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I solved it, since I had to get work done. I put a chain around a tree for a fixed anchor (with some wood blocks to protect the bark). I hooked a comealong between the chain and the cylinder end. I set the bucket down on the ground so it couldn't move, a bit to the side away from the one I was pulling. With the engine running, (because the "combination valve" controls the cylinders, and it is activated hydraulically by the control lever) creep the bucket to the opposite side - it should be not moving, since the bucket is grounded. When we tried this with my wife operating the tractor and me on the comealong, it was not working well, but I figured out when I set it up so that I had the comealong and the contol lever in either hand that the cylinder will backpressure when the swing is fully bound up, but it will slack off when the lever is barely crept. Doing that, I was able to gradually pull the cylinder out until I had a good deal of slack. To suck the slack up when I was done, I made use of the backpressure effect, but that may not be needed. Opening the hose connections and letting some fluid bleed out while hauling on with a comealong would work, but on my hoe it did not seem like a good idea due to the filth in that area, and difficultly of cleaning. I was happy to get away without doing that. If one had to replace these chains, similar chain from an industrial supply house is much cheaper than factory parts, though you would have to be comfortable with fabricating the right ends to connect it, or reattaching the ends from the old chain if they were OK. I just replaced the broken pin on this one, which took an hour or so with a ball-peen hammer, an anvil, and a cut-off grade 8 bolt for a replacement pin.
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