For contractors, equipment downtime is more than an inconvenience — it can quickly become an expensive operational problem. When a hydraulic hose fails, every minute spent waiting for repairs can mean lost productivity, delayed schedules and higher operating costs.

The maintenance problem is obvious: the hose needs to be replaced. The operational problem is everything that happens while that machine is out of service. Every hydraulic hose failure carries both costs, yet many organizations naturally focus on the maintenance expense because it's the easiest one to see

"The hydraulic hose itself is often the smallest part of the problem," said Bill Foshage, owner of PIRTEK Avon and PIRTEK Boston North. "Most people think the issue starts and ends with replacing the hose. In reality, it's that plus everything that happens while that machine isn't working."

Operators will be waiting. Mechanics will be pulled away from preventive maintenance or getting other machines operational. Projects will fall behind schedule, and commitments made to customers will become harder to keep. In many cases, those operational costs outweigh the cost of the replacement hose itself.

For many contractors, fleet operators and maintenance departments, the traditional response is familiar. Someone stops what he or she is doing to solve the problem. That means an operator removing the failed hose and heading to the closest hydraulic shop, a mechanic drops what they are doing at the shop and drives to the down machine or a technician returning to the yard where the crimper is located before a replacement hose can be fabricated and installed.

"There isn't one way that companies handle a hydraulic hose failure," Foshage said. "Some have mechanics. Some have crimpers in their shops. Others send an operator to the nearest hydraulic shop. Every operation is different. What they all have in common is that somebody is pulled from the work they were hired to do in order to solve this unforeseen problem."

Rather than sending people to a hydraulic shop or making a hose with their crimper and driving out to the site, more organizations are choosing to bring the hydraulic shop to the equipment.

With two locations in Avon and Waltham and a fleet of mobile service vehicles, PIRTEK dispatches a technician directly to where the hose failed. Each vehicle carries the hose, fittings, adapters, crimping equipment and tools needed for the technician to remove the damaged hose, fabricate a replacement on site and return equipment to service all without leaving the machine's location. The service also is useful when equipment fails far from a customer's main facility or when a hydraulic failure occurs outside normal business hours.

"Once the customer calls us, the hydraulic problem becomes our responsibility," Foshage said. "The customer doesn't have to figure out who is going to remove the hose, where the closest hydraulic shop is or what other work isn't getting done while that machine is sitting idle. We handle the hydraulic issue so they can stay focused on running their operation."

Making hydraulic hose service mobile requires more than putting a crimper in the back of a van. Over the past 22 years, PIRTEK has continually refined the inventory carried on each service vehicle based on the equipment technicians encounter throughout New England.

"Fabricating the hose is only one part of the job," Foshage said. "You also have to identify the correct hose and fittings that specific machine needs, understand the hydraulic system and route the hoses correctly to avoid future issues."

Not every hydraulic problem is best solved in the field. While the mobile fleet is focused on returning equipment to operation in the field, PIRTEK's Avon and Waltham locations operate as full-service hydraulic hose shops where customers can have hydraulic hoses fabricated quickly, source hard-to-find fittings and adapters, have custom steel hydraulic tubes fabricated when OEM replacement parts are no longer available and get their hydraulic cylinders resealed.

Foshage believes more organizations are beginning to evaluate hydraulic failures differently because of changing industry dynamics.

"Good mechanics are hard to find, and they're incredibly valuable," he said. "We're not trying to replace anyone. We're another tool that helps customers keep equipment working and their people focused on what they do best."

As more businesses look for ways to improve uptime, increase labor efficiency and reduce unnecessary downtime, mobile hydraulic service is becoming another option available to maintenance and operations managers. The cost of a hydraulic hose failure is measured not only by the hose that needs to be replaced, but by everything that happens until the equipment is working again. As more organizations recognize both parts of that equation, mobile hydraulic service becomes another way to reduce the total impact of hydraulic failures.