Skived vs Non-Skived Hydraulic Hose Assemblies

Hydraulic hose assembly preparation can be skived or non-skived. The correct choice depends on the hose construction, fitting design, pressure level, and the crimp specifications supplied for the assembly.

The difference is important because the fitting and ferrule have to grip the hose correctly. A hose end prepared the wrong way can leak, fail early, or lose retention under pressure.

What Skiving Means

Skiving removes a controlled amount of hose cover, and in some assemblies may remove material from both the outside and inside of the hose end. The work is done with skiving equipment and tooling set to the required depth.

Some medium-pressure assemblies only need external skiving, often called single skive. The goal is to let the ferrule bite into the wire reinforcement instead of only compressing the outer rubber cover.

Why Skived Assemblies Are Used

When a hose has a thicker cover, skiving can make fitting insertion easier and create a tighter mechanical connection between the hose reinforcement and the fitting. This helps reduce gaps, leakage risk, and blow-off risk.

Higher-pressure hose applications may require both internal and external skiving. That double-skive preparation is used where a stronger metal-to-metal style connection between the hose and fitting is needed.

Crimp Specifications Still Control the Assembly

After the hose end is prepared, the fitting has to be crimped according to the fitting manufacturer's crimp specifications. The skive process does not replace correct crimp diameter, correct tooling, or pressure testing when required.

If a fitting supplier cannot provide crimp data for the exact hose and fitting combination, the installer has to validate the assembly carefully before putting it into service.

What Non-Skived Means

A non-skived hose and fitting combination is designed to assemble without removing hose cover material. The hose end is prepared, the fitting is inserted, and the assembly is crimped without a skiving step.

This saves time because there is no additional cover-removal equipment, cleanup, or depth-setting process. It also avoids failures caused by under-skiving or over-skiving when the hose and fitting were not meant to be skived.

Where Non-Skived Assemblies Fit

Non-skived assemblies are commonly used in low-pressure and many medium-pressure applications. The cover and inner tube remain intact, which helps protect the steel wire reinforcement during assembly.

The choice should be based on the hose manufacturer's requirements, fitting design, pressure rating, safety factor, and budget. The safest assembly is the one that matches the specified hose and fitting system, whether that system is skived or non-skived.