Double acting hydraulic piston off a single spool?

This may sound a rather dumb question, but I've got a transport box that mounts on the 3ph of my 484. I'm getting fed up with leaning back to reach the release lever and would love to fit a hydraulic cylinder to it to make tipping easier and maybe to allow me to angle it to make it better at leveling gravel, etc.
I suspect I may need a double acting cylinder, but I've only got a single spool. Does this mean I can only run a single acting cylinder?

Good luck
JB2

Shame that it doesn't have a dual spool fitted as standard. Maybe it has but only has a single port on it.... doubt it!

My IH breaker has given me a price of £125 for a complete kit including spool, lever, bolts, pipework and another port.

This doesn't seem too bad, but I'm going to see if I 'really' need it first.

Are you replacing the 3-point top link with a cylinder? If so, all you would need to do is hook the hydraulic port to the "retract" port on the cylinder. Hydraulic pressure to raise, gravity drop. Install a hydraulic breather in the other port to keep dirt out.

Alternately, if your 484 has only a single acting spool, you may be able to get a double acting valve and lines and couplers from a tractor wrecking yard, and swap yours out.

Proper double acting system would be better as I could then 'push' the box into the ground for levelling gravel etc. I didn't know you get get a double acting valve - is this a manual switch that allows you to simply switch which line the pressure goes down?

I'm thinking the double acting valve was an option for your's, too, and that is why I suggested checking with tractor wreckers to find a double acting valve, and swapping it onto your tractor.

I've never been around one of these little guys, but don't you think that this is an oddity tho on this model of a tractor? Maybe originally someone was trying to save a few bucks on the purchase price?

Surely, they weren't all configured that way, were they?

Allan

Hook 'er up, it will work just fine 'cause the same spool controls both ports.

Allan

OK, now I'm really confused. I know nothing about this sort of stuff, so any knowledge you can impart would be very much appreciated.
If I've got a single hydraulic port, how can it operate a double acting cylinder? Don't I need two ports? One to push the ram out and another to push it back in again?

Clanger,

You don't have two ports on that tractor like so?

Allan

Just the one port. I"ll look into fitting another though - seems to make sense.

Thanks for the info Allan.

Now, you've got me totally confused!

I'm lost, & I dunno..... .

Here's the back end of my 484 complete with single port.
Just spoken to the IH breaker/used tractor dealer dealer that I've bought some parts from before, and he says that I need to fit a second spool. Complete kit (spool, pipework, port and levers) about £125 ($200) which doesn't sound too bad to me. Fitting is not difficult apparantly.
I think it's a handy feature to have, so I'm going to go ahead with it.