Shortening Hydraulic Cylinder

Yooper · Jan 11, 2017

I thought I'd start a separate thread for modifying the hydraulic cylinder for my wood grapple build. I hope it will help somebody in the future who may want to take on such a thing. Also, this is one of those cylinders where the end cap is held in place by one of those rings that you have to 'roll out'. Helpful to see how it works.

The cylinder I have is a 1.5" x 12" stroke, which I need to reduce down to a 7.5" stroke. The pictures are of starting to disassemble the cylinder. One thing I want to note is that I had to bend the retainer clip with a small screwdriver to get it to start out of the groove.

Yooper · Jan 11, 2017

Removing the ring and showing the hole that the end of the ring goes into the end cap. Cylinder rod removed.

Yooper · Jan 11, 2017

Carefully measuring the cylinder to determine where to cut it. This is important because this ultimately determines the stroke. Cut it and then faced it in the lathe along with adding a chamfer for welding.

Yooper · Jan 11, 2017

Machined a new bottom cap and chamfered this also for welding. Drilled a new hole in the cylinder where I'm going to locate the ORB that I butchered off of the original end. I also took the time to wire wheel off the old paint. Tacked up the end cap and then tig welded it on. I prefer tig welding when welding something that has the potential to leak. After the end was welded, I located and welded the ORB fitting.

Lil Foot · Jan 11, 2017

Beautiful work, and I'd still like to know what planet you're from- no earthmen weld like that.

D2Cat · Jan 11, 2017

Nice work.

Coach ought to put this thread in his storage bin so folks can find it easily. Just a week or so ago someone was having a very difficult time understanding how that rolled key stock came out of there. Your pictures show it clearly.

North Idaho Wolfman · Jan 11, 2017

Seriously Yooper, I'll go with Lil Foot on this one, you got to be some alien species, born on a metal planet, with welding rod in your blood!

You work for NASA in your spare time?

skeets · Jan 12, 2017

I was just wondering why you just didnt change the end where it connects on the boom, or am I missing something big time here

rkidd · Jan 12, 2017

Hey Yooper. Those welds look just like mine when I get done with my Lincoln 140 amp mig welder!! Not!!!!!!!!

bxray · Jan 12, 2017

Looks like tig?
And you have done a couple of miles of it?

Ray

Yooper · Jan 12, 2017

North Idaho Wolfman said:
Seriously Yooper, I'll go with Lil Foot on this one, you got to be some alien species, born on a metal planet, with welding rod in your blood!

You work for NASA in your spare time?

You got a LOL out of me with that one, Wolfman!

Speaking of NASA, I spoke with a guy who worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in CA, and he remembers them bringing in a welder to tig weld a titanium fuel tank out of .012" sheet. That's the thickness of about 5 sheets of newspaper! He said the welder did a beautiful job, but quit after he finished the tank. The concentration needed to do that got to him.

Lil Foot · Jan 12, 2017

I worked with two NASA certified welders during my career, and saw one of them, on two separate occasions, win a $100 bet by running a 1/2" long Tig bead down the side of an aluminum pop can without burning through. Uncanny.

D2Cat · Jan 12, 2017

Lil Foot said:
I worked with two NASA certified welders during my career, and saw one of them, on two separate occasions, win a $100 bet by running a 1/2" long Tig bead down the side of an aluminum pop can without burning through. Uncanny.

Is that a play on words?

North Idaho Wolfman · Jan 12, 2017

Lil Foot said:
I worked with two NASA certified welders during my career, and saw one of them, on two separate occasions, win a $100 bet by running a 1/2" long Tig bead down the side of an aluminum pop can without burning through. Uncanny.

I CAN't believe it!

Yooper · Jan 12, 2017

Finished up the cylinder and then shortened the rod and threaded the end.

Yooper · Jan 12, 2017

Reassembling the cylinder. I can see where over time, this style of cylinder could present a challenge to take apart. The malleable retainer ring, which is uncoated steel, resting in an aluminum groove, with a slot that would permit water in, is a recipe for the 'white powder of death'! So before assembly, I 'painted' the slot in the cap plus the retainer ring with anti seize. Then I lined up the hole in the cap with the slot in the cylinder and 'rolled' it back in. The anti seize provided a nice lubricant for the retainer. When it was rolled all the way in, I seated the end with light taps with a hammer. Cylinder is now complete. Back to the grapple build.

Yooper · Jan 12, 2017

skeets said:
I was just wondering why you just didnt change the end where it connects on the boom, or am I missing something big time here

The closed length of the cylinder would be too long to fit in the grapple. I'm assuming your asking why I didn't just limit the stroke of the cylinder?

Yooper · Jan 12, 2017

bxray said:
Looks like tig?
And you have done a couple of miles of it?

Ray

Yes it is tig. I'm an almost retired welder/fabricator. Been doing this stuff for a living for over thirty years. Mostly steel and stainless, plus a little aluminum here and there.

Yooper · Jan 12, 2017

Lil Foot said:
I worked with two NASA certified welders during my career, and saw one of them, on two separate occasions, win a $100 bet by running a 1/2" long Tig bead down the side of an aluminum pop can without burning through. Uncanny.

My neighbor could probably do that. He humbles me with his ability. Then when I think he is 'The Man', he invites a coworker over to his shop to help him with some stainless tube. I wish I had some pictures of his work, because we both believe he is 'The Man'. I don't know where it ends, but my advice to any young welders out there is to stay humble. No matter how good you think you are, there is always somebody better!

RCW · Jan 12, 2017

Lil Foot said:
Tig bead down the side of an aluminum pop can without burning through. Uncanny.

D2Cat said:
Is that a play on words?

North Idaho Wolfman said:
I CAN't believe it!

Hush....I'm trying to learn something!!

Holy crap, never said that in my school days......

Shortening Hydraulic Cylinder

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