On 07/14/2014 10:09 AM, Carla Fong wrote:
....

We are in the process of repairing a truck mounted hydraulic crane (an
old power company rig that digs holes, sets poles and generally does
lots of stuff).

Yesterday I replaced two of the approximately 3,218 hydraulic hoses on
the rig and paid about $100 for them. Since there will be more hoses to
replace as we get into the project (and we also have a backhoe with
aging hoses that will need some attention in the future) we are
considering getting the tooling to do our own hoses.

....

Is tooling up for what we want to do reasonable for the amount of hoses
we will be making or is it more cost effective to run down to the auto
parts and have them made for us as needed?
....

It's going to be pretty pricey one way or t'other--the only thing would
be if you do buy tooling you have the possibility of recouping some of
that cost later if you were able to resell it.

Depending on the length and size of the two you had made that sounds
either about right, maybe, on cost or expensive...I'd check around
locally for who else besides an auto parts place is handy -- ag
dealerships or custom hydraulics repair guys may be significantly better
deals as they do more routinely than any NAPA or the like I've ever seen.

We've got a zillion hoses here on farm plus I have a 40-ft JLG manlift
that like your rig is a veritable forest of hydraulics and I still just
use the locals; don't think the overhead is justified. Then again, I've
not and don't intend to do any that don't or are obviously ready to fail
except when they individually are needed; wouldn't consider on any of
the gear here that wholesale replacement is needed. If it were, might
change the thought process.

It's one of the few things I've not searched eBay for -- what luck you
might find on recycled tooling there at reasonable prices I've no klew,
but I'd surely be looking if were in the market.

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