Railroad equipment is unforgiving on hydraulics and unforgiving on the shop that repairs it. Ames Hydraulics does railroad equipment repair in central Iowa for railroads, rail contractors, and equipment fabricators — cylinders, pumps, valves, and welded structural steel on maintenance-of-way equipment, tie-handlers, tampers, rail loaders, and mobile shops. We are a Union Pacific repair partner. Free pickup within 60 miles of Ames.
Maintenance-of-Way Equipment
The bulk of our railroad equipment repair is on MOW equipment — tampers, ballast regulators, tie-handlers, tie cranes, rail loaders, and the trucks and trailers that move crews and material along the track. Every one of those runs on hydraulics that see continuous cycling under load and structural steel that takes real impact. When hydraulics fail or structural steel cracks, MOW crews stop working, and track work stops advancing. We turn that work fast.
What We Repair
- Hydraulic cylinders off MOW equipment — honed, resealed, pressure-tested
- Hydraulic pumps, motors, and valves
- Tie-handler grapples and rail-loader hydraulics
- Tamper heads and vibration hydraulics
- Cracked frames, mounts, and welded structural steel
- Custom fabrication when a part is obsolete or a repair needs to be engineered
- Machined replacements — shafts, pins, bushings, and adapters
Structural Welding to Code
Railroad structural welds have to be done to a specific code, with specific procedure and filler material, and the repair has to be documented. Ames Hydraulics does railroad equipment repair welding to the standard the equipment was built to, and we provide written repair documentation to your maintenance records. If the job calls for a specific spec, we match it — we don’t shortcut.
Union Pacific and Rail Contractors
We do railroad equipment repair for Union Pacific and its contractors, plus BNSF, Iowa Interstate, short lines, and rail-services contractors of any size. See the dedicated Union Pacific repair partner page for the UP-specific relationship. If you’re a rail employee or contractor bringing work to a hydraulic-and-welding shop for the first time, this is the intro. Bring the piece or the cylinder.
Fabrication and Obsolete Parts
A lot of railroad equipment is old — older than the parts systems that once supported it. When a part is obsolete or a dealer won’t quote a real delivery date, our machine shop can make it. That fabrication capability is one of the specific reasons rail work comes here rather than a straight parts-swap operation.
Free Pickup Within 60 Miles
If the equipment can’t easily come to us, we’ll come to it — free within 60 miles of Ames. Text a photo of the piece and the failure to 515-292-2599 and we’ll tell you the same day what your railroad equipment repair needs and roughly what it will cost.
Get the Equipment Rolling
See our full hydraulic repair, welding & fabrication, and trailer repair services. Call or text 515-292-2599 or bring it to 210 Freel Dr in Ames. Open Monday through Friday, 7AM to 5PM.
What Comes to Us Most
The most common railroad equipment repair jobs we see are hydraulic cylinders pulled off tie-handlers and rail loaders, welded structural repairs on MOW skids and truck-mounted equipment, and custom fabrication when a part is obsolete. Rail contractors bringing us cylinders often send them in a batch off multiple pieces of equipment; we turn the whole batch and send it back together.
Documentation and Certification
Rail work has to be documented, and repair procedures often have to follow specific standards. Ames Hydraulics does railroad equipment repair to those standards and provides written documentation for your maintenance records. If your job needs a specific welding procedure, filler material, or post-repair test, tell us up front and we’ll match the spec exactly.
How Much Does Railroad Equipment Repair Cost?
Rail work is a specialty and prices reflect it, but our shop-hourly rates are honest and there are no dealer markups. Typical railroad equipment repair jobs: cylinder rebuild on a tie-handler grapple runs $600-$1,500 depending on cylinder size and seal availability. Pump and motor rebuilds on MOW hydraulics are $800-$2,500. Welded structural repair on grapples, boom arms, and subframes ranges from $500 to $5,000 depending on scope. Full mobile shop overhauls run into the tens of thousands but save the customer far more than a replacement. Every quote is in writing, up front, before we cut steel.
How Long Does It Take?
Cylinder rebuilds turn in 2-4 days once we have the cylinder in the shop. Welded structural repair is 1-3 days per repair area. Full teardown-and-overhaul jobs on MOW equipment can run 1-3 weeks depending on scope and parts. If you have a hard track-window deadline, tell us up front — rail work goes in front of general shop queue.
Track Windows and Scheduling
MOW equipment usually lives on a schedule of active track windows and idle periods between them. The right time for major railroad equipment repair is during a scheduled idle window, when equipment isn’t earning and the shop can take real time to do things properly. Rebuilds done during idle periods are cheaper and faster than the same work done as an emergency during an active track project. If you know your idle windows, share them with us and we’ll book the work in.
Mobile MOW Equipment We Work On
- Tie-handlers — hydraulic grapples, boom cylinders, structural mounts
- Rail loaders — loading arms, hydraulic drives, welded reinforcement
- Tampers and ballast regulators — vibration hydraulics, cylinders, structural fatigue repair
- Truck-mounted MOW equipment — subframes, hydraulic power packs, welded mounts
- Mobile shops and support trucks — welded steel, hydraulic tool circuits
- Rail carts and speeders
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you work with railroad other than Union Pacific?
Yes. Union Pacific is our largest rail customer but we also service BNSF crews moving through Iowa, Iowa Interstate operations, short-line railroads, and independent rail contractors. Any hydraulic or welded structural work on rail equipment is welcome.
Can you match specific welding procedures for railroad equipment?
Yes. Railroad welded structural repair often calls for specific procedures, filler materials, and post-repair testing. We follow the spec called out by the equipment or your maintenance program and document the work accordingly.
What’s the longest a railroad equipment repair typically takes?
A full teardown-and-overhaul on a mobile MOW machine (rebuild main hydraulic circuit, replace worn cylinders, weld reinforcement on high-fatigue steel) is usually 2-3 weeks. Smaller work — single cylinder, single crack, single pump — is days, not weeks.
Do you provide certified welding paperwork?
Yes, when the job calls for it. Our welders follow AWS procedures, and we document filler material, procedure, and post-repair verification for jobs that need it in their maintenance records.
Do you handle emergency repairs at the track site?
For welded structural repair on equipment that can’t move, we can dispatch a mobile welding capability within 60 miles of Ames. Hydraulic cylinder work is generally done in the shop where we have honing and pressure-testing equipment. Call for specific scenarios.
Related Services
Written by Josiah Ragsdale
Owner, Ames Hydraulics — Ames, Iowa
Josiah owns and operates Ames Hydraulics. He has worked on hydraulic and heavy equipment since he was 18, and every hydraulic cylinder his shop rebuilds is pressure tested before it ships back to the customer. More about Josiah →
Got something broken? Call or text 515-292-2599