Our Rental Program Saves You Time and Money

Drew Swanton

Parker Store Mgr.

DSwanton@TheHopeGroup.com

Here at THG Corporation, we have an excellent array of rental equipment from portable hydraulic crimpers, oil filtration systems, and hand‐crank tube benders. While outright buying this equipment can be costly a daily or weekly rental can be just the thing for a short‐term project.

I will start with some of our hydraulic crimpers: 

KarryKrimp

Our most common rental crimper is the ‐ the Karrykrimp, which is the ideal crimper for on the job crimps and emergency situations. The Karrykrimp can be used with a hand style pump for locations without electrical access, or a small, lightweight power unit can be plugged into any standard power outlet to provide a quick and easy crimping system. This crimper is good for hoses up to 1‐1/4” ID (2 wire braided hose) or 5/8” ID (4 wire spiral hose)

KarryKrimp 2

This unit is a more powerful version of the Karrykrimp, with the ability to crimp a much wider range of those series. The karrykrimp 2 can handle up to 1‐1/4”, 2 and 4 wire hose, and it can even crimp up to 1”, 6 wire hose. While it is double to weight of its smaller cousin, the karrykrimp 2 is still very portable for what its capabilities are.

MiniKrimp (Air over hydraulic)

The MiniKrimp is the best portable crimper on the market. By utilizing a one‐piece high strength cast aluminum frame, the MiniKrimp is light, robust, and highly corrosion resistant. This crimper features an all‐in‐one unit that operates with as little as 60psi air pressure.

These are just come of the models that we offer for rental. We also have some heavier duty bench mountable crimpers that are good for long‐term and ongoing projects; however they are not nearly as portable as the ones I previously mentioned.

Guardian Filter‐ Portable Oil Filtration

The guardian portable filtration system is a pump/motor combination designed for conditioning and transferring petroleum based and water emulsion fluids. The guardian circulates and “polishes” fluid in your existing system to reduce the contamination to an acceptable level.

420 / 424 Tube Bender

The Parker Exactol Tube Benders are probably the most versatile bench benders available today. Built for easy manual bending of copper, brass, aluminum, steel and stainless steel tubes to exact tolerances, the 400 Series benders are also compact and portable to any area for service use where a vise is available. A variety of tools can be used with these benders for all types of bending: close bend radius blocks, mandrels for thin wall tubes, bench mounting adapters and more.

For more information on what have to offer and prices please contact me!
dswanton@thehopegroup.com or you can call me direct at 508‐351‐2710.

Compressed Natural Gas [CNG] Growing As Alternative to Costly Gasoline Usage

Drew Swanton

Parker Store Mgr.

DSwanton@TheHopeGroup.com

You have probably noticed that compressed natural gas [CNG] has taken off as an alternative to gasoline for transportation fleets such as buses, waste removal trucks, and long-haul trucking.

The worldwide production of CNG has been growing at almost an exponential rate with a lot of other countries converting a large number of personal vehicles to gas too. At The Hope Group we have recognized this growing industry and have the means to set you up with everything you need to get your state of the art CNG station going.

For those of you who don’t know much about CNG, it is basically compressed methane gas that can be used as a cheaper fuel replacement for gasoline and propane with less undesirable side effects of the combustion process (i.e. harmful exhaust fumes such as CO2, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, etc.) CNG also releases more than 1.5x the amount of energy than standard gasoline but because it is a gas (not to be confused with a liquefied gas) more storage space is required.

Because of the storage requirements early usage was mostly limited to municipalities who had the means to fund an expensive storage system. Now that CNG has become more common and the price of storing and transferring has become cheaper it is a great way to save money on gasoline and diesel. Current CNG prices are around half the cost of standard oil based fuel prices and remember- you get more bang for your buck from a GGE (gasoline gallon equivalent) of CNG than you do with regular fuel.

CNG storage tanks on a personal vehicle in the spare wheel well.

