Hydraulic hoses are literally the life lines of most construction equipment. Nothing can grind productivity to a halt faster than a ruptured hose. A little time invested up front to monitor the condition of the hydraulic hoses and fittings can dramatically reduce expensive failures in the field. “The potential cost of hose failure in terms of lost production, environmental impacts and possible injury to operators and others argues strongly in favor of replacing hoses on a time-based schedule, periodic visual inspection or some combination of the two,” says Douglas Jahnke, marketing manager, Eaton’s Hydraulics Group. “Hose replacement while equipment is already ‘out of service’ as part of a planned preventive maintenance schedule can prevent critical downtime and expense.“As a general rule, hoses should be replaced as part of a preventive maintenance(PM)program, especially in critical applications,” agrees Tim Deans, Gates Global Hydraulic Systems engineer. “Consider that hose shelf life is similar to automobile tires. After four to six years,the rubber begins to break down and you can expect to see visual cracking and weeping around the couplings.”
