Cub Cadet 1864 steering cylinder leak and whining noise
 

I have a Cub Cadet 1864 that I just got for $600. I believe it is a 95 model. It does have 1070 hours on it but starts right up and runs and mows great. Obviously with that many hours, it has some wear but for the most part it is pretty solid. Only thing that I have noticed is the hydraulics up front seem to have a noticeable whine. Under load when turning the steering wheel and/or lifting the mower deck it is louder but then gets less noticeable when not doing those two things. The hydrostatic drive seems solid and it has no hesitation with forward and reverse. It operates as it should. The hydrostatic fluid looks clean but I have no idea when the last time the filter was changed. It does seem to have some air bubbles on the rear dipstick after I run it but does not appear to be milky or excessively foamy. The only leak I can find is on the steering cylinder. It is leaking out the end where the piston comes out of it closest to the front tire. It is a definite leak and not seeping. My question is this, since that cylinder is leaking, could it be drawing air back into the system causing the pump to whine? I will replace the hydrostatic drive filter and fluid. What fluid should I use? Also, how do I go about getting the cylinder repaired or do I have to replace it. I am learning as I go so all help is appreciated. Thanks.

I am not a fan of bandaids
BUT
Cat Hydraulic oil additive on u1-9891 did stop my 1864 from howling. It will do nothing for the leak

Hy trans (IH) and hy guard (JD) are good fluids but at a cost.
Traveller at TSC is a good replacement at a lesser cost.
Todays cost is $10.00 a gallon in a 5 gallon pail.
DO NOT use 505 Hydraulic fluid, its too thick at lower temps,
and there have been other problems in the past.:beerchug:
I'm thinking it has been mentioned of a supplier in the recent past that sells the hyd cylinders at a reduced cost other than OEM suppliers.
Some one should chime in with a link.

Here is the link to the company that makes them for Cub Cadet. This should match up to what you have.

https://www.customcylindersint.com/p...-0637-717-3041

I do not have an IH dealer anywhere near me so I run the TSC stuff ol'George is talking about or Rotella 15w-40 in my Cub Cadet hydro's. I also a use Wix 51410 for the hydro filter.

The cylinder company OAK mentioned is the way to go. Easy
to deal with and they have the cylinder you need. Put one on the
1862 a while back and it not only stopped a leak it fixed steering
issues I didn't even know I had.

Ken

Hi, just curious, what other kind of steering issues did it take care of?

I had quite a bit of wandering of the steering. Not very responsive.
The new cylinder tightened that right up. I am sure there are other
reasons for the steering not to be tight but in this case it was the
right fix.

Ken