Excavator Repair, Swivel Joint Rebuild, Yanmar Vio-50.
My excavator blade cylinder is drifting. There are several possible causes. What did mine turn out to be? The most difficult one, of course! The swivel joint, also call a rotary manifold or rotary union. I'd say this is the coolest hydraulic component I've ever seen.
Clarification on this video: • Clarification on Swive...
My cap and plug set: amzn.to/3TPFSQO. (A nice set, but not enough to do this job. 20 hoses is a lot of caps and plugs.
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00:00 Intro
0:39 Testing blade cylinder
5:12 Cylinder test explained
8:12 Re-install blade cylinder
8:37 Hydraulic system explained
11:16 Look at hydraulic components on the excavator
12:51 Testing control cable
14:09 How to test swivel joint
14:39 Testing swivel joint
17:09 Remove swivel joint
24:34 Coyotes!
27:37 Rebuild swivel joint
36:30 Re-install swivel joint
37:02 Confirming repair
38:26 Using excavator!
41:38 Hydraulics on other equipment
44:55 Outro
I just want to say I really appreciate you putting yourself through going under that excavator and taking that swivel joint apart *with a camera in your face* for my benefit.
I know it's kind of random to say it, but I really appreciate the fact you clean machines and their parts when working on them. Others take great pride in rummaging through all that mess as if cleaning it would take away their manliness or professionalism.
Yep gets my goat. Two minutes to clean makes a job much easier especially when dealing with hydraulic cleanliness. Often shows other hidden issues too.
The cleaning is much appreciated
ya its good when they clean the oil that is preventing it from rusting🤣😂
ya pretty much don't have any choice when working with hydraulics. A little bitty bit of dirt inside any of those parts and the whole system can be toast...
I call it .obceen.
We used to tell tank operators in the army that they could only rotate the turret 7 full revolutions either way before it unscrewed itself or bottomed out. It was pretty funny when they would forget to keep count and come up to us asking us how to fix it.
From what you say I take it that there was no indicator in the cab to tell the operator how many revs were left in each direction? Seems like an obvious thing to provide.
@@jonka1 it would be if it was true and all.
Funny
I imagine the ones who could do it with no problems and through entire exercises were promoted immediately -and were let in on the secret.-
@@jonka1 r/woosh, there's always one
Wow, best 45 min I ever invested. Tons of respect. The amount of work required to make that farm work, and stay on top of repairs is simply overwhelming to think about. I'm not a young guy anymore, but even 20 years ago I'd be saying the same thing! No one works harder than a farmer.👍🙏
One of the reasons I keep coming back is because you take the time to explain why you are doing what you do in these videos. I'm certain I'm not alone. Okay, back to the video
30:50 Ahhhhhhh I get it now - I was completely mystified by how a swivel joint could possibly work, but after seeing the holes in the cylinder and your U-shape explanation, it makes perfect sense. You are right, it is a simple solution to what seems like a really complex problem.
Yes, seeing is understanding in a second. Thank you so much!
I was also unsure of how the swivel worked, but I operate equipment and repair and build many things. My guess was that it was laid out horizontally or radially. It makes sense that they built it vertical, so I was close.
I figured they had something like that in there. I used to be a tank mechanic on the Abrams. It has something similar called a "slip ring" that is mounted in the center of the turret under the main gun breech. It has fewer hydraulic ports on it, but also has electrical contacts to transmit power, data, and communications between the turret and the hull.
Now this is the high quality content I wish Television was! An in-depth video on diagnosing and solving a problem with a machine. Love these videos! Especially the Coyote cheer squad!
YT videos are head and shoulders above the super low level of teevee. This video was a perfect example. I told the cable company to stuff it in 2007 and never looked back. Now I have Netflix and Prime for movies, and I figure I've missed about one billion commercials by now by never watching TV or listening to broadcast radio any more.
Wow, that was great. I watched every minute of it and I feel like I gained 10 years of hydraulics knowledge in about 45 minutes. The most ah-ha! moment for me was when you took us on a short tour of other equipment that all had similar looking hydraulic pieces in them - I'd been under the impression that hydraulics were bespoke and specific to the machine and had just never thought about how generic and similar it might actually be. I was thinking they were more like engines where there's so much variation in how they're done (small vs. big, 2 vs 4 stroke, # of cylinders, etc) that it was almost specialized knowledge per piece, but I get it now. This is one of your best videos IMO - thanks for making it!
