there is only one bolt in the top of each secondary cylinder, the bottom just sits in a hole, the bottom of the cylinder is made to fit in the hole so once you get the cylinder retracted enough you can lift it out.
To get the cylinder to retract you will have to use the lift/lower lever and move it to lower and most likely will have to use a prybar or some other means to get the cylinder to drop, sometimes they will drop on thier own.
Now keep in mind, the carriage will want to drop down first, let it do so, once it bottoms out then the 2nd cylinder(s) will begin to lower. Sometimes the cylinder you remove the bolt from will drop down on its own, but in some cases you may have to help it. But once you get it lowered enough you then may lift it out of its slot and remove it.
It is extremely important that you have the mast blocked and chained and that you have raised it to enough height so allow movement and gain clearance to get this 2nd cylinder out. The reason the mast positioning is so important is the crossbars in the channels tend to get in the way because of the way the cylinder is oriented so you need it to be raised enough to retract the cylinder and then lift and move it around. Once you get to this point you will understand what i am saying.
Swoop...it is one of the secondary cylinders, I do not have the mast number with me, It is at work, but it does bolt infrom the top, I'm just trying to figure out how to get the cylinder out at the bottom, as it looks like the mast has to be all the way in the upward position to be able to remove it from the bottom area of the mast. I tried to unbolt the top bolt and block the slides and lower it the other day to see if I could get the piston to come out of the top part of the mast, but it would not budge, thats why I was wondering if it is "screwed" into the top cap, or if it just sits in there with just the one single bolt from the top? Thanks Swoop!
3 things....
- what serial number is the truck?
- what is the mast number?
- which cylinder are you speaking of?
there are usually 3 cylinders to deal with on a mast
in the case of the center cylinder you just remove the crosshead and there is a cap that unscrews out of the top part of the shell. They usually require a spanner wrench to remove but you can use a hammer and punch to break it loose and then use channel locks or a pipe wrench to get the cap unscrewed.
and as for the outer or secondary cylinders there may be a bolt that screws down through the mast crossbar and holds it to the mast crossbar but it also has a screw on cap generally.
these caps on either cylinder contain seals that come in a seal kit usually.
IF it is the outer cylinders they are alot more tricky to remove as you have to partially raise up the mast (about 2ft or so) and block and chain it, then remove the bolt holding the piston at the top and then lower or retract the piston to get clearance to remove the cylinder from the mast.
now as for the piston(s)? they may or may not have seals on them, you will have to remove to see, in any case it should be removed anyway to check the safety valve in the end of the piston.