Mobile truck, hose shop, dealer or parts counter: which way to fix a hydraulic hose around Oshkosh

If the machine cannot move or a crew is waiting on it, a mobile truck is the cheapest way to fix a hydraulic hose once you count the trip. If you can pull the hose yourself and nobody is waiting, a hose shop is cheaper. The dealer is for warranty work and failures inside the pump or valve, and the parts counter is for low pressure lines only. Oshkosh Hydraulic Line Repair is one of the four, so the table below shows our number next to the others rather than instead of them.

The four routes, side by side

Our figures are the published ranges on the pricing page. Shop, dealer and parts counter figures are what customers around the Fox Valley report paying and what the same hose lists for at the counters we buy from; they are estimates, not quotes.

Read it as a downtime table first. A two wire hose costs a shop to to make and costs us $150 to $300 at the machine. The difference buys the truck coming to you, and whether that is worth the $75 to $125 call depends on what the machine is doing while the hose is off. A skid steer in a Neenah shop yard with a spare on the lot can wait for the shop. A combine header hose in a Ripon field in October cannot.

Is it cheaper to take the hose to a shop or have someone come out?

The hose is cheaper at the shop; the repair is usually cheaper on site. Pulling a hose off a loader arm, driving to a hose counter in Oshkosh or Appleton, waiting, driving back and refitting is half a day for one person and a truck, with the machine down the whole time. Price that half day at what the operator and the machine earn and it passes our service call before lunch. Add the second trip when a JIC end gets read as ORFS at the counter, common on older Case and New Holland iron, and the shop route loses on cost too.

The shop wins clean in two cases: you have a spare machine and no deadline, or the failed hose is already in your hand. We will tell you that on the phone. A hose you can carry into a shop should go to a shop.

When should I call the dealer instead?

Call the dealer when the machine is under warranty or when the problem is not a hose. A loader that is slow on both circuits, a pump that whines, a valve that will not hold, a cylinder that drifts with new seals: those are diagnostics and bench work, and a dealer service department with the manufacturer's tooling is the right place. A blown hose on a five year old tractor is not that. Dealer trucks in the Fox Valley book out days ahead in planting and harvest, and the same hose carries OEM markup. If the dealer cannot get to you for three days, a mobile truck plus a call to the dealer to document the repair is a reasonable middle path.

Can I just make my own hose at the farm store?

Yes for return lines and implements, no for the pressure side. Farm store field attachable ends screw onto the hose in a vise and hold for years on a low pressure return or suction line. The pressure side of a loader, skid steer or excavator runs two, four or six wire hose rated between 3,000 and 5,000 psi, and those hoses need a crimped end matched to the hose by brand and die. The most common DIY failure we see is a field attachable end on a two wire hose that let go under a full bucket. A hose at pressure that fails near a hand causes an injection injury; Penn State Extension's hydraulic systems safety guide covers why fluid at 2,000 psi and up goes through skin and why a pinhole leak is checked with cardboard, never a finger.

Whichever route you take, fluid that reaches a ditch, a drain or the lake has a reporting side. The Wisconsin DNR spills page explains what has to be called in; a burst line over a culvert can qualify.

When the mobile truck is the wrong call

Since we are one of the options, here is who should not book us.

• A failure inside the pump, valve body or motor. That is diagnostics and a shop bench, and we say so on the phone rather than sell you a hose that will not fix it.
• A large cylinder with a scored rod. Reseal is on site; chrome repair or honing is a shop job, and the $600 to $1,500 range on our table already says when it has to come in.
• Machines still under manufacturer warranty where a non dealer repair could void coverage on the circuit. Call the dealer first, then call us if they cannot get to you.
• A hose you have already pulled and can carry. Drive it to a hose shop and save the service call; the cost gap only closes when the machine has to be moved or is holding up a crew.

What to check before hiring any of the four

1. Ask whether the crimp is guaranteed in writing. Ours is on the pricing page; a shop should say the same about its assemblies.
2. Ask what hose spec they are using. The answer should name a rating (R2, R16, R12 or R13), not "heavy duty."
3. Ask whether the ends will be matched to the old fitting by thread gauge, not by eye. JIC, ORFS, pipe thread and metric look alike.
4. Ask what the all in number is with the call, mileage and after hours rate. Our labor is $95 to $140 an hour and the rings are published; a dealer should be able to quote the same three lines.
5. Ask whether they will look at the routing that killed the hose. A new hose on the same bracket edge is a new hose next season. The guide to reading a failed hose shows what to look for on the old one.

A four or six wire excavator hose follows the same logic at $250 to $500 on our truck, with flange ends no farm store can make. If the machine is down right now, the emergency page has the honest response times by ring.