Refurb Hydraulics, Machine Mart 1 tonne engine crane.

[David Sparkes]

I last used this crane a few years ago, and the hydraulics would not lift the arm fully, nor would it stay up completely.
I tried bleeding, and adding more fluid, but to no great effect.

I'm likely to need it again soon.
The local seal specialist has gone the way of all flesh, and I know no other.
Has anyone rebuilt one of these rams with any success, and if so can you suggest a supplier of parts?

I did ask MM, they are expecting supplies of the cylinder + pump at the end of Feb (2019) at £114 incl VAT. A new crane (slightly improved) is about £198.
The SGS equivalent is £174, or £200 for the 2 ton version.

I'm sure a full seal kit will be cheaper, at the risk of my hydraulic dismantle and remantle skills.
If it came to it I'd hope that I'd be able to get it professionally rebuilt for less than £114, but that would have to be someone within 40 miles of my North Derbyshire location so I can do the transport.

Any economic suggestions please?

Regards.

[muddy]

Take it in bits, you have nothing to lose. End caps and shaft nuts are often loctited (auto correct made that lactated 🤣) in place so warm with blowtorch or powerful heatgun to soften this.

 

if it is scrap I would look at sourcing a standard ram and buying a body jack set and using the pump to operate the ram.

 

Will.

[Ed Poore]

You can buy long travel rams off the bay of evil for about 40 squids so that might be a backup option.

[Daan]

I bought a seal kit at machine mart for this crane for not a lot. Haven't quite got round fitting it, but will need to at some stage.

 

Daan

[FridgeFreezer]

If you've a local hydraulics shop they should be able to sort anything you need - local to my old place was H P Hydraulics who refurb cylinders, sell seals or full replacements, etc., also places like Hyphose / Pirtek would likely have suitable seals.

[Cynic-al]

If the oil isn't coming out the ram I wouldn't expect it to be the seal on the piston, more likely the valve you shut off or the pump on the jack. I would take that out first and have a look. Might be an easy to get o-ring or ptfe seat rather than having to buy a full kit?

[Happyoldgit]

Find the local hydraulics place that the local farmers and industry use, chances are they will have seals etc that will get the job done at the right price.

[David Sparkes]

Now, I feel a bit of a fraud raising this enquiry.

I thought I had asked Machine Mart about seal kits, but it seems I hadn't, perhaps assuming they would have no such thing, so not even raising the topic.

Following your prompting I did ask the question, to find they did stock them at £22.48 inclusive of carriage and delivery.
No, they don't deliver to your local store, and parts do not qualify for any VAT free shopping deals.

Although I had a couple of leads in mind to find "the local hydraulics place that the local farmers and industry use", I decided any cost saving on £22 would not be worth the additional effort involved.
I ordered the parts, '3 to 4 working days delivery'.

Thank you for your advice, and prompting me to do the job properly the first time!!

Regards.

[Daan]

Cool, hope you get it done quicker than me...

[HoSS]

FWIW i bought a new MM 1T crane some years ago and it never stayed up, contacted them and they asked me to bring it bacj, but at that point i'd taken it abroad.

Tried bleeding it multiple times, still no good. I'd be interested if you do take it apart, i may do so myself

Where did you find the seal kit? is it on the website?

[David Sparkes]

I haven't yet tackled the job, so nothing to report so far.

Initially I rang the Sales tem, whose number is liberally plastered over the web site
As soon as it became clear I wanted 'Parts' or 'Service' I was given, without fuss or difficulty, the telephone number for 'Parts' - 0115 956 1805, which is in Nottingham, UK.

I have rung them several times, sometimes they answer quickly, sometimes it's a long wait. I have gained the impression there is only one or two people answering the phone. Considering how many items they sell I suspect they supply very few spare parts.
The information they insisted upon was the model number from the label on the unit (not the model number from what you think is the similar item in the current catalogue).

Additional information:
Spare parts will ONLY be delivered to your address, never to a local store for 'Click and Collect'.
Spare parts are NEVER included in ANY discount sales promotion scheme.

I have added a picture of almost all the parts.
The address label on the padded bag reserves its largest font for the endorsement
EXAMINE IMMEDIATELY
Check contents against delivery note enclosed
The delivery note itself only lists the number of the packet. To view the contents of packet you need to unstaple the plastic bag to access the parts list (the pictograms).
I did this carefully (opening the staples rather than just ripping the flimsy bag).
The pictograms aren't that clear, so I resorted to counting the items. There are 11 pictured, but I only found 10.
Double checked the bag, and the kitchen table, nothing to be seen.
Phoned them, no fuss, just 'send a picture of what you have' to my email address.
So I did, I also wrote:
"While I think the missing part is the circlip I haven’t taken the ram and pump apart yet, so I’m not 100% certain of that, or how critical it is to the repair.
If it is the circlip the existing one may be recoverable and reusable.".

The response was:
"It is indeed the circlip that is missing.  If you need any further information,  Please call me on (his direct line)".

An hour and ten minutes later I was sending the email:
"My apologies. I have just found the circlip on the tiled kitchen floor. It is made of translucent nylon like a couple of other items, so not easy to see.
It was only when I got down on hands and knees, looking for something else, that I spotted it. ".

So, beware of the translucent elements, they have the chameleon like quality of taking on the colour of the background!!

Regards.