Pirtek, an on-site hydraulic hose repair business, has opened its first Tucson franchise, with a 3,500-square-foot retail shop at 3455 S. Palo Verde Road.
But the company also prides itself on its mobile business model, operating a small fleet of three vans that go on-site to make repairs.
“What’s unique about us is we’re basically a hose shop on wheels,” said Dave Johnson, owner of the Tucson franchise. “We make the hose there on site. Some people deliver and pick the hose up, but we actually bring the hose shop to the customer.”
Pirtek is on call 24/7. The concept of the company is to minimize downtime when a hose breaks, by sending a mobile shop to the business to remove the old hose, create a new one in the van and install it.
“We’re kind of like the Domino’s of hydraulic hoses. We’ll be there within an hour on site and get you back up and running as quickly as possible,” Johnson said.
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Each van is equipped with nearly 2,000 parts and a variety of hoses, which are cut to length and outfitted with custom fittings. “Nothing is standard,” Johnson said. “Hoses are bare on the end. You have all the parts and pieces, but you have to cut it to length and pick out all of the fittings and put them on with a special machine.”
Heavy equipment used for building roads such as bulldozers or backhoes are examples of equipment Pirtek services. “Any piece of equipment that moves with a hydraulic actuator, like a garbage truck or plastic injection molding machines in a factory,” Johnson said. “There’s even some examples like power steering hoses. We also do the automotive hoses. Really, it’s hydraulic, as well as industrial.”
The franchise cost about $500,000 to start up, Johnson said.
Angela Pittenger