The pumps themselves are a little more complex, but the rest of the system is just checks and valves, and pressure build up. If it leaks (due to those clumsy seals) you lose pressure and thus functionality of your device.
Like industrial Lego
Fascinating repair video. Great job on the repair.
Hey there! I want to share an other trick with you. If you don’t want to run oil down your arm use a multi use rubber glove, not one of those super thin one time use gloves, and fold the rear side one time to outside. So you have a channel which catch the oil! Thanks for your awesome videos. Greetings from Germany
Since I've started working on dirty stuff with dishwashing gloves I had such a better experience doing stuff. Great grip, harder to cut and tear and multiple use for the nasty stuff. Extra points if you wash them by just washing your hands while you still have them on!
Reason I stopped changing my own oil - oil running down into my armpit!
At our shop we actually use old telephone wire because the wires are all different colours with stripes and you cut the wires in 2 pieces and tie them to the fittings. Works pretty good when you have to take the valve blocks out
As someone who has worked with tractors and plant and repaired myself all my life, I found this video very interesting and enjoyable to watch. You made a mucky daunting job very clear for us all to see and should encourage people who have viewed to have a go themselves. Great filming too.
Like the video? Want more like this? Give it a like, a share, and check description on how to support the channel. A HUGE thank you to all the folks giving their support, especially my Patrons on Patreon! You guys are awesome. www.patreon.com/FarmCraft101. My patrons get early access to the videos, and even help with editing decisions, titles, and thumbnails. We are building a really cool community over there. I hope you folks like the video, and have an awesome weekend everybody! Next week's video is going to be a fun one. I've almost finished it and it will be on Patreon either today or tomorrow. Here's a short clarification on this video: kzhead.info/sun/l8N-gJ2cmJ1smq8/bejne.html
I have the Vio 27-3, same year as yours. It's the same machine exactly except for I'm lacking the enclosed cab. (Open Cab). I'm running into the same problem as you. The dealer wouldn't fix it, but I know it's this piece as they checked the valves, and the cylinder and are fine. I want to Thank You whole heartedly as I'm new to these things and I know this is what is wrong with mine. I now know what to ask for in repairing mine and I had no clue before. I also want to ask, do you notice an improvement in your travel motors as well as a result of this fix? I'm losing power there as well as in my blade. One other difference is, I have a plastic gas tank, and have no gas issues. Verified after your other video. For all of your caps, you used, what size hydrolic caps did you use while doing the project? Also KEEP DOING THESE! Every one of these videos helps me in fixing mine up as well as mechanically they are identical!
Also I upgraded the Lights on mine to LED's. HUGE improvement. I recommend the Sylvania 3" LED Light 2N1SP, part number 11920293 F1 for the boom light replacement, fits perfectly, and the Sylvania Lightbar 2N1SPBX Part number 12018818 F1. Both of these were replacement bolt-ons for mine, the light bar for the top may or not fit yours, but the boom light certainly will. I'd need to see your front top light to see if it has the same mounting bracket. They have 2 light modes, wide, and narrow on both. To use both modes you'll need a SPDT switch to switch between the modes, I can send you wiring diagrams for them and you can make a new video on it. Night time working is fun on the excavator.
Oh Man, I've done this exact same job on my Volvo EC27 - boy oh boy they don't give you any room to get at those swivel joints. Took me days! On my machine they have a little peg at the top of the joint which interfaces with a slot to allow it to swivel with the cab. The pin on mine had worn slightly, which meant when the cab rotated the swivel lagged behind slightly (as the pin had some slop in the slot). This meant that it would pull / push on some of the connected hoses, which caused them to loosen and leak over time. I thought this was worth mentioning.
Do the dumptruck and the excavator have names yet?
@@TheNikitis No difference in my travel motors, but if those seals had been leaking then that would be the expected behavior, so it may fix yours. My caps were 3/8 BSP and 1/4 BSP, mostly 3/8. Thanks for the tip on the light, I'll check that out. Cheers.
Real high pressure stuff. Great master tutorial - bet the local hydraulic shops are snarling.
