen a cylinder rod pitted like that. Chrome stripped, yeah. Eaten steel? Never.

 

[Susquatch]

Holy smokes! I've never seen a cylinder rod pitted like that. Chrome stripped, yeah. Eaten steel? Never.

You should visit a few farm machinery yards. Not unusual at all. Sitting outside in the weather with no grease on the rod will do it over the course of 30 years.

 

[Susquatch]

That is basically what this was.... Prechromed and I ordered the length I wanted.... 2 1/2 times what I needed, that way I could bugger something up several times before I had to scrap the part. Then it was just a case of machining the features to match the old one.
Here, not much is local, so it's important to keep in good standing with the local machine shop and businesses with quality scrap piles. I usually like to bring odd bits of tooling and such that I have picked up that I have no need for but is more suited to them. That way, when I need something, they kinda owe me one.....

Ah, I misunderstood. I thought you cut the rod OD itself.

All good!

Ya, nurture your relationships.

 

[JustaDB]

You should visit a few farm machinery yards. Not unusual at all. Sitting outside in the weather with no grease on the rod will do it over the course of 30 years.

You mean like junk yards? I s'pose. Mebbe more so besides the dry prairies, too.

 

[Susquatch]

You mean like junk yards? I s'pose. Mebbe more so besides the dry prairies, too.

Not really, I meant machinery yards on farms. Many farms in the east have them. Some in the west too. But the Eastern humidity turns everything into heaps of rust.

 

[140mower]

This tractor lives about a mile from the ocean on the "wet" coast, so it has lived a less than charmed life and was by no means new when Dad got it.
Anything unused for any period of time on the coast is quickly consumed by vegetation and humidity. One is less likely to spray a little oil on an exposed cylinder when it's 3 feet inside the black berry bushes and stinging nettles.

 

[Chicken lights]

This tractor lives about a mile from the ocean on the "wet" coast, so it has lived a less than charmed life and was by no means new when Dad got it.
Anything unused for any period of time on the coast is quickly consumed by vegetation and humidity. One is less likely to spray a little oil on an exposed cylinder when it's 3 feet inside the black berry bushes and stinging nettles.

Y’all have stinging nettles out there? When I was younger we cut a bush that was filled with them, they sucked pretty fast

Hawthorn was another early favourite to contend with

 

[140mower]

Y’all have stinging nettles out there? When I was younger we cut a bush that was filled with them, they sucked pretty fast

Hawthorn was another early favourite to contend with

Yup, toss in some burdock, a little devils club, and a dash of poison ivy, mixed with the insatiable need to throw rocks into any wasps nest encountered (I still haven't outgrown this oddity) and one tends to keep the calimine and tweezers handy....