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LangdonStevenson 
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Location: Australia
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 Topic: Allis Chalmers DD grader hydraulic ram issues
Posted: 06 Jul 2023 at 7:13am |
Hi, I recently purchased a 1960’s era D grader (in NSW, Australia). It originally had the Allis petrol engine in it, but has had a little Cummins four cylinder diesel fitted later. I am loving running it.
It’s a pretty tired old machine, so my expectations are low, but there are a few things that I would like to fix up if I can. I’d appreciate any advice anyone can give.
Biggest issue: the hydraulic ram that lifts the left side of the blade wont hold. Raise it up and it just wants to slowly drop again. The ram is leaking oil a little, so I figure the first step is to fix the seal and see if that helps. Can anyone point me toward a resource on how to rebuild these rams? Is it something I can do myself, or should I just pull them off and send them to some one to do for me?
Did any of these graders have an hydraulic steering booster? The steering is a real bear (of course) - not helped by the front wheels being “floppy” left and right as I have a feeling the wheel tilt mechanism was removed once upon a time (the piping for its hydraulics is still there on the nose).
Anyway, thank you in advance for any assistance. It’s greatly appreciated.
Langdon
Edited by LangdonStevenson - 08 Oct 2023 at 1:13am
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Ray54
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Location: Paso Robles, Ca
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Posted: 06 Jul 2023 at 11:35am |
I would consider that a do it myself job. But how much of a do it myself kind of guy are you? It seems ever ram I get into other than tie rod type has a different trick. Also hard to get the new parts on hand before I get things apart. Also cheaper many times if you get the parts from a hydraulic shop anyway. So if you dive in and get stumped, come back with pictures. Someone will have seen it and know the trick to get it apart.
The most likely cause of the dropping is the packing on the inside piston. A simple way to test, feel the temperature of the cylinder with you hand after lifting up and letting it fall several times. The pressure of the bypassing oil will generate heat in just several cycles. If the cylinder is not heating, it is most likely the control valve.
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 07 Jul 2023 at 1:31am |
Hi Ray, thank you for the reply. That's a good trick to test whether it's the ram packing or the control valve. I'll give that a go on Monday and see what it tells me.
I'd definitely like to give it a go myself. To that end I guess the question is how do I go about identifying the ram to get the required parts for the rebuild?
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im4racin
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Posted: 07 Jul 2023 at 6:48am |
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There should be a tag riveted to the top of the cylinder
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 07 Jul 2023 at 7:17am |
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Ok, that's great thank you. I'll check that out.
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Ray54
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Posted: 07 Jul 2023 at 11:48am |
Generally, I just take them apart and go from there. I have JD tractor loader from the 80's I use to lift and move about everything here. So I really hait to be without it. So it was  I can order the parts a head of time. Had parts took it apart nothing fit. Called the dealer, no help. Took my worn piece to the local hydraulic/ bearing house. Had the parts on hand and 1/2 price of what JD wanted.
In your case where are you going to find a AC dealer, or someone to change AC part numbers to generic. So just be prepared to have it sitting until the parts show up.
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 07 Jul 2023 at 6:37pm |
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Thanks Ray. Yes, I'm expecting that it's going to be a challenge finding parts. If I pull the rams off then I'm definitely going to chain the blade up so I can still move it around.
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DonBC
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Posted: 10 Jul 2023 at 12:27pm |
Many parts such as hydraulic cylinders are made from standard parts by hydraulic parts manufactures and not by Allis Chalmers so any good hydraulics shop should be able to rebuild your cylinders. I had a D grader at one time and believe it must have been designed by someone that had never operated a grader. You need four arms to operate it. I modified mine so one hand controlled both sides of the blade operation and the other hand on the steering wheel. I created a heel and toe foot throttle for one foot and the other foot operated the clutch and brake. I also rigged up power steering that could steer the steering wheel with one finger. Now it was a great machine.
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Jack of all trades, master of none
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 15 Jul 2023 at 7:44pm |
Hi Don, yes I'd expect that a hydraulics shop will be able to do the rebuild, it's just a question of cost then.
