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Shop Engine Lift Cylinder

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@Susquatch

I agree with @RobinHood I would say rebuilding with better seals would be best bang for buck. As there really isn't any seals in bottle jacks short or long. Depending on which seal failed you could machine better grove and fit some real hydraulic seals as the bottle jack seals are more or less o rings. And if I remember correctly when I made a injector tester out of one there was only the 3 seals in the piston part. Didn't take the plunger apart but imagine there is some cheap seals in it too.

I would also re polish the rod if needed as they don't come chromed and rust easy if you store them extended.

And from this picture on google I think confirms what I remember I think.

Also while you in there check they didn't leave any burs or any other flaws that could be messing up the seals as the construction of these things are janky at best and it's amazing they generate the psi they do without failing.

bottle-jack-parts.jpg
 
I have several John Deere cylinders available....cheap....only a little discoloration.....hoses not included. :D

I might be interested regardless, but the lift cylinder is a purpose design and I don't want to get into designing and building a whole new system.

For right now, Deere cylinders are gunna do the job - albeit still attached to the tractor!
 
Nothing to lose by taking it apart anyway. If all else fails, there is some nice stock in one of those cylinders.
Those hyd rams from derelict construction or farm equipment will yield some very nice shafting that machines far nicer than mild steel and usually can be had for pennies on the dollar compared to the steel houses.
The outside tubing is pretty usable also, thinner walled but it is weldless DOM so no inside seam bead to contend with and it can be a lot of fun...I know of a small club in AB that makes replica Mortars out of ram piping that they shoot bolted together stands of 5 hockey pucks 3-4 hundred feet in the air and try to hit targets 75 yrds distant....warmer than curling and not as far to walk as golfing...great fun.
 
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