[AT] Hydraulic hose crimpers

[Cecil Bearden]

I have 2 crimpers, both Imperial Eastman Kwikrimp, a K-16 and a K-401.  
I bought the K-401 many years ago when trying to nursemaid a 20 year old 
John Deere Backhoe digging 1500 ft of geothermal trench.  The K-401 has 
served me well, but it has developed a severe oil leak as has the 
K-16.   I have found seals for the K-16, and will tear down the K-401 
later to find the seal for it.   Imperial Eastman fitting division was 
bought by Stride Tool in the late 90's and I contacted them and received 
an email from customer service who said that their engineers said they 
no longer sell or service the crimpers.

This was all background info, I hope you are not already hitting the 
delete key.   My problem now is that the local supplier has switched to 
those Bite to Wire fittings and they are very difficult to crimp with my 
K-16 crimper.    If I read the Discount Hydraulic hose.com catalog 
correctly, I have ordered the correct fittings for my crimpers.
I am looking to find a long term source of fittings for my crimpers.  I 
do not wish to invest over $5000 in another crimper and set of dies at 
this stage of life.  I hope that Discount will be able to supply these 
fittings long term or if they are being phased out for the bite to wire 
type, I will have to buy a supply for the next 20 years. .

I try to buy an extra adapter fitting when I need one that is an 
oddball.  The usual 90deg, 45deg, and size adapters I try to keep a 
stock of.  However, an order can hit $500 really quick when ordering.  
That is why when I can find surplus hoses with pipe thread ends I buy 
them.  It costs about $4 an end for the crimp fittings, and I would 
rather have a factory made hose on my loaders where someone could get hurt.
Cecil in OKla