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Is my cherry picker cylinder shot?

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MushCreek

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I have a typical imported engine hoist that uses a long 3 ton hydraulic cylinder. It won't hold up a load any more. I filled it (it was down a lot), and tried the bleeding procedure several times, but it just creeps back down when you try to pick up anything heavy. I assume it's shot? A new one is about $50, so not really worth trying to repair.
 
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dmdc411

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There's a chance, just disassemble and clean the valve itself may cure your problem. Depends if the seal is cut, damaged, or just dirty. It could be a rubber seal, or metal seat. Had a floor jack from Fleet Farm that wouldn't stay up. Replaced what seals I could. Worked great. For a few years! Put it to the curb! Gone. The cheap **** only last so long and isn't usually fixable, or worth it. Sorry!

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 
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laser3kw

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has it always been down on fluid or was there evidence of leaking for some time.
If the replacement is cheap, swap it out. Maybe dissected the old one and repair it for future project.
 
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BukitCase

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"I only use the thing a few times a year, though"

Probably a good thing; I've never seen a 3 ton version of the air/hydraulic jacks, only the 8 ton - I wouldn't bet on the pin sizes/mounts are the same size.

I googled 3 ton long ram air/hydraulic jack, and only 8 ton versions come up. Lots of options for a direct replacement tho, be aware if you go that route that there are different mounting types... Steve
 
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Lucid Moments

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BukitCase said:
"I only use the thing a few times a year, though"

Probably a good thing; I've never seen a 3 ton version of the air/hydraulic jacks, only the 8 ton - I wouldn't bet on the pin sizes/mounts are the same size.

I googled 3 ton long ram air/hydraulic jack, and only 8 ton versions come up. Lots of options for a direct replacement tho, be aware if you go that route that there are different mounting types... Steve
Click to expand...

You may be right about the pin sizes, but that is a different issue from the cylinder weight rating. Keep in mind that there is a long arm going past where the cylinder attaches. So a 2 ton or 3 ton hoist needs a hydraulic cylinder that is rated for more than 2 or 3 tons.
 
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MushCreek

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No, my jack itself says '3 ton' on it. In fact, an air powered 8 ton might be a bad idea, as I wouldn't have any feel for when I was about to mangle my hoist under a too-heavy load.
 
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BukitCase

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Lucid, I'm aware - have an older 2 ton hoist and more recent 2 ton HF hoist - BOTH have jacks labeled as 8 ton. Understand geometry, loads, etc, and that you can't lift 2 tons with a 2 ton jack if the arm it's pushing is 6 ft long with the push point 2' from the pivot point.

Mush, I agree; that's why I didn't suggest just sticking an 8 ton rated jack in yours - especially if it's a HF version - with a lot of their stuff, if something's rated 2 ton you better NOT expect to lift 4001.5 pounds with it (only HALF joking)... Steve
 
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BukitCase

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Glad to help; down here, PA is considered the Canadian version of HF; from that it was just a tiny bit of "google-fu" :beer: ... Steve
 
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laser3kw

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MushCreek said:
That's a good deal. Can those jacks be used without air as well? I often find myself dragging my hoist to remote locations to pick up stuff.
Click to expand...

It looks like they can. The picture shows the handle lever pump and release valve in the normal place. The manual link gives instructions for air and manual operation.
 
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BukitCase

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I'm fairly sure that type ALL work air OR manual; in my shop areas I have 3 of the HF 20 ton, 2 of the 8 ton long stroke and 2 of the 8 ton long stroke from Northern (BTW, the Northern long rams have just OVER 18" travel, the HF ones are about 1/4" SHORT of 18");

ALL of them work with or without air. Makes it nice when you need to "sneak up on" a push, but do NOT wanna invite carpal tunnel from the 3,000 strokes to get "in the neighborhood" :mad:

Near as I can tell, the air somehow "works the handle" without it moving, sounds like it's a similar mechanical setup to an old locomotive steam engine. I say this because I've noticed that under air power, the load on the cherry pickers BOUNCES with each puff - same as if you could pump the handle quick enough... Steve
 
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