Anyone Crimp Their Own Fittings?

[J_J]

Eric, Always get an estimate on hydraulic hose jobs, or you will get a hose job. They try and sell high dollar stuff if you don't know any better. Ask for choices. Those screw on adapters will let you get a good fit. I would recommend that you get the hose and connectors from the same place, to insure a good fit. Anyway, if you are going to let someone else do the job, give them your hose list with specific measurements, and what fittings you want on them. You may only need to tell them the finish length of each hose.

The Ebay guy said he would take offers.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

JJ My local guy seems to be a decent place. I have purchased several fittings and some were a little more and some a little less than places like DHH. He also didn't charge me for the hose fittings that I used to help get the correct measurement for the short hoses, that is as long as I bring them back. I talked with him about how he would like them measured since one end will have a 45 so we should all be on the same page. The big unknown is how much will he charge me for the R16 hose since he will need to order it.

I also brought him a dump cylinder off my FEL that was leaking. It turns out the shaft is pitted. He is selling me a new cylinder for the same price as the dealer would but he is closer.

He has the hoses done so I will pick them up this afternoon. I will let you know how bad it hurt.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

how long would it take for the typical farmer to use 100 hoses?

"Typical" is hard to identify. Where I live now, 100 hoses would likely be a lifetime for most of the farmers. Where I grew up, that would be a single growing season.

 

[wvpolekat]

"Typical" is hard to identify. Where I live now, 100 hoses would likely be a lifetime for most of the farmers. Where I grew up, that would be a single growing season.

I would also say that anyone who buys 100 hoses a year has considered making their own.

 

[wdchyd]

I realize that this thread is older but I think a few things haven't been brought up yet:

Making hoses for profit is different that DIY , yes the materials are the same but when making for profit business wise your liability exposure and insurance rates can go up (Ours did)....

Using reusable hose ends increases labor to install (crimp ends are very quick) as DIY your time is cheap but if its paid labor its the most expensive part of business....

The scrap factor must be figured in (If a mistake happens when you're DIY thens its Oh Well) but if its for a customer it has to be exact...

Reuseable Hose Ends are now called "Field Attachable" in all your major hose catalogs....they say the fittings should never be reused (Liability issue again)

Mismatching brands and hose spec (1 wire vs 2 wire ect) increases danger of blow off (another liability issue if you make hoses for money)

The last issue is stocking the right fittings when YOU need them.....its hard to swallow the cost of stocking the stuff when you get an invoice for hose material and fittings that you MIGHT need in the future...(I have 4 companys around us that invested in Crimp Machine Setups with every good intentions of making thier own hoses but they haven't kept up with inventories and we end up making the hoses for them because they just can't wait till tommorrow.....

Yes it does pay off to do your own hoses but convience to make one on the spot is were its at .....

Would I invest if I were to make 100 hoses a year (2 hoses a week) Probably not...:2cents:

 

[brain55]

I'll add my 2 cents here too. I have my own mobile equipment repair business and one of the first things I bought was my own crimping machine, hose ends, and hose. I have a good inventory of ends for 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" hose. I have NPT, JIC, flat face o-ring, some metric, and a few inverted flare. I also have a pretty good inventory of fittings NPT and ORB. The local brick and mortar hose shops charge way too much, 3 to 4 times what it costs me to make a hose. I don't make any money making additional trips to a customer's location, the more I can do in one trip the more money I make. Having to leave and go get a hose made is not cost effective for me or my customer. If I'm servicing a machine and see a potential problem I can correct it on the spot and save additional down time which is how I promote my business, along with eliminating the cost of having to take a piece of equipment to the shop. I will also make repairs in the field that the dealer won't.

Brian

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I realize that this thread is older but I think a few things haven't been brought up yet:

Making hoses for profit is different that DIY , yes the materials are the same but when making for profit business wise your liability exposure and insurance rates can go up (Ours did)....

Using reusable hose ends increases labor to install (crimp ends are very quick) as DIY your time is cheap but if its paid labor its the most expensive part of business....

The scrap factor must be figured in (If a mistake happens when you're DIY thens its Oh Well) but if its for a customer it has to be exact...

Reuseable Hose Ends are now called "Field Attachable" in all your major hose catalogs....they say the fittings should never be reused (Liability issue again)

Mismatching brands and hose spec (1 wire vs 2 wire ect) increases danger of blow off (another liability issue if you make hoses for money)

The last issue is stocking the right fittings when YOU need them.....its hard to swallow the cost of stocking the stuff when you get an invoice for hose material and fittings that you MIGHT need in the future...(I have 4 companys around us that invested in Crimp Machine Setups with every good intentions of making thier own hoses but they haven't kept up with inventories and we end up making the hoses for them because they just can't wait till tommorrow.....

Yes it does pay off to do your own hoses but convience to make one on the spot is were its at .....

Would I invest if I were to make 100 hoses a year (2 hoses a week) Probably not...:2cents:

Excellent points!

Another point in favor of the DIY guy is that the inventory needed is likely less. The DIY guy knows what his equipment is and probably doesn't need the whole catalog worth of fittings.

 

[Discount Hydraulic Hose]

You can get a good, portable hose crimper for about $2000 to $2500, depending on features and the number of dies you need. At that rate, if you save $20 to $25 per hose, your machine will pay for itself once you've made 100 hoses.

Just to use our prices at DiscountHydraulicHose.com as an example...

1/2" SAE 100R2AT hose is less than $1.50 per foot.
1/2" female JIC fittings are about $3 each.

At that rate, a four foot (48") hose costs you about $12 in materials. If you're currently paying $30 or more for that same hose, you can see pretty dramatic savings.

Another factor to consider is time. How far away is your local hose shop? If he is around the corner, no problem. If he is an hour long drive each way, add that to your down time. The ability to make your own houses could save you many hours when your tractor breaks down and you need to get it running again quickly.

Reusable fittings are another option, but as others pointed out, they aren't available for all hoses. Also, they are more expensive. That $3 crimp fitting (1/2" hose x 1/2" JIC) costs about $10 in a reusable.

That said, if you are using SAE 100R2AT hose, reusable fittings in standard configurations (male pipe, female JIC) are readily available, and since you use them more than once, they are free on the second and third hoses.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

You can get a good, portable hose crimper for about $2000 to $2500, depending on features and the number of dies you need.

What we need is a cheaper crimper. Why is there not a standalone die setup which would work in a standard shop press? With the 100T shop press we have, I dont see why we couldnt use it to crimp? Looking at the parker crimpers, they are 60T rated... buying a 60T shop press and the required tool would be easier to swallow because a shop press is a multi-tasker....
500.00 for a 1/2" standalone die would be much easier to swallow...at that price I'd have a crimper & the common fittings I need.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

What we need is a cheaper crimper. Why is there not a standalone die setup which would work in a standard shop press? With the 100T shop press we have, I dont see why we couldnt use it to crimp? Looking at the parker crimpers, they are 60T rated... buying a 60T shop press and the required tool would be easier to swallow because a shop press is a multi-tasker....
500.00 for a 1/2" standalone die would be much easier to swallow...at that price I'd have a crimper & the common fittings I need.

I've had similar thoughts. I think many of us would trade off some speed or convenience for price if we could get a smaller crimper for cheaper.