During a seminar I presented, one of the attendees, a maintenance manager for a large open-cut mining operation, mentioned that he was considering upgrading the filtration on their fleet of hydraulic mining shovels – to achieve a higher level of hydraulic oil cleanliness.

There’s lots of documented evidence to suggest that increasing hydraulic oil cleanliness increases the service life of … Read more

Here’s the scene for an unusual but instructive hydraulic troubleshooting story:

The end of the month was just a few days away when an OEM customer called and advised its hydraulic cylinder manufacturer that the boom extension cylinder on a rough terrain forklift was SQUEALING. This single-stage cylinder was 6″ bore x 3″ rod x 14′ stroke. The OEM was … Read more

I am regularly involved in troubleshooting problems with hydraulic equipment. In these situations, there are two things I always do before reaching for my test gear. The first is to conduct a visual inspection of the hydraulic system, checking all the easy things that could cause the problem in question (never overlook the obvious). The second is to ask for … Read more