A hydraulic cylinder is one of the simplest devices you can use to create force this side of hiring a guy (or thirty) to push on stuff. It’s as simple as having something at point A and then moving it to point B. Although I keep using the word simple, there is a little bit […]
Mobile Hydraulics Blog
Back to school (for hydraulics training)
If you have three or more kids, as I do, you probably relate to the stationary retailer’s commercial depicting elated and frolicking parents dancing around to the Christmas carol, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” (Google that song title + Staples, if you haven’t seen it.) The manufacturing industry typically sees a slowdown […]
Balluff opens new facility in Florence, Ky.
Balluff Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Balluff GmbH, opened the doors of its impressive new three-story, 48,000 sq-ft customer support center in Florence, Ky., just south of Cincinnati, with about 100 guests in attendance, including Kentucky Governor Steve Bushear and a host of local politicians. Ken Howard, Balluff Inc. president, said that the building symbolizes […]
We’re not so different, you and I
I’ve written articles regularly about the differences between hydraulics and electrics, but today I’d like to write about what is not different. To be honest, more is similar with the two forms of energy than is different, especially from a physical perspective. If you are an expert in either industry, you already know more about […]
Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster relies on the power density of hydraulics
As it embarked on yet another one of its record-breaking, thrill-seeking rides, Cedar Point quickly turned to hydraulics, for the power density and precision control it offers. In our fifth and final installment of Design World’s Summer Tech Vacation video series, Editorial Director Paul Heney spoke with Monty Jasper, Corporate Vice President for Safety & […]
My hydraulics Top 10!
I love hydraulics. I’ll give you a few seconds to get over that shock: three … two … one … okay great. Now that you’re over it, I’m going to tell you why I love hydraulics, and I can think of no better way than to deliver it in a Top Ten List. 10. I […]
NFPA’s IEOC Day 2: Hydraulics is not going away, not by a long shot
As long as I’ve been covering the fluid power industry—nearly two decades—there has been an undercurrent of concern as to whether hydraulics was slowly going away. Were electrics or some other combination of motion control technology going to force it into the sunset? Wasn’t it just a matter of time before the inevitable happened? So […]
What is piston rod bar stock?
Hydraulic cylinders are the essence of the fluid power motivation. However, their simplicity often leads us to discount their subtleties of manufacture, often assuming they’re constructed of identical stock. You’d be surprised, then, to discover the devil is in the details, and not all cylinders are fabricated equally. One factor often overlooked is the bar […]
Remove water from hydraulic oil: 3 options to consider
Rain falls on mobile machinery, and unless you clean and garage your front-end loader like you do your hot-rod, your loader will get wet. When your loader gets wet, the opportunity for water to make its way into your hydraulic system exists. Water, especially “free” water not dissolved in the oil, can cause corrosion, modify […]
What are hydraulic cylinders?
What is a hydraulic cylinder? It seems like such an elementary question, especially considering the depth of fluid power related material on the various WTWH and Design World websites. However, as a person whose job deals with fluid power on the daily, even I can forget how important the fundamental lessens in hydraulics are. A […]