A hydraulic cylinder is an actuation mechanism that is producing linear force and motion by using pressurized hydraulic fluid.

Hydraulic cylinders have a wide range of usage - for various types of power transfer applications, where a force from one point is transferred to another.  

What are the benefits of hydraulic cylinders?

• Hydraulic cylinders can exert enormous force on the inside mechanical equipment or an object. This way, mammoth tasks are no longer problems because they are transferred to machines.

• Unlike mechanical and electrical systems, hydraulic cylinders are easy to maintain because they don't need many moving parts to do their operations.
• "Power to size" and "power to weight" ratio is efficient in hydraulic cylinders.
• Hydraulic cylinders can provide consistent torque despite speed changes because they have fluid power systems
• Hydraulic speed control and automatic overload protection comes with a hydraulic cylinder
• They have a dimensional accuracy

If you are in a situation where you need a hydraulic cylinder, there is one important decision: should you buy a catalog cylinder or order a custom made one. 

We are not saying that a catalog cylinder is a bad option. In fact, they will probably always match your requirements at some point, but you will have to make a few compromises. It can happen that the rod material is not what you are asking for, or the bore is larger than you need, or there are limited diameter options. 

With custom cylinders, the amazing thing is that you can configure your own product and choose options to suit your needs and specifications. 

When you order a cylinder that meets all your requirements, you won't have any compromises, and because it's a perfect match, you will eliminate under or over-engineering. 

Can Standard Cylinder be a Good Thing?

In some cases, like for mass-produced equipment that doesn't have any special requirements, a standard cylinder might be enough. 

In those cases, you will often have to create machinery according to the cylinder, instead of the other way around. 

Of course, with a standard cylinder, you could find out that it is not optimum for your fabrication. Maybe it's size, seals, shape, port size, design criteria, flow, or mounting, but whatever it is that doesn't fit you 100%, it will cause you problems.

What About Configurable Cylinders?

You can choose the exact diameter and length for your piston rods or other components with configurable cylinders, or choose which material you want to use, whether valves and valve manifolds will be included in the cylinder body, or something else. 

The great thing about configurable cylinders is that you know what you are getting, no surprises afterward. 

Maybe you are working in special operating conditions like extremely low temperatures, or on the other hand, extremely high temperatures in close proximity to furnaces like high ambient pressure in deep-sea environments.

Because you are going to have a cylinder specific to your conditions, you can accept it to be durable and work longer than an off-the-shelf cylinder would.

Let's take a look at the parts you can configure and create your custom cylinder.

1. Cylinder Basics:

• operating pressure
• bore
• rod size
• shaft material
• stroke

2. Shaft Mount and Base Mount:

• option for the hole
• internal thread
• external thread
• clevis
• lug or none accessory type
• pinhole size

3. Shaft Stickout Adder size

4. Port Orientation

5. Lengths: tube and rod length

6. Color

Applications like automotive recovery, road-working, or material handling are just a few of many examples where custom hydraulic cylinders can be used. 

You need to have a high-quality cylinder for such an industry, which Cheetah Hydraulics provides for you, maximizing the cylinder's potential and benefits.

What happens when you make compromises? 

Sometimes off-the-shelf is a great purchase; we already said it. And, yes, sometimes it doesn't fit the best. But what happens when you think that the compromise you are making is not too big?

For example, suppose you buy a high-pressure cylinder because you believe that it can be used in every scenario. In that case, you are actually using a cylinder that is over-engineered for a low-pressure. 

This can go the other way around too. If you need a high-pressure one but using a pneumatic cylinder, you could breach safety standards, which you should definitely avoid. 

What about the cost?

Everything has its two sides. Pros and cons. A custom cylinder could be the best option for your budget if you know what you need.

 Maybe an off-the-shelf cylinder could be a cheaper option at first, but if it doesn't fit your machine perfectly, you will have additional maintenance costs, for sure. 

Let's say that the port location is not in line with your machine. In this case, you will have to spend more time adjusting it to even be able to access it, which drives up your total costs.

The advantage of the configurable hydraulic cylinder is that you don't have hidden costs. You configure your product to suit your needs, know what you are getting from the beginning, and maximize its potential. 

To sum up, do you need a custom hydraulic cylinder?

Do you produce customizable machinery? Are you using an off-the-shelf cylinder, but you had to make some sacrifices? Do you want your cylinder to be an absolute match with your machines? Then yes, you need a custom hydraulic cylinder.

Almost every basic cylinder model contains these parts: head, barrel, piston, and piston rod connection, and bottom and bottom connection.

So, what can you customize here? Well, you can easily create the best version for your business, the one that will meet all of your specifications precisely. 

What if you need your cylinder quickly? Won't it take too much time to communicate everything? No, because we are using Product Configurator.

You will create your own cylinder with a few clicks in a simple-to-use interface. Like we said - efficiency is the key here!

This way, you don't need to comprise one attribute for another just to make a standard cylinder work in your specific machine. 

Many companies have the same concerns - will they have the same quality, reliability, and duration with a custom cylinder as they would have with a standard one? Of course! You will still get the quality production, materials, and design that has been proven to work. However, your machines will have the part that fits them like a tailor-made suit!

Ok, ready to start? Click here to configure your cylinder!