Three Deliveries From Done: What a Blown Liftgate Hose in Watford City Teaches About Hydraulic Hose Failure

The truck still ran. The freight was still on board. But without a working liftgate, the driver had a problem that couldn't simply be ignored until the end of the day.

That is the reality of hydraulic hose failure.

A hose may be a relatively small part of a machine, truck, trailer, or piece of equipment, but when it fails, the entire operation can stop with it.

For that LTL truck, getting back to work meant identifying the failed hose, dealing with the fittings and connections that were already on the equipment, and getting the liftgate operational again so the driver could finish the route.

Hydraulic Hoses Don't Always Fail Where You Expect

When people inspect a hydraulic hose, they often focus on the ends.

They look around the crimp.

They check for oil around the fitting.

They make sure nothing appears loose.

That's important, but it isn't enough.

One warning sign we regularly see in the field is a bubble or blister developing farther down the hose, often around a foot away from the crimp.

That is easy to miss if someone is only looking at the fitting itself.

A hose can appear dry and normal at the crimp while damage is developing farther down the assembly. Once a hose starts showing a visible bubble, blister, exposed reinforcement, severe abrasion, or another obvious defect, it deserves attention before it becomes a failure under pressure.

And once hydraulic oil starts coming out under pressure, the situation changes quickly.

Look at the Entire Hose

A useful hydraulic hose inspection should follow the hose from one connection all the way to the other.

Look for:

• Bubbles or blisters in the hose cover, especially several inches to a foot or more away from a crimp
• Abrasion where the hose rubs against steel, brackets, guards, or other hoses
• Exposed wire reinforcement
• Cracking or deterioration of the outer cover
• Oil wetness anywhere along the hose
• Tight bends immediately behind the fitting
• Hoses that are twisted instead of naturally routed
• Damaged clamps or supports that allow excessive movement
• Areas where the hose is being stretched, pinched, or repeatedly flexed

A quick glance at both fittings can miss most of those problems.

If the Same Hose Keeps Blowing, Find Out Why

Replacing a failed hose gets the equipment moving again.

But if the same hose keeps failing in the same place, simply making another identical hose may not solve the real problem.

Repeated hose failures can point to another issue in the system or installation.

The hose may be rubbing against something every time the equipment moves. The routing may force it into too tight of a bend. The hose may be twisting during operation. A clamp may be missing. The application may require a different hose construction or pressure rating. The hydraulic system itself may also need to be checked.

That is why the location and appearance of the failure matter.

A hose that has been worn through from the outside tells a different story than one showing a blister. A hose pulled apart at a fitting tells a different story than one repeatedly failing several inches away from the crimp.

The failed hose is evidence.

Don't throw that evidence away before looking at what happened.

Hydraulics Are Everywhere

In western North Dakota, hydraulic hose repair is often associated with drilling rigs, loaders, excavators, service rigs, and other heavy equipment.

But hydraulics are everywhere.

The Watford City liftgate is a good example.

Delivery trucks depend on hydraulics. So do dump trailers, wreckers, cranes, agricultural equipment, construction machinery, service trucks, compact equipment, and countless pieces of equipment working throughout the Bakken every day.

When one hydraulic hose fails, it doesn't matter whether the machine weighs 60,000 pounds or the hydraulic system is simply raising a liftgate.

If that hydraulic function is necessary to do the job, the equipment is effectively down.

The Fitting Can Be Just as Important as the Hose

Sometimes making the hose itself is the easy part.

Identifying and matching the connections can be the bigger challenge.

Hydraulic equipment in the field doesn't all use the same fitting standard. Depending on the manufacturer and where the equipment was built, a machine may use common North American connections or less common metric and international fittings.

Mondak Equipment works with a wide range of hydraulic hose, fittings, adapters, and connection styles, including hard-to-find configurations such as DIN, BSPP, VOSS, JIS, and Komatsu-style connections, along with the common fittings found throughout American equipment.

Having access to the right fitting matters when a truck or piece of equipment is already down.

The goal isn't to spend half a day trying to make the wrong parts work.

The goal is to identify what is actually on the equipment, build the correct assembly, and get it working again.

Catch the Failure Before It Becomes a Service Call

Nobody plans for a hydraulic hose to blow three deliveries before the end of a route.

Nobody wants a loader sitting in the middle of a job, a trailer stuck with a load on it, or a piece of oilfield equipment waiting on a hose.

But many hose failures give some indication that something is happening before the final rupture.

The key is knowing where to look.

Don't inspect only the crimp.

Follow the hose.

Look for the bubble developing a foot down the line. Look for the worn spot hidden behind the bracket. Look for the hose rubbing every time the cylinder moves. Look at the routing. Look at what changed.

A few minutes spent finding a developing hose problem can be a lot cheaper than discovering it after the oil is already on the ground and the equipment has stopped moving.

Hydraulic Hose & Field Service in the Bakken

Mondak Equipment provides hydraulic hose, fittings, adapters, repair, and field service for trucks, trailers, oilfield equipment, construction machinery, and other hydraulic equipment throughout western North Dakota and the surrounding Bakken region.

Whether it's a common hose assembly or a connection that's difficult to identify or find locally, our job is to help get the right repair made and the equipment back to work.

Have a hose showing a bubble, abrasion, leak, or repeated failure? Don't wait for it to become the reason your equipment stops. Contact Mondak Equipment for hydraulic hose and repair support.