If you knew that you’d be getting a headache in the next 30 minutes, you’d take an aspirin before then … right? Well, if you could prevent the cylinders or hydraulic components on your heavy equipment from failing, causing you an expensive headache, you’d do it … right?
Foley Express Hydraulics, based in Piscataway, NJ, opened this past January, and offers contractors throughout the Garden State the opportunity to avoid costly machine downtime by providing hydraulics preventative maintenance.
Although Foley has been repairing cylinders and hydraulic components since its inception in 1957, the company officially created Foley Express Hydraulics in March 2001.
Foley Express Hydraulics offers a variety of services for all makes and models of equipment including free pickup of broken cylinders and delivery of new ones. The company also offers an exchange program for cylinder pumps and motors.
“We’ll disassemble the cylinder and quote a price to repair it,” said Ryan Foley, hydraulics business manager, of Foley Express Hydraulics. “If the customer elects not to have the cylinder repaired but decides to purchase a new or used one from us, there’ll be no charge for the disassembly and inspection of the cylinder.”
But there’s more. Foley explained:
“If the cylinder comes in and needs just a basic re-pack, re-seal for a Caterpillar cylinder, and if we don’t do this within 24 hours, we will credit the customer’s invoice 25 percent, no questions asked,” said Foley.
“What we’re really working on is trying to help our customers understand the causes of cylinder failure. We’re trying to convince contractors to install new seals before they actually fail, try and track that time and associate what the cause of the failures are and taking action on that before they occur.”
Through the end of September, Foley Hydraulics is offering a ride or drive contest. For every cylinder brought into the shop, Foley will enter the customer into a drawing, and at the end of September, it will draw a winner, sending two people from that company to Pocono Raceway. There, the winner can drive or ride in a NASCAR car, doing eight laps around the track at 160 miles an hour.
Inspection
“We have Customized Hydraulic Service [CHS] … a program that Caterpillar launched four months ago. This program is like sending machines for an annual physical. We’ll test the pump pressures, go through the cycle times, do the drift rates, take an oil sample report, do a whole visual walk-around inspection of the machine, undercarriage, engine and cab compartment,” said Foley.
“CHS is a good value for customers because they’re catching these problems early, which could cause loss of efficiency in their machines or any type of major failure. Cat found that even the best operators cannot detect a 20-percent loss in hydraulic power. This is a major concern when looking at that loss of productivity over a month or year. Most of the time, a repair that’s done before the component fails is a lot less expensive than it is to do that same repair after that component has failed.”
Foley explained that the CHS program is for 200 and 300 Series excavators, backhoe loaders, rubber-tire wheel loaders and track loaders.
Controlling Contamination
“The philosophy that Cat has for hydraulic cylinders is to keep them clean, keep them cool and keep them closed,” said Foley, adding that while Caterpillar has built faster and stronger machines, the hydraulic pumps [on the machines] have become more sensitive to contamination.
“In our shop, we’re not allowed to use a broom … we have to mop everything because, if you sweep it, airborne particles will rest inside the barrels, on top of the rods or the pistons.”
In fact, Caterpillar performed a contamination control study and if it found one hose missing a cap out of 500 hoses, it would fail them on that portion of the study. Consequently, a fastidious approach to cleanliness is essential.
“Every single one of the cylinders is disassembled. We use a cap over the barrel to seal off any particles from getting inside,” Foley began. “We cap off all the ports and all the lines. We also shrink-wrap the pistons if they are still connected onto the rod.
“A cylinder that’s assembled with some dirt in it and is tested with dirty hydraulic oil for the first couple of months may work OK, but the actual lifespan of that cylinder is going to be a lot less. The same goes for pumps and motors — a large majority of the pumps that we repair are run on the test-bench. It’s the same for hydraulic motors. We want to ensure our customers that their products meet all specifications before they leave Foley Express Hydraulics.”
“Equipment Dialysis”
Approximately one year ago, Caterpillar came out with a way to recycle oil that resembles the way that a kidney dialysis machine operates.
“We’ll put a hose in the hydraulic oil tank, cycle all the oil through a series of about four clean-out filters, and then cycle the cleaned oil back into the tank again,” explained Foley.
“This system has many benefits. It reduces downtime. It’s more cost effective than buying new hydraulic oil and you don’t have to pay charges for it to be disposed,” he added.
Extensive Service,
Inventory
Foley Express Hydraulics employs eight mechanics and eight technicians, covering two shifts, 16 hours a day. The service shop covers 3,500 sq. ft., the machine shop is 3,000 sq. ft. and the hydraulic pump and motor rebuild area for track motors is 800 sq. ft.
Foley’s inventory of cylinders is vast: 22 cylinders that will fit on approximately 150 different machines of different serial number ranges.
Hose-Press Program
Foley Express Hydraulics’ customers can soon watch their hoses being made with the company’s new hose press area.
But if the number of times a company needs new hoses is significant, Foley has an affordable alternative. Ryan Foley explained:
“Depending on how many hoses that you have repaired over the course of the year, Foley will issue the hose press, the tooling and equipment, valued at $10,000 to $15,000. Training is performed free of charge.
“We lease all the equipment for about $50 a month. Then all you have to do is keep the inventory to a certain level. You buy a certain amount of inventory per year, which is usually far below what your company would be spending each year in hoses and you’ve got everything there in your shop. You can make the hoses when you need them. You don’t have to come to us or go to another location.”
Craig Mongeau
Craig Mongeau has been Construction Equipment Guide’s editor in chief for the past 21-plus years. He directly manages CEG’s Northeast and Southeast editions (which includes New England, Georgia and Alabama state supplements); Superintendent’s Profile; Crane Guide; Northeast and Southeast-based anniversary magazines; and special event publications. He also oversees CEG’s Midwest and Western Editions as well as all CEG website content.
A Hofstra University graduate, Craig began his publishing career as a staff writer for local Southeast Pennsylvania newspapers. He then became an associate editor and book editor of Springhouse Corporation, a Pennsylvania-based medical publishing house and then worked as a managing editor of Rockhill Communications, based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., where he created and managed content for a national Voluntary Hospital Association website.
Originally from Pittsfield, Mass., Craig has lived in North Wales, Pa., for the past 27 years. He has been married to his wife, Hillary, whom he met in college, since 1998 and together, they have two daughters, Jolie and Aubrie.
Read more from Craig Mongeau here.
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