What do you guys think of this quote for replacing tilt cylinder seals ?

Milacron · May 22, 2019

Hyster 8K capacity cushion lift, replace all seals in both tilt cylinders... $960. Travel distance about 50 miles each way. Seals less than 65 bucks so mostly labor and travel time. I could do it myself (and will, if you tell me $960 is a rip off :eek:

) but rather not...

atomarc · May 22, 2019

If it were me, which it isn't, I would have it done by others. It's a oily messy job, well worth the money for others to contend with..in my estimation. I've done it before myself so I know what's involved, and there is more than meets the eye.

Stuart

DDoug · May 22, 2019

Didn't I post about the bobcat lift cylinders re-pack job I got screwed (royally) on ?

It was $500 for both.

Unless, the quote includes a bunch-O of rework (machining, chroming, honing, grinding, welding etc.) I would say your whiskers are telling you the truth, it's a major rip-off.

Ziggy2 · May 22, 2019

From a business view point, I would say that the quote is about right.

The shop will have 2-3hrs. travel time depending on roads and traffic.

Mileage cost will be around $150 with service truck.

Labor total time will be around 8hrs. by the time the tech gets back to the shop and assuming nothing goes wrong.

The shop will need to charge approx $90 for the seal kit with markup.

That puts the billable hourly rate at $90 for the 8hrs, travel included.

They are probably charging about $120 for the service techs hourly rate.

So, the quote sounds reasonable if I were trying to be the business making the quote.

If it was my fork truck, I would do it myself since I am a cheapskate and could do it for just the $65 for the seal kits. Now if I was real busy and had other things that were more valuable than the $960, it would be a no brainer, I'd hire it done.

DDoug · May 22, 2019

EDIT: My reading was that Milacron was removing them , and driving them himself 50 miles each way.

If not, I agree with Ziggy (stardust ?)

Rob F. · May 22, 2019

Did that quote come from forklift dealer or a hydraulic shop? Seems a bit high for my wallet and I would do it myself. I just changed the tilt cyl seals on on of mine and it was quick and easy. Next is the sideshift reel that is dripping onto the tilt cyl.
Depending on your lifts design you may not even need to disconnect the hoses or remove the body, just pull out the ram.

Milacron · May 22, 2019

Rob F. said:
Did that quote come from forklift dealer or a hydraulic shop?

From an independent forklift dealer/repair shop in Savannah. Never used them before but some months ago was in discussion with owner about possibly buying a used Royal from him and I was impressed with his knowledge, honesty and timely attention at least.

Milacron · May 22, 2019

digger doug said:
EDIT: My reading was that Milacron was removing them , and driving them himself 50 miles each way.

I suppose that is an option if I was going to Savannah for something else as well, but the quote was their tech doing the work at my place. As atomarc mentions it's mostly the "messiness" I would dread if DIY. Still it is a bit of a cringer to pay that much when in the past I've bought entire working (not leaking) forklifts in the $500 range !!

Mike1974 · May 22, 2019

The old part of Savannah is beautiful, but Beaufort has it's own beauty IMO. The tech should come free of charge and stay the night and enjoy the scenery!

Check out some of the forts in the area, get a burger at Fat Patty's, visit Hunting Island (climb the lighthouse), lots to do for the nature folks.

edit: no input on your question sorry. :leaving:

Milacron · May 22, 2019

Mike1974 said:
The old part of Savannah is beautiful, but Beaufort has it's own beauty IMO. The tech should come free of charge and stay the night and enjoy the scenery! Check out some of the forts in the area, get a burger at Fat Patty's, visit Hunting Island (climb the lighthouse), lots to do for the nature folks.

edit: no input on your question sorry.

