I have a 35 ton Dirty Hand Tools hydro and just noticed that the piston seal is leaking where the shaft runs in and out. It may have been doing it for a long time but I never noticed it as that area just underneath the end of the cylinder always gets covered with sawdust and debris and probably gets soaked up (I mostly use my machine the correct way; horizontal). The tank is not low and has never been low since bought. I suspect it may leak about a tablespoon of fluid in a 1/2 to 2/3 cord session but hard to tell. I have purchased a seal kit but can't decide whether to install it now or just keep an eye on it for a while. Do these pistons normally leak a bit? The machine has seen about 6 tough years on large, fibrous butt rounds and knotty sections of Doug Fir .
The cylinder shouldn't leak any. And leaks only get worse with time. I haven't found one yet that fixed itself. You're lucky it's just a seap now. When you have time, fix it and be done with it. I spent 40 years in the hydraulic industry and leaks are a pet peave of mine. My name is Mike, and I'm a hoarder.
I have a DHT 25 ton splitter that I bought in 2017. If I had to guess I have split approximately 80 cord with it. I had the exact same leak that you have. I ignored it until I had to put an oil catch pan under it this year. I did notice the oil level dropping on the dipstick. This year my truck broke down and I had other stuff going on that took most of my free time. I had intended to replace the seals myself but I had more money than time. I brought it to a hydraulic repair shop and it was quite expensive $250. They honed the cylinder and replaced the seals. It is so much nicer not making an oily mess every time I park it. It would warm up then not leak so bad but when it cooled down it would leak all over. The owner of the shop says that the seals that dirty hands tools were using are junk. He has replaced seals on some that are almost brand new, stored inside/babied. When dirty hands tools was still in business they would send a new cylinder if a customer called and complained it was leaking. Unfortunately they went under due to supply chain issues during Covid and that’s no longer an option. I’d say make a plan and do it. It’s easier to choose the time to fix it than for the machine to make that call for you.
I been eyeballing the seal on my now 9 year old unit. No seepage or leaking but it looks pretty dry to me...the rubber.
my tractor supply husky brand is almost 25 years old , no leaks on my cylinder . yours doesn't sound too bad YET- Fix it in the off season . or sooner if you find yourself adding oil.
I just did a 25T DHT cylinder last year...it was leaking out the shaft seal, like they always do. (cheap seal quality) Just FYI, you can replace everything but the piston seals without even taking the cylinder off the machine, or removing the hoses...barely even lose any oil! If you are at all inclined to do a diy repairs (it really is pretty simple, and not much for tools needed either) just say the word and I'll do a writeup on how to do it. The new seals cost me $30 at a Parker hydraulics store...I thought about just ordering a kit online, but wanted to know I was getting better quality parts!
Thanks for the offer brenndatomu . There are several good You-tube clips on replacing the shaft seal "in the field" so to speak with minimal loss. This is the route I believe I will take. No loss of push that I have noticed just a slight leak to the outside at the shaft. I got my seals at a Hydraulic House online and the cost was @ the same as yours plus a little for shipping. There are several hydraulic repair shops in the area what with so much logging in the NW. That is always a last resort.
Hey Mike, I will definitely get it repaired. Certainly don't want to have you peavedout there. I have some splitting to do and when that is done, I will get after it! Thanks for the reply!
That's good. You all don't want to see me peaved. It isn't pretty. My name is Mike, and I'm a hoarder.
Hey Ohio , I had heard that DHT treated their warranty customers very well. Oh well, I got a lot of use out of it in 6 years. They want a minimum of $400 to do a cylinder job in Tacoma. Cheaper to buy a new one! I will try to fix it myself first.
That’s crazy money! I had so much fun working on my truck I was done trying to figure stuff out. For what I paid they were quick and I was happy to have it off my list. They said if anything leaks to bring it back and they’ll fix it on them. For 400 I would be doing it myself. Best of luck Russ!
I have replaced the seal in my cylinder twice . I bought the last repair kit from hereHydraulic Cylinder Seal Kit. I have an old Husky brand from Tractor supply made by Speeco 22ton . Mine was leaking enough fluid to be aggravating . I also replaced the control valve with this valve ( mine was broken I believe its a direct replacement )energy-log-splitter-valve-model-0c000908
Oh yeah? I looked around a little bit before I did mine, just to see what the DHT cylinder looked like exactly, there was one video that wasn't too bad, but it was an old school cylinder off, on the bench, full rebuild. I decided to just go for it once I seen what things looked like, and it went super easy, and pretty quickly. Like I said before, I left the cylinder pinned to the beam, just pulled the ram out of the wedge and lifted the cylinder up, to about a 45* angle before popping the cap out (using the splitters hydraulic pressure to very slowly/carefully push the gland out...after removing the clip, of course) I bet I lost maybe a cup of oil in total.
. This link looks like exactly what you did! Seems a great way to do it just replacing the seals in the hockey puck. If you had a chain fall or overhead hoist it would be easy to pull the entire piston for seal replacement with minimal oil loss. Just need a way to prop the cylinder vertical. Good on yah for figuring it all out. I would have had oil everywhere!
I had to do my dirty hands 35 ton earlier this fall. Took it all apart and took the seals to a local (65miles) hydraulic shop for them to match up. $80 later and the one seal that was the real culprit was the one that they got wrong and it was like $35-$40 . Ordered a cheap kit from Amazon and all seems to be well. It was weeping for maybe 2 years, but finally got to where I pretty much needed a pan under it, running or not.
Yes, that was exactly how I did it...other than the dirt pile and chickens in the background, that could have been my video!! The machine I did had no issues with power, or internal bypassing of the piston seals, otherwise I would have pulled the ram and resealed that too. The only thing he failed to mention, is checking the ram for any burrs, or imperfections on the sealing surface...that would take out new seals instantly. If you have a burr, a fine single cut flat file will take it down smooth. The only other thing I noticed was he failed to mention about not hitting the ram with the side of the hammer when pounding on the wood stick...even just a glancing blow from the side of the hammer is enough to make a ding in the ram...surprising how easy it is to do!
jmb6420 I replaced the seals. No Leaks now. I know you wanted to hear that! brenndatomu , Ohio , It all went down like the video except I had left the lever in auto return when starting the motor to shove the puck up tight to the retainer ring. Oil flooded out for the second the engine was on. Fortunately I had a pan under the cylinder so it was not a disaster. When I corrected that and started again and pulled the lever to seat the puck there was a bit of oil in front of it when it snapped tight and I got a face full of spray. Not a lot but enough to be glad I was wearing glasses. Runs great, no leaks, back to splitting!
A job well done. I can enjoy Christmas now. Merry Christmas to all my hoarder friends. My name is Mike, and I'm a hoarder.