UPDATE! - Guy who has your similar excavator again. I just finally replaced my swivel joint seals. I got my blade working and holding again, and tracks tracking again! THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO! I finally worked up the gumption to take this on myself thanks to you, and now have a working excavator. Runs like new except have same issue with tracks not riding evenly as you do and pulls to the left. Very messy job! My seals were worse than your old ones because mine were MISSING!. They had disintegrated. Out of like 7 seals, only 2 where there and the rest destroyed, the rest no longer existed, amazingly it still functioned at like 20% power even with them missing. Enough to drive it onto a trailer. And my blade would go up, but not stay up. My swivel joint was exactly the same as yours, and same part number for seals. Anyway, I don't know how many people have your excavator, or similar models and could take this on, but I wanted you to know I did! Thanks for the help again, and looking forward to seeing your LED Light upgrades, you won't regret it. (Hint those sylvaine part numbers I sent you before have 2 modes each, so get 2 SPDT switches, and wire it the switch so you can switch between wide angle and focused angle.)
Thanks 😊
Great job rebuilding that swivel joint. You replaced all those seals as good as any professional. It's nice to see someone fix things themselves as good or sometimes better than had they hired a shop to do the job. Very gratifying I know because I'm the same way.
Great stuff. I've always wondered how heavy equipment like that can rotate without fouling cables and such. Also coyotes!
There are rotary electrical connectors, rotary fiber optic connectorsxascwell as hydraulics. Ive seen and worked with custom built units that encompass all three for use with offshore oil well umbilical reels.
Take pictures
Thanks! Very informative and helpful video. Great information coupled with just the right amount of humor. Only thing missing was your wife coming out to give you grief on why it's taking so long. 😀
Thank you, sir!
I live on a fairly remote island at the top of the South Island of NZ and have a lot of similar equipment to you. Your videos are a huge help to provide some understanding of to resolve potential issues. While I don't think I have the skill set to take a repair like this on, at least I now know what to look for and what's involved with having a mechanic come out to do it.
the hardest part (other then the contortions to work inside the belly of the machine) is getting the new seals in. other then that its cake
I was a machinist in an American factory where we made similar product called Rotory manifolds for altec and Halliburton. It’s interesting to see different designs. But the function is still the same. Great video.
I literally am tearing my Bobcat 323 apart on Monday to rebuild the Rotary Manifold... couldn't ask for a better video today.
Why would anyone ever skip your explanation sections of the video, that's the best part, the knowledge transfer! Greetings from Argentina 👏
Ha! Tell that to my wife and daughters! lol!
This is not farm work. This is mechanical engineering! Sir, you have no fear. I could never make such a video because of all my cussing, screaming, and absence of patience. One of the best videos on all of KZhead! 💯
That swivel joint is one of the most fascinating mechanical components I've seen in a long time. I've watched the chapters on that several times and I'm blown away still.
I find this kind of content more enjoyable than most "restoration channels" (specially because most of them are fake.) Walking us through the investigation steps is great, it's like we're watching someone solve a puzzle.
Really cool and in depth video, I had to learn how this works a while ago, completely forgot, because I never needed it, but it all came back. The Seals always make me smile.
You are extremely impressive sir. I don’t know if you have a background in heavy mechanics but you should open a online school to teach the new generation, cause there are tech’s in my area that can’t do half the things you can. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge with us all 🙏👍
You are not the only one that likes Yanmar machines!! Andrew Camarata loves them also!!
You were a little mistaken at the 42:30 mark, when you pointed at the Slew Motor and gearbox and said it was the Rotary Union. The actual Rotary Union was under the cover where you were describing the electrical Swivel Joint is. The giveaway was the hydraulic hoses leading into it. Your explanations of how systems work is excellent and much appreciated by people who may be mystified by some of these mechanical systems.
Correct you are! kzhead.info/sun/l8N-gJ2cmJ1smq8/bejne.html
Damn, I kid you not - probably a week ago I thought, how do they make the seal between the drive motors and the upper part, if it can rotate endlessly. Now I know. Thanks so much for taking the time to explain everything in technical details.
Your videos are extremely interesting and helpful. Thanks for taking the time to make them!
Thanks for not making it short. I like the detail!
10:30 LMAO spinning the machine around while you explain the systems on it made me laugh out loud. You look like you're havin' a great time in there 😂 spinning around in you $14,000 toy, I love it lol
27:00 sounds like an excuse to buy a nightvision camera to me 😏
Thank You for shooting a video of that process, it was very helpful and informative. Have a great winter.
This channel has some of the best content on KZhead. Can't wait for the next video. Thanks for putting in all the extra effort to film, edit, and explain all these projects.
Those coyotes remind me of when I was younger and worked on an Oregon sheep ranch. We would trail packs of 1000 sheep 50 miles cross country to summer grazing areas. Inevitably, the yotes would find us at night. Their howling usually meant we would find a dead doe in the morning. This was before the age of high intensity flash lights so it was impossible to find them at night. But during the day a .308 lead pill would take care of business. Now I'm old and still in a rural area and they still howl. My neighbor thinks it sounds romantic. ??
