Anyone Crimp Their Own Fittings?

[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.