Switching From Gas to Hydraulic Tools
We put the most common questions to Tommy O'Connor of LMA Services in Boston, a contractor who has run hydraulic tools on utility jobs for years, and paired his answers with what we hear across the HYCON dealer network. Here is what you need to know before you buy.
Q: Do I need to replace all my existing tools to switch to hydraulic?
A: No. You keep what works and add hydraulic alongside it. Tommy is clear that you would never want only hydraulic or only gas on the truck, so the switch is additive rather than a full replacement. You add a hydraulic source and the tools that matter most for wet and confined work, then grow from there. Most crews start with a single tool, often a pump, and expand the setup one job at a time as the value proves itself.
Q: How much does it cost to get set up with hydraulic tools?
A: A full hydraulic setup lands in the range of twenty thousand dollars. This will give a suite of tools, all driven from the same power source, and since hydraulic tools are by nature a simpler built with less moving parts (because the tools themselves doesn’t carry the engine), maintenance costs are at a minimum.
Q: Are hydraulic tools only worth it for large contractors?
A: No. Large outfits can carry everything, but the value is just as real for smaller crews doing wet or confined work. Tommy started with one three inch hydraulic trash pump because his small electric pumps could not keep up, and he built from there. If your work regularly puts you in trenches, vaults, or dirty water, the case does not depend on the size of your company. You’ll benefit nonetheless.
Q: How quickly do hydraulic tools pay for themselves?
A: Through time saved on every job. Tommy's summary is that the tools shave hours off your day, and that it pays to be efficient. A hydraulic ring saw clears thick pipe in one clean pass and cuts time in the hole by a third or more. A hydraulic pump moves close to four hundred gallons a minute without clogging on sand. Fewer hours per job across a season is where the return first shows up.
Q: What do I need to power hydraulic tools on site?
A: A hydraulic supply, which you may already own. Many work trucks come with a hydraulic system from the factory. In Tommy's case, all his trucks have hydraulic systems, so he plugs in and runs off the truck's hydraulic PTO with a flow regulator. If your trucks are not set up that way, a portable power pack does the same job, sits well back from the hole to keep noise and exhaust away from the work, and runs roughly six hours before it needs fuel.
Q: Do hydraulic tools need more maintenance than gas or air tools?
A: No. Well built tools of every type last a long time, and hydraulic is no exception. Tommy has jackhammers his father bought thirty years ago that still run after a clean and rebuild, and his honest verdict is that everything durable, hydraulic and air alike, holds up. On HYCON tools the working parts run in oil, which keeps service needs low. Durability is not the reason to choose one over the other. Field performance is.
Q: Is it safe to run a cutting tool inside a vault or building?
A: A hydraulic tool is, whereas a gas one is not. A gas saw cannot run in a sealed vault because it fills the space with carbon monoxide. As Tommy explains, “a hydraulic saw has no engine and no exhaust, so it can work in those spaces. Hydraulic tools even have water running through it which controls the dust.” The same holds for breaking concrete indoors, where a hydraulic breaker vents nothing back at you.
Q: Why are so few contractors using hydraulic tools if they are this good?
A: Habit and slow decision cycles, not performance. Tommy says he is often the only one on a site running hydraulic tools, and he puts the lag down to simple habit and “it’s how we’ve always done it”-excuses. Larger organizations move slowly even once convinced. “Big wheels turn slow, and a crew that has seen the tool may still take a year to place the order”, Tommy says. “The tools work. The market is simply slow to turn.”
For the full picture of where hydraulic tools win and why, read this post: “Where Hydraulic Tools Deliver What Gas and Electric Can't”.
It walks through the trench, the vault, and the wet dewatering jobs in more depth, with the field reasoning behind each.