in my 863F there seems to be barely enough room to even grasp the spool cap.
Did you have to remove many of the hoses to pull the spools out?
I'm guessing it's a good idea to drain the hydraulic fluid first?
draining the oil might be a good idea. the hyd tank is gravity feed to the pumps.
you may need to remove any hoses and tubelines that are in the way
also, how much torque did you apply to those allen head mounting screws?
it's a 1/4" bolt, (3/16" allen) and has thread sealant from the factory. i use a long 1/4" dr ratchet to break them loose, and a std length ratchet to snug them back up. (i'd guesstimate you'll be in the 12-15 ft/lb range)
here is a photo of my actuators and control valve
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does it look like my control valve is without a spool lock assembly like the one in your photos?
does that mean my spools may be shorter?
your valve does not have spool locks, so yes the spool will be a little shorter.
BTW it seems I have two different model actuators, one has rubber boots and the other has some kind of aluminum adapter/extension.
what's odd is that this top one with the adapter/extension which I'm assuming is a newer model has failed. while the older and more oil covered bottom lift actuator has continued to work.
do tilt actuators fail more frequently?
a LOT of times actuator failures are from oil getting INSIDE the actuator.
it's about 50/50 on actuator failures....
View attachment 130035