Case 580 Swing broken

[Larry Olson]

Hey there, My Case 580 super M backhoe swing broke.

I rebuilt both swing cylinders about a year about because they were leaking slowly. Bought rings from "Brokentractor.com" I think. Definitely not from the dealer trying to save money.

Over the last year the swing developed a drift that got worse with time. Recently while returning the boom to center position I heard a very loud BANG and lost control of the swing, at least in one direction.

Are there any other components in the system that could go bad besides the swing cylinders and the valve control?

How does one tell if one or which one of the above might go bad.

Just seems weird that I just rebuilt the swing cylinders and they only lasted a year with very light use at home here, I mean like once every 2 or 3 weeks.

thanks for your help
Larry

 

[Billrog]

Sounds as though it's possible the piston came loose and eventually broke off the ram. Just guessing.

 

[Delmer]

Agree with Billrog, a piston coming loose is the simplest explanation and fits your story very well. Do you remember the torque spec for the piston nut/bolt? and how did you achieve that? that will probably answer the question...

To tell which it is. The cylinder with the loose piston won't retract, but it could extend, and will leak off the fluid from it's pair. So the swing direction that does work, you take apart the one that is extending, right? Probably take apart both if you're not sure they're torqued correctly.

 

[Larry Olson]

Thank you very much gentlemen. You were 100% correct. I just couldn't figure out for the life of me what was going on. I retapped the bolt and cylinder and used lock tight this time. Checked both sides. One down two to go. Thumb quit working. No electricity. Located a diagram. Really hard to trace wires when they are inside metal wrapping and split a couple of time.
Also my extenda hoe is leaking so after we get the thumb fixed I'll find the courage to open that big thing up.

Thanks again. Y'all are geniuses!