As a Parker distributor we can provide certified CNG hose assemblies for your vehicle, transfer station and pumping station. We also stock plenty of stainless steel tubing, fittings and flex metal hose to get your CNG station going fast. If you want to know more about our capabilities please visit our website at www.cnghoseassemblies.com or feel free to contact me via e-mail @ dswanton@thehopegroup.com .

Partek Defense Sleeve

Drew Swanton

Parker Store Mgr.

DSwanton@TheHopeGroup.com

Continuing with the trend of last month’s blog on preventative hose maintenance, I am going to introduce the brand-new Partek Defense sleeve that Parker is now offering.  No matter what you do, chances are at some point a hose will fail and how nice would it be to be able to contain some of the mess when that does happen…(Drumroll please) Now you can!

Designed for the safety of personnel who are using equipment in close proximity to the machine itself, Partek Defense is a great way to protect your equipment, personnel and job site from a high pressure hose burst. The defense sleeve is able to contain a hose burst of up to 12,000 psi, which should handle most hydraulic applications. It comes in 1/4"  through 3/4" (I.D.) for most series of hose that Parker offers. The defense sleeve is also great for areas where an oil spill could have high repercussions and possible EPA fines, such as a marine environment.

See this is what happens when you don’t use the Partek Defense Sleeve

Now do not confuse the Partek sleeve with an abrasion sleeve. If you use the Partek sleeve like an abrasion sleeve it will not work the way it was designed. If you want abrasion resistance AND the hose burst protection I would suggest using two sleeves, the Partek sleeve and another one over it to handle any abrasion issues you might have.  Using the Partek sleeve for abrasion resistance will weaken the sleeve anywhere it rubs and can compromise the energy burst containment. Overall the Partek Defense sleeve is another way to save time, money and another of your customer’s lawns.

Preventative Hose Maintenance

Drew Swanton

Parker Store Mgr.


Determining whether or not to change out an old hose on a fluid system sounds like it should be something straightforward, if the hose leaks replace it right? Obviously, but why wait until it leaks to repair or replace? I know a lot of people go by “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But let me ask you this, if you saw exposed wire on your vehicle tire, how quickly would want to replace it? Hopefully right away, the same goes for hoses.

Should be able to get another 5,000 miles out of this bad boy

While working at the retail counter I have been exposed to a lot of different examples of hoses that should have been replaced well before they were slapped on my counter in a leaky, oily mess.  A small leak on a hydraulic circuit can lead to many different problems; potential pump failure if the leak goes unnoticed for a period of time, bad hysteresis, and of course the oil spill itself can be very damaging and sometimes costly to clean up.  So how do we know when to do preventative maintenance on a hose? Really the only and best way is a physical examination.

Whoa! Wrong physical.

Because you should do a physical inspection, and I can’t reiterate this enough, by no means inspect the hose while the system is running. If you do have a leak, even if it is a pin-prick, and you run your hand over a system that has thousands of PSI working pressure you can cause great bodily harm and even death.  While examining your hose you should check for any signs of exposed wires (or fiber), places where the hose is rubbing, rubber that is cracked, flaking or decayed, and rust on the ends where the hose is connected.  Preventative maintenance can save you time and money, because nobody wants to have a machine down while on the job, particularly your customer who you just emptied 5 gallons of hydraulic oil on their lawn.

OK, so maybe that’s more than 5 gallons

So how often should you check your hoses? Well again this depends on several factors; how often do you use the machine? Where is the machine kept? Do you have it exposed to the weather outside or is it protected in a garage away from the sun and elements? These factors all contribute to hose longevity. If you are finding that certain hoses wear out quicker than others it might be a good idea to get nylon, plastic, or steel hose wrap to protect it even further to get the most out of your hose. If you aren't sure you should replace your hose take it off and bring it down to one of our Parker store locations, and our professionals will be sure to take care of you.

Parker’s E-Z Form Is Amazingly Flexible

Drew Swanton

Parker Store Mgr.


If you haven’t heard about this new product from Parker, you will find that it is amazingly flexible. We are now stocking the Parker E-Z Form™ at our South Portland and Lewiston, Maine, and Weymouth, Mass. Locations.

