Leaking hydraulic cylinder

Got a Hitachi excavator and the boom cylinder is leaking when at rest when the cylinder is in a certain position. Reason for this is there are some nicks in the chrome with some deep grooves and was hoping there might be some sort of metal repair sealant like JB Weld I could fill in the groove to greatly slow down the drip. The only alternative is new seal and new piston which would cost quite a bit. Someone told me they can put the cylinder on a lathe and shave it down a few thousands and a bigger packing seal or either buy a new piston and new seal. The cylinder is about 4' long, 4" in diameter. Any idea what a rebuild would cost? guessing a new one would be in the thousands$$$ Thanks

An oil stone is great for taking burs off but I think you'd have to careful about using compounds to fill groves. It the stuff let's go then you could be up for more than a ram rod. Just saying

The seals are probably chewed up by now. Not much you can do at this point. Yes, the rod can be re-chromed. Yes, you can braze bad spots and polish. Let it go too long and the piston will start chewing up the barrel, contaminating your main stems, causing general havoc across the entire system. If oil is leaking out, dirt is getting in. Buckets of money either way. Pain and suffering.

I see you are in Oregon. The Beaver state. There is a shop in Spokane I used to ship rods to for repair and chrome. They are called American West. They had a different name when I was sending them stuff.

Thanks for the replies. There is a hydraulic shop just 10 miles from where i live. i had them rebuild a JD Tractor front bucket cylinder about 5 years ago, cost around $250. I had a case skid steer leaker a while back and just bought the tool to unscrew the cap and bought the new seal but the rod was smooth. Guess I can take the rod down and see if they can get it re-chromed.

The hydraulic shop I use, will Tig weld any gouges with SS wire and it comes out so smooth, no filing or sanding necessary, usually. I have seen him do it and after practicing a bit, I can do it myself now. He does this, if customers don’t want to pay for a new rod or cylinder. Never use any filler that can come off and play havoc with hydraulics. I would get a set of seals and weld rod if possible. Is the rod straight?

HarleyHappy: Yes, the rod appears to be straight but just visually looking at it does not mean for certain. I had the machine out yesterday to test everything since I am selling it and everything seems to be moving smoothly. I can call the Hydraulic shop near me and see if they offer the weld service. Thsnks for the info

On some older machinery we just replaced the seals and used a fine grit sandpaper to smooth the edges of the gouge. If it's not too deep or wide it'll run a long time.

That is actually what I am in the process of doing, making sure there are no burrs sticking up. I used a 220 grit and gently wet sanded the area where the nicks were. . I just got to figure out where to order the correct seal but will take the old seal down to the hydraulic shop. maybe they have on in stock.

Go on YouTube. Look for @digginok He is in Oklahoma. He has some equipment. He bought a Hitachi excavator and has been doing some repairs including re sealing some cylinders. He's pretty knacky on a rubber tire back hoe as well