Anyone Crimp Their Own Fittings?

[Iplayfarmer]

Does anyone out their crimp their own hydraulic fittings? What's the threshold at which buying a small scale crimper pays off vs. having every hose custom built?

 

[Mech]

I've always used reusable hose ends. They work well and let me make my hoses custom lengths w/o a crimper or going someplace to get them done. The crimpers are very expensive.

 

[Bedlam]

Mech could you elaborate a little on how they work? Thanks

 

[kennyd]

Rob (3RRL) details them in THIS THREAD starting at post #60

 

[Mech]

Rob (3RRL) details them in THIS THREAD starting at post #60

Thanks Kennyd. Beat me too it. Just spent over 3 hours getting home from work. Now need to go plow some snow.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Rob (3RRL) details them in THIS THREAD starting at post #60

Those look pretty cool. So if they are less than a crimp and easier to use, why does anyone use crimped fittings?

 

[CurlyDave]

So if they are less than a crimp and easier to use, why does anyone use crimped fittings?

I have used both kinds, and actually bought a small crimper for a place where I worked 30 years ago. As I recall, at that time, the smallest electric crimping machine (hydraulic with an electric pump) was about $1000. Throw in 30 years of inflation and I have no idea how much it would cost today.

At that time the crimp fittings were a buck or two less expensive than the reusable ones, and had a larger ID than the corresponding reusable one, which was important for our use.

If you make a thousand crimps a year, the crimper pays for itself pretty quickly, if you make 10 per year, it is never going to pay off.

Another reason to use crimp fittings is that they are not user-serviceable, which avoids a lot of potential problems with "customer modifications".

The crimped fittings are also more robust than the reusable ones, and will withstand more abuse.

 

[3RRL]

Those look pretty cool. So if they are less than a crimp and easier to use, why does anyone use crimped fittings?

Hello Iplayfarmer,
Yes, they are pretty cool.
Thanks Kenny for sharing that thread, it's been an eye opener for a bunch of us.
I just found out about them and always thought they were very expensive. That's why I used to get my hoses made or buy pre-made hoses and cut them and only have one end made up...to try to save on the cost of a custom made hose. But not any more. I'll use those re-usable hose ends from now on. One thing to keep in mind is the source I gave in that thread has some re-useable hose ends cheaper than others. The 45 and 90 degree ones are more expensive than the straight ones, but goes for crimped ones too. Also, I looked to see which ones were the most reasonable cost and tried to work my hoses around that. Then I got that size hose for them, so some hoses might be larger diameter than really needed, but are still reasonable. So by choosing what would work for me, I could make the hoses cheaper than having them crimped ... custom hoses made up at a hydraulics shop.
Rob-

 

[Iplayfarmer]

The crimped fittings are also more robust than the reusable ones, and will withstand more abuse.

There's a phrase that matters to me.

Now I have to decide if it's worth it. I actually think I can get most of the hoses stock from Surplus Center or someplace similar. There are just a few of the longer ones that they don't have in stock.

 

[spruce Deere]

So if they are less than a crimp and easier to use, why does anyone use crimped fittings?

I have used both kinds, and actually bought a small crimper for a place where I worked 30 years ago. As I recall, at that time, the smallest electric crimping machine (hydraulic with an electric pump) was about $1000. Throw in 30 years of inflation and I have no idea how much it would cost today.

At that time the crimp fittings were a buck or two less expensive than the reusable ones, and had a larger ID than the corresponding reusable one, which was important for our use.

If you make a thousand crimps a year, the crimper pays for itself pretty quickly, if you make 10 per year, it is never going to pay off.

Another reason to use crimp fittings is that they are not user-serviceable, which avoids a lot of potential problems with "customer modifications".

The crimped fittings are also more robust than the reusable ones, and will withstand more abuse.

I agree with curly dave. Just not justifiable to purchase a hose press, dies fittings not to mention hose on some occasions if you dont make a daily habit of such destruction. The logging company I work for with 20 plus pieces of heavy equipment, we go several weeks without hose failure with multiple crews. The company has there own hose set-up for insurance if a hose does blow to minimize down time though. Operators are key in this. And with reusable ones, they just dont hold over time. Snag a hose with a reusable it may not loose its end right then, they are able to twist way easier and it will be sooner than a good col-o-crimp or weatherhead fitting.

 

[Dirthog]

The other thing about the reusable ends they will NOT work for a lot of the newer high pressure systems ie anything over 3000 psi and the do not make them in flat face type which a lot of the new equipment is going to.