There is definitely a reason why coyotes and wolves were almost wiped out Seems Americans have forgotten.
I think it sounds like "what am I going to find dead in the morning" The problem with coyotes is the litter size. WITHOUT some management the populations explode. Without coyotes, the deer population will explode (and subsequently be obliterated by disease) When the coyotes stay away from my livestock I have no problems. But enough bodies will change anyone's mind.
Your videos are enjoyable and provide immense value - thank you for taking the time.
Thank you for taking the time to educate, very informative. Keep up the good work and content!!!
Awesome job and determination. My great grandpa use to always say "some damn fool put it together, this damn fool can take it apart." I live by that motto and looks like you do too. Learn a lot from your videos and enjoy the side-bar entertainment and comedy.👍👍👍
I often tell myself, "Somewhere, some guy is doing this while drunk and stoned. I can figure this out!" ;-). Cheers!
I have been a damn fool too, for a long time
I’m 46 yrs old and since birth, I always wondered how excavators could rotate 360 deg without hydraulic lines getting twisted. Mystery solved! Thank you!!!!!
Same here!
BMX bikes have to solve a similar problem in allowing the handlebars to rotate endlessly without brake cables becoming twisted.
@@Jay22222 Yep...My Haro had a Gyro...Seems more similar to Helicopter than an excavator.
Me too
Amazing work and description
Outstanding video! Love how you explain in detail!! Thank you!
Looks like a world of pain doing that job, but really satisfying knowing it's done!
Yes a new video! 45mins of pure goodness!
Thanks for such a great video! I had expected I'd jump ahead to watch only certain portions, but found myself watching the entire video. I've worked on a lot of equipment, but never the rotating unit on an excavator. And I know that feeling... not only the relief that you've fixed the problem, but the delight to find out it works a lot better than before.
just stumbled upon your channel! love your content and your explanation of your fixes!! sweet work!
I felt your pain working in cramped quarters with oil dripping down your arm. When you walked to the field I thought you were screaming at the sky, but it was only coyotes.
A great comprehensive video as usual. You’ve got a great ability to explain what, why and how you are doing something. I always look forward to seeing a notification from your channel. I know I will always learn something. Thanks from across the pond🇬🇧
Reckon we all love the channel here in the UK.
Excellent job explaining how it all works!
Your video presentations/lessons are wonderfully done - thank you for them all!
I have several Yanmar excavators and I have done a lot of the projects that you have done with yours. There’s not a lot of people that would take on a project like that good for you and great job! Keep the videos coming they are enjoyable
Hats off to yer. From a time served heavy machine tech 🎉
this is the video i needed. ive been searching youtube for hydraulic knowhow and you have managed to get sooooo much info into this one video. thank you
Thank you! Excellent explanations!
I totally admire your cold-headedness while reducing the posibilities as to why exactly the blade is sagging. On top of that you proceed to take out the heart of a chunk of metal while accurately noting what line connects to what valve in order to repair/replace the part yourself. Amazing!
I am very impressed with the fact that you are willing to tackle everything that comes along! Wether it’s carpentry, tree service, vehicle repair, or heavy truck repair, small engine repair or whatever comes around; you’re willing to jump in! What I’m most impressed with you leave all the curse words out of the videos!!! HA HA HA😅
Thank you. Really learned a lot. Appreciate the way you simplify complex subjects and systems.
I watch every video you put on youtube and i like them because they inspire me to fix my own stuff, keep it up! I wanna see more!
Another awesome video recorded and narrated by the master DIYer. Keep up the great work. I can’t wait until the next video. Your videos are very much appreciated!!!!
This was terrific FC101. As always, great logic and problem solving, I learn so much from your content. Thanks for taking us along!
Great video with amazing explanation thank you so much for sharing.
Great video production and content, first class. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome video as usual! I really enjoy your analytic approach of how things *should* work to find out why they don't. Thank you for taking the time to share all that with us!
Zip ties are a great way to mark hoses! Ribbon works well too, even if you don't have enough different colors you can just rip them at different lengths
Great job crafting this video and putting so much detail about the hydraulics into it! Quit interesting and informative!
Thank you for the informative video. It cleared up a dozen questions I had relative to the excavator and hydraulics in general. Keep the great videos coming.
Love all your videos, your a great teacher and top notch mechanic.