You are not wrong about needing four arms for this grader! I'd be pretty happy with mine though if the blade didn't leak down and it was a bit easier to steer. I'm considering adding an hydraulic power steering booster to it. It will be a simple enough upgrade and make it a *much* more tractable machine.
You don't have any photos of how your D was set up do you?
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 15 Jul 2023 at 7:45pm |
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Sadly my hydraulic rams don't have an identifying info on them at all.
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 15 Jul 2023 at 7:46pm |
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Ray - I did as you suggested and the cylinder that is leaking down is definitely getting hotter than the one that isn't, so I think we have an answer!
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DonBC
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Posted: 16 Jul 2023 at 12:44pm |
Someone asked if I had photos of my many modifications to my D grader to make it more user friendly. Yes, I have many photos but I am no longer able to post pictures to this site  .
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Ray54
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Posted: 16 Jul 2023 at 6:24pm |
 DonBC wrote:
Someone asked if I had photos of my many modifications to my D grader to make it more user friendly. Yes, I have many photos but I am no longer able to post pictures to this site . |
I have not really learned much about picture posting. But have found there is only so much storage space for pictures on this site. Once you have used it up delete older pictures if you want new ones. Or place them elsewhere and put in a link. All takes me finding a helper.
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DonBC
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Posted: 17 Jul 2023 at 1:25pm |
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Yes I may have posted photos in the past but I am not sure if they are still on the site. I will delete them if I can find them.
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DonBC
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Posted: 20 Jul 2023 at 12:25pm |
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I made so many upgrades to my D grader that I missed one of the first ones. There was no step to get in the cab so you almost had to carry a small step ladder. I welded up a small step for each side and installed a hand grab on the door frame to make it easy to get on and off the machine. I wish that I could post the pictures of all the changes.
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 20 Jul 2023 at 7:07pm |
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That's a good addition Don. I tend to step on the ripper frame to get into my machine, but that only works on the right side! I might have to add a step.
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 06 Aug 2023 at 1:50am |
Update: I have pulled all three of the rams off the grader and due to time limitations I have sent them off to a local engineering company to refurbish.
When I pulled the ram off the ripper frame I found that the rod has some pretty bad scoring on it (no idea how that could even happen, but there you go!). So I'm thinking that I might just replace it entirely if the cost of refurbishment is too high.
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Coke-in-MN
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Posted: 07 Aug 2023 at 11:33pm |
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I have a Adams 411 grader (1936 / 38 year) with the IH UD14 gas / diesel engine and all mechanical lift , turn, tilt levers that are gear driven - now talk about a strong arm machine - it is one , all the gear boxes work good - but the circle box will jump and you need to really force it to stay in gear .
I bought it from a race track where they raced on 1/3 dirt banked track for years but the clutch went out so they just bought another machine
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Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something.
"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 30 Sep 2023 at 3:52pm |
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Well, I finally got notification that my hydraulic rams are ready for pick up. Hopefully I'll get them this week and be back to work. Will post an update and some photos. They've had a full rebuild with new rods, modified for modern seals too, so they should be good for a long time to come.
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 08 Oct 2023 at 1:08am |
I picked up my remanufactured hydraulic rams this week!
They have been fully rebuilt - new rods, pistons, glands, and seals. It cost $700 per ram, but given the amount of work involved and the expected life span of the rams now (not to mention the ease of servicing in the future) I think that was a more than fair price.
I'll be getting them back on the grader this week coming and hopefully getting into some work with it.
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LangdonStevenson
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Posted: 21 Oct 2023 at 6:58am |
So I got all of the rams back on the grader and hooked up.
I've been running the machine for a few days and it's been working well. Only issue is I haven't managed to get the hydraulics bled properly yet. There are bolts on top of each ram for bleeding the top side of the rams, but can anyone tell me the best way to bleed the bottoms?
Edited by LangdonStevenson - 21 Oct 2023 at 6:59am
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