Bare-co Hydraulic Top Link

[FLICK]

(from April 2007)
Since I purchased the DF I've been looking for a ideal cylinder to make a hydraulic top link, the only suitable cylinders I've found have been too expensive, by time I buy or make swivel ends it would end up costing about the same as an off the shelf hydraulic top link... so I bit the bullet and ordered one from Bare-Co ... (which are the only hyd top links I've been able to find in Australia) (I looked into ordering one from Surplus Center but the shipping to Australia was going to cost hundreds, lol)

www.bare-co.com/files/hydraul2001/hy22.htm
www.bareco.com.au/files/hydraul2001/hy22.htm

I went for the:
B8107
Cat 1 (3/4" balls)
2" bore
20.5" to 28" (520 to 710mm)
9/16 UNO ports.....

@2300psi It should have a push force of 7222lbs, and a pull force of 5416lbs .....

I'm not going to bother adding a DPOCV (anti-creep) valve ATM, but I will later if I have any creep problems

I'll be making some 3/8" hoses with re-usable fittings..... I'm going with 3/8" hose because that's what I have....It cost me a fortune to have the hoses made locally for my log splitter so after that I purchased a 80' roll of 3/8" two wire braid hose from eBay, and a bunch of BSP fittings (+ I already have a stack of 3/8" JIC fittings)

I'll be running it off 1 of my existing rear remote valves...

Matthew.

[FLICK]

The welding is pretty rough in places, and the ball on the rod end has been welded on off-center, but it looks like it'll do the job..

[FLICK]

The hose: (3/8" 2-braid non-skive)(It cost $80 for 25m (82') on eBay)

The quality seems ok

9/16" UNO (ORB?) to 9/16" JIC fitting to go into the toplink,

I'm running low on Loctite 542 Hydraulic Thread Sealant... but a friend gave me a bottle of Loctite 569 Hydraulic Sealant... I'm not sure what the difference between them is.... I had a read of the Loctite website, but that didn't tell me much (both look like the same stuff)

I had the choice of going for 1/2" BSP or 9/16" JIC for the QC end of the hoses, I ended up settling on the 1/2" BSP because BSP seems to be the most common here.... (BSP threads are almost identical to NPT, but they have slightly different thread angles)


Rob said they used garden hose to work out the length of the hoses he needs to make, I copied that idea and used some 1/2" poly pipe.

[FLICK]

I didn't take any photos of assembling the hoses because my hands were oily

It was all pretty easy, The only hiccup I had was spending 10mins trying to screw the ferrule onto the hose clockwise when they screw on counter-clockwise... lol, I'm a bit disapointed I didn't realize my mistake untill I looked up some instructions on the Ryco website: PDF Instructions

Brief instructions:
-Oil hose
-Screw ferrule on counter-clockwise untill it bottoms out, then back it off 1/2 a turn.
-Oil insert, and inside of hose, and screw the insert clockwise all the way in, without letting the hose turn.
(I found the more oil the better )

A completed hose:


All installed:

(I should have made the longer hose an inch or 2 shorter, but it'll be right as it is )

Fully retracted:


Fully extended:

[FLICK]

A 40 second video

I wont have to add a flow restrictor, it's easy to feather on these remote valves

Matthew.

[bobrooks]

All I can say is: AWESOME! Great work!

[grohgreg]

Nice work. If it's any consolation, I was slightly off in estimating one of my hose lengths too. I found a 90 degree fitting helped take up the excess hose length better than a 45. And the welds on mine weren't impressive either. One snapped clean off at the implement end while lifting a round bale last fall.

The HTL on my KM454 has 3" cylinder with a 1" rod and Cat 2 swivel ball fittings. It extends from 21" to 29", but I don't think I've ever been in a situation where I had to extend it the full 8 inches. The fact that yours looks to be fully extended to lower a flail mower into cutting position surprised me.

It is a flail mower, right? Unless there's something about that mower I don't understand, why does the toplink cylinder look so comparatively short? Do you have something extending the lower lift arms? I'd really and truly be afraid of damaging the cylinder if it always has to be extended that far to put an implement into operating position.

//greg//

[FLICK]

Thanks Bob & Greg

Greg:
It is a flail mower, right?
yes, it's a 5' Hanmey flail mower. (it's a piece of shit with numerous faults , I'll go into that another day)

Unless there's something about that mower I don't understand, why does the toplink cylinder look so comparatively short?
The mount on the flail mower was installed around the wrong way at the factory, I haven't bothered turning it around yet.

The toplink isn't extended that far with other implements


Matthew

[grohgreg]

OK, makes sense now. I hope you enjoy the convenience a HTL provides as much as I do. I believe it's the best aftermarket money I've spent on that tractor. The EasyChange lower lift arm hooks are great, but still 2nd best to the HTL

//greg//