Hello all, I am fixing to buy a hydraulic hose crimping machine and wanted input, for excavators from a Cat 304 mini to Cat 375 Komatsu 220, D6 D8 and D10 dozers and several bobat tract loaders what size brand do y'all recommend, the next thing is I am in remote Alaska so if they take electric its gonna be generator power only. TIA
street view I'd recommend looking at a Finn-Power or Uniflex machine if your budget allows—they're built for heavy use and will handle everything from mini excavators to larger equipment as long as you have the correct die sets. Since you'll be running off a generator, check the startup amperage and make sure your generator has plenty of capacity.
Ok thank you I will check them
Is this the style your were referring to?
Check out Parker hydraulics. They typically give you the crimper for free with a stock order.
its very dependent on where you plan on getting fittings from, whats available locally and how much you want to spend. the crimper is the cheap part, its all the fittings, hose and dies that add up fast, especially if your going to be doing large hoses(i only stock 1/4 - 1/2 hose and fittings on my truck, theirs hose shops around every corner in my area). eaton/wheatherhead z series are pretty slick, they're almost impossible to mess up the crimp the way the fitting sits on the shoulder of the die.
I will do that
There is no one out here, have to order from Anchorage or online and hope for the best. I want to keep 1/4 - 3/4 but dies and supplies for up to 2ish because out here we are a geographical oddity 2-3 weeks from anything
generally the crimpers are specific to the brand of hose. Eaton, Gates and Parker are the most common hoses around here. I'd try and find a supplier in anchorage you want to work with and then either try to get a machine from them or find a used machine for their hose. There's usually one or two on Ritchies and any given time
Eodnut, After a couple decades of working in the bush up here, the best two options are: 1. Go with Cat, since you already have a good sized Cat fleet. You Probably have a steady stream of Caterpillar parts arriving on a regular basis. 2. Go with Parker since MFCP has a good inventory of stuff in ANC. Especially the weird Komatsu and Bobcat stuff. That’s what I do. The Parker KarryKrimp is a nice tool. I can get most Parker stuff from MFCP in 48 hrs.
Is it a secret where you are located? Perhaps the alien base under Mt. Hayes? The HAARP facility in GaKona? The various ARCTEC long-range radar sites? The secret SEFAC submarine base on Back Island? A secret gold mine? Did you find the glory hole? Come on, you can tell me. I’ve been to all of them.
Ok thanks for the info, that's awesome to know!
Takotna ne Takotna near the secret Air Force Base long range Radar @ Tatalina
I found a 82C-061L KarryKrimp on Fleabay but it says it will only make hoses up to 1 1/4 on these machines that's not big enough is it? It is 1750.00 NIB is that decent price
Most of the smaller bench-top units top out at 1 1/4", have to step up to something like a Parker 83c-081 to do 2", usually 3 phase HPUs on those size machines too standard.
Well we definitely don't have 3 phase so that's out, but to be honest comingbfrom Class 8 trucks I have no idea what size hoses these machines have, was just scared that 1 1/4 wasn't large enough
The KarryKrimp is nice if you are on the move and it doesn’t need power or take up much space. But, you might be better off with a full size bench unit if you have to assemble larger hoses. I guess if you have the budget, it’s not an issue. That’s not a bad price, but if you are purchasing inventory, talk with the Parker rep, first.
I have email into MFCP and will talk to rep about this
My son worked for Artec at the Tatalina LRRS. I’ve delivered fuel to that tank farm along the Kusk. I just went along for the ride. I’ve never been past the radar station. I hear there has been some activity at the Ophir Project this summer. Magellan from Idaho just purchased it. It’s a fascinating area with lots of history.
