Reusable Hydraulic Hose Ends

[ArkanDan]

Anyone had any experience with these? Are they safe and can they be attached without specialized equipment? Discount Hydraulic Hose has them and seems like a less expensive way to go and as I'm "jury riggin'" it would seem a more forgiving route also. Surplus Center has a few of these, but not near what DiscountHydraulicHose has and none of what I would need. I'd be dealing with ¼" lines and fittings, either JIC or NPT.
 

[jon f mn]

I've used them on several projects for the same reason you want to. They work, they are just expensive and you have to use hose from the same manufacturer. Hoses very on their outside diameter so you have to be carefull about that. There are also some that Fleet Farm used to sell that had a hose barb and 2 clamps the bolted on. They would work on any hose, but were very clumsy and I think only came in regular pipe thread.
 

[Uncle Ernie]

They work very well. That said, they are bulky compared to crimp on ones and as Jon said they are brand specific. I used Weatherhead brand with good success when I was building prototype car wash equipment.
 

[Reusable fittings]

Yes, they are safe if done right but they are a PIA as well. They are brand and hose specific and you need special dies for them. What that means is that if you blow a hose and need one on a Saturday, you can't go to local farm supply and get one made. You have to go where they have the right press/dies for your couplings. My Cat has reusable fittings and someone before me had replaced a hose with a non Cat hose and put a piece of tin in as a spacer. It was the main hose from the pump to the loader valve. While using the backhoe, the fitting blew right off the hose dumping 15 gallons of oil on the ground. I had to lay in this oil to remove and replace the hose. The hose was still good with the rubber cover nicely removed exposing the steel braid. I put a standard hose and fittings on to fix it.

Cat has their own reusable fittings and advertised they were cheaper than getting a new hose with fittings made. That's not exactly correct. There are a lot more steps in removing reusable fittings and putting them on new hose than putting standard fittings on new hose, so it often costs more money. I've heard that Cat is doing away with their reusable fittings on newer machines.
 

[El Toro]

I made up this spare hose made with JIC reuseable fittings and swivel nuts. You need a vise. Hal

 

[cwtech]

Often it is cheaper to buy a pre-made hose assy than to buy 2 re-useable fittings and the hose.

Depending on the length you need and the pressure requirements, the 1/4" size hoses should be quite affordable.

We used re-useable fittings for many years at our carwash, but we found it more economical for us to buy the hoses pre-made.

The re-useables work fine if the hose leaks near an end, and there is enough length to shorten the hose and re-use the fitting.

Most of our failures occurred in the middle of the hose. ....Cleaning the re-useable ends for re-attachment became more of a hassle than it was worth.
 

[Bernie/MA]

Where are you located? I used to build CW machines in my welding shop. Side brushes, overhead criss-crossers, tire brushes, and lots of 3-level conveyor.
 

[redtom]

The ones I've used do not require any dies, just a vice. Although where I work we have an electric power head that screws them on-a big one like a 12 or 16 would be a bugger by hand. The only ones needing dies are our crimp ones (Parker)
 

[cwtech]

north/central New Jersey, Bernie.

Our carwash is high-pressure only - no brushes or cloths.
 

[JML755]

I bought a few different sizes from Discount Hydraulic just to keep in case I blew a hose on my backhoe. Lo and behold, the first time I needed them, they were too long to fit in the area (joint between the dipper and the stick). I ended up ordering a replacement hose from Discount and had it made to length and at my door in 2 days.

I have since used them in another area of the BH where everything was in the open, but they are a PITA to work with and they ARE expensive though.
 

[Bernie/MA]

I forgot things have changed. I was building back in the 80s, early 90s.
 

[Dick L]

Years ago we made up all of our own hydraluic hoses for plastic molding machines on site. The outside fitting threaded over the outside of the hose and the connector part threaded in the center. 2 and 3 thousand pounds of pressure inside and I never saw a hose leak or break at the fitting. Most hoses went bad from flexing under pressure over a long period of time.
 

[RodinNS]

They work well for some Applications. Basically...if you expect to break a lot of fittings or hose the reusable are great because you can change them on the spot in 10 minutes with two wrenches and a hacksaw. The downside is that you're often tempted to shorten a rotten hose that you should just toss and install a new one....

Rod