Hydraulic cylinder on Henry's Backhoe

Buggyboy

Member
Good Morning to all,
I was working with the backhoe on my D14 Industrial, when I noticed the main up/down boom had started leaking down very slow. No external leaks, just bypassing around the piston, I'm guessing. The backhoe is a Henry's Model Mark IV "Mfg For Allis Chalmers" with SN of IA682. The cylinder is 4'-0" long and 4" OD. The rod is 1 7/8" OD (2"?) with 1 1/2" pins. I can't measure the overall length of the travel of the rod, but with the hoe extended on level ground there is 17" of rod showing on the cylinder.
I rebuilt this machine almost from scratch, new 149 engine, repaired the Power Steering, replaced all the hydraulic hoses on the loader and backhoe. The absolute hardest piece was disassembling and rebuilding the rotary swing cylinder,,,,whew,, THAT was a job!!
In my neck of the woods, there is not a shop within a couple hundred miles that can rebuild this cylinder and it being so old,,is prolly wore out internally. I don't really want to remove it til I have a replacement located and preferably on site,,,,??
Is anybody here familar with this particular backhoe cylinder that can suggest a replacement that don't cost an arm and a leg?
Many THANKS for any suggestions.
 

Take it apart and have a look, unless it's HORRIBLY scored up a repair with heavy-duty seals will likely last a LONG time.

You say you don't have a hydraulic shop locally, Baum Hydraulics in Omaha will have any seals needed, I've linked the catalog section below.

Also, they are knowledgeable to be able to help figure out what exact parts are needed.

https://www.baumhydraulics.com/images/Catalog/sec-g.pdf
 
I'm with wore out, repack the cylinder if
no major issues are found in the bore.
Baum is a fine place and if you know how
to identify and measure packings and seals
you can DYI online at their website. If
that doesn't work for you give them a
call, I've had them match seals by sending
them in.

I don't think modest leakdown on on a
backhoe boom cylinder is that much of a
problem if there are no external leaks,
lots of old backhoes do that.

Of course you could replace the cylinder
with a modern one from Surplus Center or
Bailey but a cylinder that size is fairly
expensive and you most likely would have
to deal with modifications to the ends and
adaptation of the hydraulic port
connections. Plus your Henry would be
less original.
 
I agree with the others, I would pull it down and repack it. I believe repacking it will take care of it for quite a while. Slowly drifting down is normally worn packings, If there is damage to the cylinder barrel the drift is often much quicker. To get all the complete measurements and detail the end connections properly to find a new cylinder, you will need to remove it anyway.
 

Well, Gents,,,The younger I get,,The more I remember Ha, ha, ha,,,I did remember after some coaching from my Son, I did have that cylinder repaired at a shop (No longer in Business) in the next town because of an external leak, and they told me somebody had already been in that cylinder and had a piston built that was a little shy of factory clearances. Guy said they did the best they could and they tested it and checked out OK. After installing it , the cylinder did not leak down but started after a few months, very slow leakdown. but now boom leaks down from highest position to ground level in about1 minute which kinda concerns me as a Safety factor.
I saw a WEN hydraulic cylinder advertised on The Marketplace, A Cross Tube 4 bore and 48 stroke cylinder from china with 2 year warranty for $150,,!! Sounds good and I like the 2 year warranty,,,,??
 
The price seems suspiciously low (1/2 Wen list and other sources), 1/4 some competitive brands, so if you can make it happen great. You should be able to make the cylinder work.
 
(quoted from post at 08:53:33 07/30/21) The price seems suspiciously low (1/2 Wen list and other sources), 1/4 some competitive brands, so if you can make it happen great. You should be able to make the cylinder work.

Yeah, Andy, that price really jumped out at me when I saw it, especially it being a Wen. After doing a lot of measurements on the cylinder while still in the backhoe,,,,,I extended the boom all the way out and on the ground, kinda getting ready for removal of the cylinder,,and I realized that the cylinder only extends to 18",,from a full UP to where the bucket is laying on the ground,,? Now, if I was gonna dig a really DEEP hole,,,,?
I sent them an Email asking for more tech details but with china being so far,,,it takes a tad longer for the email to get there and back,,,,,
 
(quoted from post at 09:22:17 07/31/21)
(quoted from post at 08:53:33 07/30/21) The price seems suspiciously low (1/2 Wen list and other sources), 1/4 some competitive brands, so if you can make it happen great. You should be able to make the cylinder work.

Yeah, Andy, that price really jumped out at me when I saw it, especially it being a Wen. After doing a lot of measurements on the cylinder while still in the backhoe,,,,,I extended the boom all the way out and on the ground, kinda getting ready for removal of the cylinder,,and I realized that the cylinder only extends to 18",,from a full UP to where the bucket is laying on the ground,,? Now, if I was gonna dig a really DEEP hole,,,,?
I sent them an Email asking for more tech details but with china being so far,,,it takes a tad longer for the email to get there and back,,,,,

As I said before; you need to pull it out to fully detail the info you need to properly replace it. Unless you dig a really deep hole (where access to measure it might be an issue) right now you can't get it to full stroke, which is a measurement you need. I would still try a repack on it, if I needed to run it while looking for a replacement.
 
I took another look at Wen crosstube
cylinders with 4 inch bore, didn't see any
with a retracted length of 4 foot so
proceed with caution.
 

OK,,Ya'll convinced me,,, I have to pull the cylinder! Gonna take a look-see. While I've got the backhoe off the D14, I want to look at replacing the switching Valve I installed to switch between the loader and back hoe. When I bought the tractor it had a really small 1/2 Push/Pull switching valve. All the new hoses I bought are 3/4. SO,, I bought and installed a 1 Push/Pull valve in it's place, with 1 Quick Disconnects for back hoe removal, BUT,,I shoulda done that mod different as the valve now is very hard to pull UP for back hoe work. Any suggestions on a modification I can do to install a lever to switch flow from front to back?
 
We had a Allis 5140? 4x4 4? Hp Japanese built. Loader and backhoe. I just came from the return line of the loader valves and went to the hoe valves. Then hooked hoe return line to the line left open from the loader.valves. then you could raise loader and push it forward then raise front wheels off ground. Just like a real backhoe.
 

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