I love it, it is so beautiful up here. I was out at Anvil creek at Ophir past 4 days tearing down a tromel and walking equipment out. Yes I went to the Landing to pick up propane, the radar station is way cool. Brice is working on the bridge and road between Takotna and Sterling landing like 3 year project
You are going to have to consider the types of hose as well as the sizes. All the sizes come in single wire, two wire, four wire and six wire hose. The flange fittings come in Code 61 and Code 62. Your mini excavator uses mostly British Standard fittings, the Komatsu uses Japanese Industrial hydraulic fittings but their flange fittings are basic to the standard flange fittings made in the US and all are code 61. The big Cat excavator uses a lot of six wire and may use some special Cat flanges but was mostly Code 62 when I was wrenching. I agree with Coaldust about dealing with the Cat dealer up there. I liked the Carrycrimp as well but it is a pain when you start working on the bigger sizes and four wires if it will even do them. I don't think it will do any six wire at all. The stuff that usually give you the most trouble is the small ones anyway. Learn how to measure and describe the fittings or use the parts books for the big machines and order them from the dealer. Good Luck
Makes sense and I will start looking at them and trying to figure that out and I will ask the rep when they call about what types that Karrykrimp will do
Like John said, consider the hose as well as the fittings. It's very rare i can put a new end on an existing hose. I must admit I have put slices in long hoses before. Local cat house stores the high pressure hose laid out straight in pvc pipes, so the setup can take a lot of room. It's been a while since I priced a set up, but I suspect a $10,000 bill will disappear and you still won't have all you need.
Makes sense
We just had our closest hydraulic hose shop close up. I don't have a problem buying the crimper, it's the $20-$30,000 in fittings and hose that I would have to store and keep up with inventory. And probably still not have the right 60 degree heavy DIN fitting when I need it. We have heavy and light DIN on the liebherr s. All the other stuff is flat face oring, jic, and and bulkhead. But from 1/2" to 1 1/2" in two and four wire. By the time I add up all the possibilities of straight, 30, 60 and 90 fittings - well I'm still going to the hose shop. I know if I had the machine, we would probably preventively change more hoses that just "look bad" . I think my best bet is finding someone getting rid of a old one with a set of fittings, and then just keep adding. Because now I'm going to end up going a hour away for all my hoses. That or I'm opening a pirtek mobile franchise just so I have the access to the van and fittings. I'm surprised you guys in the field don't use the air over hydraulic pumps? That's what I grew up making hoses with.
Hydraulic hose has a shelf life too. I'm not sure if it's a big concern though. I've heard it's best to get hoses made at shops that are reasonably busy so you don't get old hose.
I bought a benchtop micrometor style hose crimper with dies for $1500 ten years ago. It will crimp up to 2" 4 wire. The ability to adjust the final crimp size allows me to crimp any manufacturer fittings as long as I can find the finished crimp specifications. Parker crimpers only crimp parker fittings and hose, same for all the other manufacturers. That said I've found it very rare to have a sudden failure of large hoses, outside of breaker hoses being crushed or drivers running over the dump bed hoses. Usually its 3/4 and below that fail and the carry crimp covers that range fine.
I ended up with my hose crimper, an Eaton weatherhead Coilimatic bench top, with the bench, that I watched on CL for 2 years. When he finally came down 2k, I called and offered him 500$ under that. He took it and it came with a cabinet 3/4 full of fittings. I had to add more storage bins, invest in some hose and have been making hoses for my machines and other locals on the side for 3 years. It’s already paid for itself and now I made and keep a full inventory list and between me and my brother, everyone knows we make hoses 24/7. I didn’t do it for the money, maybe a little, I was just upset at only having one or 2 hose places, with terrible off hours and the mark-up was insane. Not to mention, well we have this fitting but not the other, let me check the other store 2 hours away. Yep they got it, let me make the hose, put the one end we have on and pay and go to the other store. I have the best hydraulic shop and I consider the owner a friend but he is almost an hour away. When I need a hose, I need it then. Now I don’t have every fittings, just the normal stuff, I have all the 2 wire and 4 wire dies and if need an odd fittings, I can get it in an hour. A couple years ago, a company started up and all they do, is stock hose and fittings. It’s a great idea, wish i had thought of it. He’s got 4 30’ containers with every fitting ever made. You have to pay retail but for that convenience, it doesn’t matter that much. If I can wait, i can order it and have it in 2 days, at cost.