We are very excited to offer this new state of the art industrial hose, which comes in sizes from 1/2” to 4” ID.  This is a general service hose with an amazingly flexible and non-kink style. Literally you can tie this in knots and it won’t kink!

No kinks, no problems… who’s going to untie it though?

The E-Z form™ hose is perfect for use on mobile and industrial equipment; it’s specifically engineered to handle oil, air, water, fuel and some coolants. This hose is designed for applications that require the most intense bends without affecting full flow rates.  The secret of the flexibility comes from the special corrugated Greek cover, where the grooves in it allow for the extreme bends.

Groovy.

We carry both series that Parker offers in house, the general service (7395) and oil resistant/fuel transfer hose (7219). With length availability ranging from one foot to a three hundred foot reel, we can make sure you have the right hose and length for the job. This hose is a great replacement for expensive factory pre-formed hoses that are usually inherent with tight bend applications.  It also can save you time from ordering by replacing the pre-formed hose with a cut-length of E-Z Form™.

For more information about this product or any general questions please contact me!  E-mail or phone is great- you can even fax us.

The Parker Store Blog Is Up & Running Again

Welcome back to The Parker Store blog of The Hope Group. For new readers, my name is Drew Swanton and I will be writing a few words on a regular basis about things happening at The Parker Stores of New England. For returning readers, I am the new writer. Our previous writer, Lori, after receiving a lot of training here in New England with us has moved on to Tennessee for Parker. So, now you are stuck with me.

Since this is my first post I’m going to start off with a little background information about myself. I’ve been with THG Corporation going on four years now and I started pretty much at the bottom.  I was the shipper and receiver working out of our branch in Lewiston. When I first came into the position I had just finished working for a bank, and needless to say my expertise in the field of fluid power was little to none, but nonetheless I was happy to be working. As far as job duties were concerned I was the shipper but after all I was working in a hydraulic hose shop and was very visible to customers so learning to make hose assemblies was naturally the next step.

After working for a few years at Lewiston, the position of store manager opened up in our South Portland branch and I was happy to take advantage of that opportunity. I’ve been here for a year now and it’s amazing how fast you learn when you need to. Everything I did in Lewiston was just a small part of what this company does and can do. Being successful here has all come down to hard work, a desire to learn and grow. So continuing with that trend my next jump after shipping and receiving to managing a fluid power store was to try blogging… It was an obvious choice.

Next issue will be a lot less about me and a lot more about you. I want you to feel free to write to us if you have a question, or to just chat. Write dswanton@thehopegroup.com. Thanks.

Drew Swanton

Parker Store Mgr.


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The Hills of Tennessee

The time has come. Parker has called me up and I will officially be leaving the The Hope Group.  I will be moving on to cover a new territory in Tennessee.   It is truly a bittersweet feeling.  The last 8 months I have spent working with The Hope Group has made them feel like my family.  This entire experience has been challenging, rewarding, and helped me grow professionally in ways that I probably don’t even understand yet.

Reflecting on my time with The Hope Group I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to work for a company that so strongly believes in its employees and who gave me the freedom to make mistakes and go out on my own to learn how a true salesperson lives day to day life.  I have been given the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a successful Parker distributor, all the while being under a complete umbrella of support. 

For every cold call made, door shut in my face, lead followed up on, quote generated, sale completed, and question that arose, which I had no idea what the answer was, The Hope Group was there to guide me along the way.  The team around here has taught me what it takes to be a trusted and respected salesperson.  Be honest, listen, have timely follow through, find the customers pain point and try to alleviate it, and when possible anticipate their needs before they even recognize that it is a need.  The Hope Group has reinforced the concepts Parker taught us in basic training and showed how to apply the tools I have to real world applications. 

As the door closes on this chapter of my career in sales, it is because of this experience that I can open the next door with confidence.  The Hope Group has shown me what success looks like and where passion and hard work can get you.   I appreciate every minute spent here and as I get ready to move on, I won’t say goodbye, but see you later.  This is just the beginning of what I hope to be a very exciting sales career. 

Lori Wessels

Parker Hannifin
Product Support Specialist


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