Actually my shop is halfway between Bluffton and Beaufort in the Okatie area

john.k · May 22, 2019

I wish I could get work like that...........

sealark37 · May 22, 2019

Our dealer shop (Cat) saw many tilt cylinders to be rebuilt for customer lifts. Most, but not all were on 5k or smaller trucks. Unless the customer shop was capable, most preferred us to pick up the truck and do the job in our shop when it was a 6K+ lift. As the rating increases, the difficulty increases geometrically. The job can be done cheaper, but the quoted price is not a rip-off. Regards, Clark

john.k · May 23, 2019

my Hyster is 8k lb too......the rod is say 2"......a gland seal,single V section o ring filled ,and a 2"wiper.....about $12 trade price.......50 mile away......unless its thru downtown LA,I would say the whole job is 2 hr travelling max,I hr replace rod seal and wiper......3 hr @ rate+ $25 parts.....now for my money ,if a fitter is getting $100 hr for travelling ,thats it ,no mileage.

Spruewell · May 23, 2019

I would say it’s reasonable. Expensive, but he’s not overcharging. He will have travel time, he will need to prep and secure the equipment. Remove the rams, drain them and disassemble them. If there is no other damage, remove and replace seals, reassemble and re-mount the rams. Bleed the system and clean up the mess. Walking into an unknown, I would tend to add 10-20% on top of the estimate to cover unforeseen circumstances.

tonymor · May 23, 2019

The worst part about it is Hyster probably paid around $200 for those tilt cylinders from their supplier. Not one bit helpful but i'm always amazed at the spares prices charged.

mrjbug · May 23, 2019

Doesn't sound like a bad price to me. Especially after our last tilt cylinder reseal on our Cat V80D. We ended up having to torch the pins out of the rear to get the cylinders off. We tried resealing them just pulling the rods out the front, but there was not enough clearance without pulling the mast.
Michael

timvercoe · May 23, 2019

My Champ 6000

I just did my champ, had to make a pin spanner wrench. That probably took more time than actually fixing the ram. the old seals were completely disintegrated, was a little tricky figuring out what was supposed to be in there. Parts and 2nd day air freight were about $120 for both sides. Had I done this job locally for, say the salvage yard it would have cost them about $500 for both sides done on sight. Their quot seems very reasonable, considering travel time.

Tim

kustomizingkid · May 23, 2019

Working on forklifts sucks... I really can't think of a worse thing to work on. I would say that is very fair for a turn key job. I would expect if you pulled the cylinders and carried them into a hydro shop you would pay $150 a cylinder.

Bondo · May 23, 2019

I had a 8" cylinder rebuilt for my press brake rebuilt in 24 hours. I had the seal kit already (150$).

They came and removed the cylinder with our assistance. Rebuilt it and came back next day and we assisted in reinstallation. Total price was 1850 plus taxes. Their travel was about 35 miles each way.

They said the bill was going to be a shocker, I was expecting 2500+. So I tipped them $100 for getting it done.

So I think unless those cylinders are odd balls, that's too high a price. I agree with what everyone is roughly saying. $750 sounds right with travel time. But that's my opinion

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

ewlsey · May 23, 2019

kustomizingkid said:
Working on forklifts sucks... I really can't think of a worse thing to work on.

That's about right. They have the wonderful combination of everything being really heavy and requiring large tools, but it's all wedged into the smallest possible package.

That said, I think these forklift service companies have a real racket going on. I work on my own lift, but the industrial park I rent from has a "community" forklift that is serviced by the local Toyota dealer. You can imagine that it leads a rough life.

Anyway, one time I used the lift and it was leaking coolant. I left a note that it needs to be fixed. The service guys showed up the next day so I went to talk to him. He had a service order for routine service, fix a coolant leak, and check out the battery.

Pretty simple job right? Except this guy had no pressure tester, no coolant, no battery load tester, and no replacement battery. He looked at it for a few seconds and more or less said he had to come back tomorrow with the appropriate tools. I ended up loaning him the tools and some coolant. He still had to make another trip back with a new battery.

It seems like they are used to working on machines for large companies that have no idea how they really work and want absolutely nothing to do with making the repairs themselves. Also, they don't really seam too interesting in doing much more than oil changes in the field. If the lift needs any kind of real repair they want another $100 each way to take it back to their shop.

What do you guys think of this quote for replacing tilt cylinder seals ?

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