 

[cranker]

Hello all. I have been lurking here for awhile and have been reading a ton. I am in the process of building my own little cut tractor. I have just purchased a small hydraulic crimper for my project and a few other things. This is the crimper that i bought.Hose Crimpers: MobileCrimp 4-20 Portable Crimper | Gates Corporation
I manage a auto parts warehouse and were are a gates dealer. I got a good price on it at 650.00 and also got 4 months dating. This did not include any dies or the air over hydraulic pump to run it. My gates rep comped me a pump which would sell for 200.00. Dies cost me 100.00 each and i got 2. So i have almost a thousand dollars in just the tools not including any hose or fittings. Did this save me money instead of paying someone to make them for me? No, then why buy it? Because i dont like to depend on other people and i like tools. Some say it is a waste of money but it is my hobby and i dont drink or smoke so i got to have some kind of vice right.

thanks crank

 

[JoelD]

I've found it economical for me to go to my local Kubota dealer who can make up hoses for me.

Also, with places like surplus center, you can get premade for short money.

The one nice thing about having a machine on site would be repairs without down time, but for me, a homeowner user, I could not justify owning a crimper.

Joel

 

[PILOON]

Crimpers run in the $1-2000 range and each style and size wants a different die that runs over $100 ea.

Add to that the fact that you never have the correct fitting on hand, eg male pp, female flare, 45 90 deg angle etc etc.

Plus buying fittings on a onesy twosy basis would not get any discounts etc etc.

Even the shop that sells made up hoses only does so as an accomodation basis as high volume is required to show an RIO.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Reusables have their place. Personally, I don't like them. They are bulky and I have seen hoses pull out of them. You can only get them in 100R2 hose (2-wire thick cover). You can get them in limited sizes for other hoses, but it's really not worth the bother. The 100R2 hose is 1970's technology at best. I would rather get a good crimped 100R16 hose. All the same pressure specs but smaller O.D. and half the bend radius. There's even the new EN spec hoses that have a higher pressure rating and all the same other specs as 100R16 hose. For a lot of you guys, reusables are a good way to go. And this is coming from a guy that owns a hydraulic hose shop. But if you have any problems, go get a 100R16 hose or better yet an EN spec hose.
You can find used crimpers on E-bay reasonable. There's a dealer called Surplus Hose Man that is very good to deal with.
Andy

 

[baddaddy]

I've been using a Woods BH6500 on my Kubota B7610 for just over 3 years and i love it. I've replaced a couple hoses and the attraction to reuseable fittings is really the ability to make up a hose on a Sunday when you're otherwise waiting a day or so. And if you really only have weekends to do your work (office jock), then it's a real drag. So rather than order a complete set of dipperstick hoses to have in reserve, I'm thinking of buy a hundred feet of hose and some fittings.

As I look at the Woods, I can't quite discern if the hoses that are used are 1/4 or 3/8. Guess I should have looked closer last summer when I replaced one. I understand that a 3/8 will work in place of a 1/4 as long as the fittings are correct, but I would like to not guess at this and the manual only talks about a 3/8 feed to the unit from the tractor. Messick's site seems to imply they're 1/4 in. Can anyone educate me on this?

Great site. I'm addicted.

 

[forester2]

My thought for a project where I need multiple hoses was to cut a long, premade R2 hose (which can be had pretty cheap) w/ crimpled NPT ends into needed lengths and use reusables on the new ends saving cost of 2 reusable fittings.

 

[joes_427_vette]

A check with a local shop indicated 3/8 single wire hose @ $2.50 per foot, straight end crimp fittings @ $ 11.50 each and an hourly rate for the labor.
I bought 3/8 double wire hose for $2.21 per foot with crimped pipe thread fittings. It only comes in even foot incriments so some hoses are a little too long for the application but it is not that serious. Between fittings and hose the price adds up rather quickly. I don't do enough custom applications to own a crimper.
Besides they would change the fittings and discontinue the style I had weeks after the purchase.

 

[foggy1111]

I recently sold a like new Finn Power swaging machine (crimper) for $2700. on Craigs list. The first add produced no buyers....the second time I listed the machine I could have sold it three times. The price was a steal....if you need a swaging / crimping machine. I originally bought two of these machines for about $8000. a piece to swage aluminum tubes and an aluminum insert together. Did many thousands of these each year...and the swagers worked great. We had about 6 die sets to perform the work.

I think you would need to produce ALLOT of hose assemblies to make a crimped hose set up pay off.

 

[6sunset6]

With respect to the comment about buying premade hoses and cutting them and using reusable ends.
Hoses are different and the reusable ends might not be right for a hose purchased elsewhere. I think the worst that would happen would be the hose would come out of the fitting under pressure. Actually the worst would be a high pressure leak that you tried to find with your hand.
That said I think I have done exactly that and not had a problem. YET.