I don't know why anyone would skip a chapter of your videos. You school us on things all the way through. A good spotlight will let you see the glowing eyes of those yotes.
I really enjoy this channel and all of the different specialized job skills you demonstrate. You really put the challenges of farm life into perspective.
I stumbled across your channel last night and so far I’m really enjoying your content. I like your editing style and how you break things down and explain things while keeping it easy to follow. Keep up the good work!
Wow! Nice detailed repair!
Jon your videos are informative and fun. I’m very appreciative of the time and effort you put into them. I’m your newest member on Patreon and I hope others will join me in supporting your awesome content.
We love your patience and determination, you did a great job again.
Informative, well presented and best of all great humour. Thank you for sharing your time with us.
This was awesome! Probably the best video I’ve seen ! You attack these things without fear which eases the fears of the less experienced.
Very good tutorial and very interesting to see inside that swivel valve.
Nice work explaining hydraulic troubleshooting!
great job, well done persevering on this one, always great when a fix comes together
I’ve been watching your videos on the yanmar and this video alone has shown me so much about hydraulic systems and I thank you for putting the time and effort into explaining everything. Very educational video and well detailed! Thank you!
A very enlightening video--I loved it. Now I know how swivel joints work!
Really enjoyed that John .. really interesting .. I love the way your not intimidated about tackling any of these jobs .. and just get stuck into them
Great video! I leaned so much about what I thought was too complicated.
You sir, are a master of everything…at least it seems that way! That was a great explanation (you’re also an excellent teacher) of the hydraulics involved in the operation of the excavator! I am now much more educated on the subject 😊. And your editing and camera skills are superb! All in all, it was quite a video- educational and very humorous to boot! Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait for your next video.
Superbly executed Sir. Excellent educational video. I enjoyed it start to finish. I loved your camera placement when you were reinstalling the seals. Your problem solving is on point and a pleasure to observe.
Great video and glad I came across your channel. It was very informative and explained well how hydraulic systems function on a variety of machines. It was good to see how you repaired the excavator valve and how well it functioned afterwards. You are a talented person and very knowledgeable when it comes to your equipment. That is a blessing as it is very expensive to hire companies to do the work and I'm a firm believer that if you want to be sure something is done right, do it yourself. I hope all goes well for you in the new year!
Great video on hydraulics, thanks for all your good videos.
I don’t even own any machines but love learning. Stumbled across your channel and love all of the info. You have a great ability to break down information to the point where someone like me can somewhat at least begin to understand it . Keep up the good work and the videos coming thanks….
Johnson, your videos are really coming across polished. The well orchestrated drone shots, how to camera work, story line and wrap up. Entertaining and well put together, I must say. Just goes to show you what a man, some common sense and a JOHNSON can accomplish! Bravo, thank you.
Keep the repair videos coming. Very good and enjoyable. Thanks
Congratulations on finishing
Another one, teflon tape in hydraulics is definitely common but Loctite 577 is preferable. When installing teflon tape to fittings never go over the last thread otherwise it will be cut on installation and pieces of teflon will go through the hydraulic system a cause issues such as block valves or filters
I’ve been working in the fluid power industry for 28 years. I primarily work on industrial equipment because of all the obstacles you had to overcome in this video. Mobile equipment repair can eat up an awful lot of man hours. Great tutorial.
Been lurking for a long time enjoying your videos. Finally decided to subscribe! This was such an awesome job you did, I can't fathom how I would even start to diagnose the problem! Keep pumping out good content like this!
Thanks, for all the detail...
Good work, super interesting and again, you are a monster regarding the amount of work you do. I can't even imagine putting out that much consistent effort on such daunting projects. Your persistence is mind blowing.
I was a submariner in the US Navy as both a Sonarman and a Supply Officer. Never had to actually dig deep in repair, but we all needed to learn every system onboard. This takes me back to my qualification days as a junior Sailor learning our hydraulic systems, especially the explanation of opposing pressure in a hydraulic ram.
Yes, that opposite stuf was actually one of the gems for sure
Yeah I've done some hydraulic repairs but the surface areas on the extend vs retract are something I've never thought about. That means the extent will always have more power than the retract doesn't it?
@@amosbackstrom5366 Not always, depends upon design.
Great video Sir 👍thank you for taking the time
Wow! Great explanation and excavator rotation mystery solved!
Great video. I learned a lot. The swivel joint reminded me of steering wheels a bit. Different, and not infinite, but also more durable than brushes and rings to transfer the electric current.