I just used the coolest toy!!

[Iplayfarmer]

I am a volunteer EMT and tonight we just trained on our newest extrication equipment. (Jaws of Life)

We just got a Holmatro pump, combi-tool (spreader and cutter), and telescoping ram. (Mallory is the distributor here in the northwest.) The rep delivered the tools today and did a demo. We spent about 2 hours cutting up cars, and these tools are nice!

The reason I'm posting here is because of the hydraulic hose system they use. They've got a single hose that delivers pressured fluid down an inside hose and the return low pressure comes back via an outer jacket. The nice thing about this is that if the inner 10,000 psi pressured hose gets any kind of breach or compromise, it just leaks fluid into the return stream and back to the pump.

There are no metal parts in the hose and the rep took his hose and kinked it completely back on itself while we were cutting and let it go again. You couldn't tell where the hose had been kinked. It didn't leave any kind of a crease. Also the kinked line had no affect on the tool.

The system was completely hot swappable. We swapped back and forth between our combi-tool and ram and some of his cutters, spreaders and other demo tools. I saw the hose swapped at least a half dozen times with the pump running and never saw a drop of fluid leak out.

It won't be tomorrow, but I'll bet we see some benefits of this technology in tractors, etc. in the future.

 

[jimmer2880]

Sounds pretty neat. I can only imagine how expensive the fittings are for it

 

[Wayne County Hose]

First of all, thanks for being a volunteer EMT. My wife is an EMT so I know the time and dedication it takes to become one.

That hose is probably a standard 10,000 psi jack hose. It's the outer hose that sounds wild to me. I've never even heard of that. I'm going to research it, sounds pretty neat.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

First of all, thanks for being a volunteer EMT. My wife is an EMT so I know the time and dedication it takes to become one.

That hose is probably a standard 10,000 psi jack hose. It's the outer hose that sounds wild to me. I've never even heard of that. I'm going to research it, sounds pretty neat.

Here's a link to the Holmatro web page about the hose...

Holmatro-USA - Rescue Tools and Equipment - Hydraulic Hose

I noticed that Holmatro has an industrial equipment devision as well as a rescue equipment division. There might be something there to that is more relevant to this forum.

Holmatro Industrial Products

 

[Cidertom]

While it IS a neat concept I don't think we will see much of it in the industrial enviroment. The issue is the flow rates. Emergency tools use higher pressures, smaller cylinders (lower weight) as opposed to traditional lower pressures, bigger cylinders for mounted equipment. The older "Jaws of Life" (BTW that is a registered trademark of HURST) used a very large (5") cylinder and lower (2500-2800 PSI) pressure. It weighed (depending on how long the extrication took) up to a ton OK, so it wasn't quite a ton, but try holding it in position for very long... The Newer stuff uses higher pressures and smaller cylinders to achieve the same power.

The coaxial hose setup relies on the higher pressures to keep the volume lower.

For the record: this is my 25th year as an vol ff / emt. If I was paid, I would be retiring.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

While it IS a neat concept I don't think we will see much of it in the industrial enviroment. The issue is the flow rates. Emergency tools use higher pressures, smaller cylinders (lower weight) as opposed to traditional lower pressures, bigger cylinders for mounted equipment. The older "Jaws of Life" (BTW that is a registered trademark of HURST) used a very large (5") cylinder and lower (2500-2800 PSI) pressure. It weighed (depending on how long the extrication took) up to a ton OK, so it wasn't quite a ton, but try holding it in position for very long... The Newer stuff uses higher pressures and smaller cylinders to achieve the same power.

The coaxial hose setup relies on the higher pressures to keep the volume lower.

For the record: this is my 25th year as an vol ff / emt. If I was paid, I would be retiring.

You've got me beat by 20 years. I will agree with your assessment of the weight of the tools. These newer tools just seemed so much more "Nimble". The pump actually was a two stage pump and the tools were really fast. When we needed the extra force, however, we'd just keep wait 6 seconds and the pump would kick into high presser low flow mode. We actually cut the steering column out of the three cars just to prove to each other that we could.

You're probably right that we won't see this same application in industrial. I wonder, though, if we'll see some advances that are at a minimum inspired by the technology in the rescue industry.

If you get a minute you should read the "Notable Saves" section of their website. With your experience, you'll appreciate it. There's one where the rescuers went into the O.R. and cut a kid out of a meat grinder.

 

[Cidertom]

One thing I have wished for is a small cutter that I could run from the tractor Hyd. I have a lot of abandoned 1" steel pipe on the place that would lend its self to being chomped up with a cutter. Currently I find a piece by digging / blading/ tilling... Tie on and see how much I can pull out of the ground. If I could "pot hole" and stick a cutter down and snip it off it would be a lot easier. I keep track fairly well so I know where to look next time I'm working in the same area. How come such a small place has so much pipe is still a question.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

One thing I have wished for is a small cutter that I could run from the tractor Hyd. I have a lot of abandoned 1" steel pipe on the place that would lend its self to being chomped up with a cutter. Currently I find a piece by digging / blading/ tilling... Tie on and see how much I can pull out of the ground. If I could "pot hole" and stick a cutter down and snip it off it would be a lot easier. I keep track fairly well so I know where to look next time I'm working in the same area. How come such a small place has so much pipe is still a question.

I've found myself in a similar position multiple times, "If only I had the cutter (or the spreader) just for a few minutes it would make this job a whole lot easier."

I wonder if they ever come up for sale on e-bay.

 

[sandman2234]

They do make such a thing as you guys are wishing for. We had one in the wire industry that we used to cut high tensile steel with. Basically a minature version of a log splitter with a super hardened cutter and anvil to cut what normally would be about 70 rockwell hardness. I don't know who made them because they were tossed around so much, there was never any paint or tags on it.
David from jax