How to Identify Type of Cylinder

Tie-Rod Style Cylinder

If your cylinder is held together with four large bolts, you are lucky because this is the most common tie-rod style cylinder. The cylinder will have a clevis mount on the barrel end of the cylinder. The rod end mount is usually threaded to accept a clevis or possibly some other style of the end. There are not as many options in this style of cylinder.

Welded-Clevis Style Cylinder

Welded-Cross Tube Style or Welded Loader Cylinder

If your cylinder has a welded body and a short piece of pipe on each end, it is a welded-cross-tube style cylinder or a welded loader cylinder. The cylinder will have different widths on each end. You will want to pay close attention to mounting widths and pinhole sizes to ensure compatibility.

Pin-Eye Style Cylinder

If your cylinder has a hole drilled through the rod end of the cylinder, this is what is called a pin-eye style cylinder. These types of hydraulic cylinders are commonly available with either a clevis mount or a cross-tube on the barrel end. You will want to pay close attention to mounting widths and pinhole sizes to ensure compatibility.

Welded-Tang Cylinder

If your cylinder has a welded body and has a short piece of pipe on one end and the other has a hole through the main body of the cylinder for mounting, the welded-tang cylinder may be an option. The cylinder will have different widths on each end. You will want to pay close attention to mounting widths and pinhole sizes to ensure compatibility.

Welded-Swivel Eye Cylinder

If your cylinder has a welded body and a swivel ball mount on each end, it is a welded-swivel eye cylinder. Swivel-eye hydraulic cylinders are utilized in applications where the pinning of the cylinder needs flexibility or does not have a straight alignment.

If your cylinder is mounted on lugs coming out of the side of the cylinder, this is what they would call a trunnion-style cylinder. Trunnion mount cylinders are almost entirely exclusive to the manufacturer. You will need to get a replacement from the original manufacturer or contact a machine shop to recreate the mounts on a more common cylinder.

Once you have determined how to identify the type of hydraulic cylinder you are looking for, you will need to determine the bore size, the mounting pin-to-pin length (both collapsed and extended), the rod diameter, and pinhole sizes. Drawings are usually available for individual hydraulic cylinder identification to ensure a proper fit. It might be necessary to have a local shop alter your frame to accept the cylinder or alter the cylinder to fit your machine.

WARNING! Altering the cylinder in any way will void any factory warranty.