The Forestry Forum

i have a gearmatic winch on my 240e timberjack it is hydrolic it has pulled out hard since last week but yesterday afternoon it wouldnt pull out at all i messed with it for a while and found that if i pump the lever and build presser it will release smooth like it should i am wondering if anyone has an idea of what is wrong with it it acts like i have air in the line from the master but im not looseing fluid so im not leaking anywhere any ideas would be great thanks

master is leaking internally ,one on those alum. jobs had on years ago. think it was o-rings maybe. 

how much a job is it to fix

Are you loosing fluid from your master cylinder?With those Gearmatic winches you can lose fluid in the slave cylinder(the one inside of the winch that releases the brake band) or it can leak in the joint where the hydraulic line goes to the main shaft of the winch,it's an aluminaum ninety degree with o-rings on it which after a while wear and leak.That elbow is under a teardrop looking cover on the right side of the winch,if I remember corectly,been a while since I worked on those number 119 Gearmatic's.The slave cylinder is under the big cover if you have to get at that one,also on the right side.

 Hey, if your looking for a place to start if it's the master cylinder as 240b suggested you might try www.paccarwinch.com   Might be  kit part # 71226 ( Replaced gearmatic # A9547x)  You may need two of those kits.  There is a drain hole in the bottom of the teardrop bushmec mentioned. Clean that out and you may be able to tell if it is the elbow leaking without taking the cover off. When you go to bleed it just bungie the lever in gear (with engine off) and bleed the top line at the joint. Hope that helps, good luck.  :)

we had a thing rigged up to put air pressuer against the fluid inthe line. it was  a valve stem cut outta the tube then we put a hand pump on it put air against the fliud in the line to push the sid inteh winch out and then bled it at te break .. ours leaks rite down if you dont run it if you runn it it doesnt leak but jsut a drop or two they make rebiuld kits for the master cylinder there like 50 bucks from lyons we jsut got one but i will mention when it got cold we had to agjust out drag screw on the top  the weather can make a difference  .. jsut a tip if you pull the big side off be prepared they got some wiehgt to em  ;D

 I tapped the hole where the seal is and replaced it with a live swivel,2yrs ago. Haven't had a problem since.