ford 4500 leaks and brake issues

[shopteacher 1]

I have just purchased an older ford 4500 backhoe to clear 23 acres on my property. I have operated hoes for several years but have never worked on one or owned one. I have two issues:

1. The swing cylinders have a hose on the back of each one that spray hydraulic fluid with the boom is swung in that direction. What are these hoses supposed to go to?

2. The tractor has very week brakes. What is involved in doing rear brakes?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Phil]

I used to have a 4500. As I remember the swing cylinders are single acting, with a small 'vent' at the rear. I think the cylinders just slide into a hole in the frame, but I believe the hoe must come off to reseal them. There is a valve mounted beside the valve body that the 2 swing cylinder hoses pass through, possibly a pilot check. Atco might see this thread and help you out with your problem.

Possibly the 4500 and the more common 550/555 have similar brakes. Phil

 

[daman]

I have just purchased an older ford 4500 backhoe to clear 23 acres on my property. I have operated hoes for several years but have never worked on one or owned one. I have two issues:

1. The swing cylinders have a hose on the back of each one that spray hydraulic fluid with the boom is swung in that direction. What are these hoses supposed to go to?

2. The tractor has very week brakes. What is involved in doing rear brakes?

Thanks for your help!

Nice purchase a 4500 is a nice strong hoe.

anyway that hose on the back is just a transfer hose for air from cyl to cyl when swung, like Phil mentioned there one way cyls they pull in not push out if you have oil in there the seals are bad and need to be repacked.

as far as brakes have you tryed to adjusting them? there internal wet breaks on the 4500 so you need a special ford spec'd oil.

 

[shopteacher 1]

Thanks for the info.

To remove and repack the swing cylinders, do you have to remove the hoe from the machine? I have repacked a cylinder on a log splitter with good results, are these much different?

Anyone have and directions on adjusting brakes?

Thanks

 

[Phil]

The 4500 I had used a chain to swing the hoe. Once 'unpinned' from the chain, the swing cylinder would slide right out of a hole, like a torpedo in a tube. Nothing held it in place but the chain, that connected the 2 cylinder rods together.

The special valve I mentioned earlier must have had checks in it because of residual pressure in the swing cylinder lines. Always put safety first with a project like this.

The hoe has to come off as I recall. There is a funky way of disconnecting the oil supply lines to the hoe so that the tractor can be driven away. I believe all the fittings/lines are there, they just have to be switched around properly. Phil

 

[daman]

Thanks for the info.

To remove and repack the swing cylinders, do you have to remove the hoe from the machine? I have repacked a cylinder on a log splitter with good results, are these much different?

Anyone have and directions on adjusting brakes?

Thanks

to remove the cyls you need to remove the main hose to each side cyl then manually move the hoe some back and forth that will pull the rams out some and loosen the chain then pull pin out that hold the chain to the end of the ram,then remove hoe and pull cyls out the back,not a bad job.

for the brakes try this site it's for older tractors good guy's there post your Q and you should get help OR try a search there first.

http://ytforums.ytmag.com/index.php

 

[oldhousehugger]

First, the hydraulic system, transmission and rearend take the same Hytran oil. Here is a link to a site with a comparable spec.

http://www.deere.com/en_US/parts/partsinfo/oils_and_lubricants/oil_hydraulic.html

One of the oils listed for Ford/New Holland is M2C41 which is what the service manual specs for the power steering / hydraulic system calls for. If you have the torque converter - power reversing transmission, it takes it as well as rear end.
If you search the web you can come up with a bunch of modern products which meet the specs of the older tractors.
The 4500 has wet brakes with the pull rods coming thru rubber seals behind the floor boards of the tractor. I found it a whole lot easier to service the seals and adjust the brakes with the floor boards removed.
The seals are available from Ford/New Holland and at least one aftermarket vendor as well but I can't offhand remember where I saw them. If you find that you cannot tighten the adjusters up enough to get a good pedal, chances are it will require pulling both axle housings as the wet brakes are inboard of the wheel bearings.
You don't want to go there if at all possible
Good luck
John