Custom Hydraulic Cylinders
Your vision deserves a partner
that values precision and performance.
Tell us the application. We build the cylinder. Custom bore, custom stroke, custom seal package, custom mounting - designed around form, fit and function for extreme service life. Integrated R&D and manufacturing under one roof, 14+ years of supply-chain experience, and no minimum order quantity.
Why OEL for custom cylinders
Custom hydraulics is an engineering partnership, not a catalog transaction. Four things separate a real custom-cylinder partner from a vendor that just accepts drawings.
Integrated R&D and custom engineering
We solve complex challenges rather than ship generic product. R&D and production live in the same building, so every custom design is reviewed, prototyped and validated before it moves to serial build.
Total in-house precision control
Full CNC capabilities - milling, turning, die casting - owned in-house. Every component from raw stock through final assembly is made, inspected and signed off by our own team.
Built for extreme performance
Custom cylinders are purposefully over-engineered for durability in harsh environments. The goal is reduced downtime and lower lifetime maintenance cost, not a lower BOM price.
14+ years of supply-chain mastery
80+ countries served, end-to-end process ownership, and competitive pricing without quality compromise. Vietnam / Malaysia / China hubs with a US finished-goods warehouse for JIT support.
What we customize
Three categories of modification cover nearly every custom cylinder we've ever built. Most real designs touch all three.
Category 01
Structural components
The load-bearing geometry of the cylinder. Everything here is machined and assembled in our own CNC shop, so the dimensions match the print - not a close-enough subcontractor variant.
What we customize
- Cylinder tubes - custom bore sizes, wall thicknesses and materials; honed seamless or cold-drawn
- Heads and end caps - threaded, bolted, or welded per drawing; integral trunnion or clevis
- Piston rods - 1045 induction-hardened, 17-4PH stainless, or custom alloy; hard chrome plating to spec thickness
- Pistons and tie rods - machined to the exact fit and preload your application needs
- Large bore sizes - 12", 14" and heavier on request, engineered for extreme loads
Typical applications: hydraulic presses, mill cylinders, mining equipment, marine and offshore hardware.
Category 02
Advanced sealing and bearings
Cylinders fail at the seals before they fail anywhere else. The right seal package - matched to the fluid, the temperature, the side load and the duty cycle - is what turns a standard cylinder into a real solution.
What we customize
- Seal materials - NBR, FKM / Viton, HNBR, EPDM, PTFE, and PU for whatever fluid and temperature range your service demands
- Seal shapes and profiles - U-cup, step seal, buffer seal, double-acting pairs, custom geometries
- Plating options - hard chrome, nickel, thermal-sprayed ceramic for abrasive service
- Specialized bearing cartridges - bronze-lined, DU-lined, composite, tailored for side load and rod guidance
- Wiper and scraper design - metal scraper + polyurethane wiper for dirty environments (mining, forestry, demolition)
When seal engineering matters: biofuel service, phosphate-ester fire-resistant fluid, salt-water marine, food-grade applications, extreme-cold Arctic operation.
Category 03
Fluid dynamics and control
How pressure gets into the cylinder - and how motion gets arrested at the end of the stroke - is as important as the geometry of the cylinder itself.
What we customize
- Valves and manifolds - integrated pilot-operated check, counterbalance, relief, directional and proportional valves
- Port sizing and orientation - SAE, NPTF, BSPP, metric ISO 6149, or bolted flanges per SAE J518 for high pressure
- Integrated hard piping - pre-plumbed tube runs from the cylinder to the manifold, eliminating flex-hose failure points
- Custom cushioning systems - adjustable cushion valves on cap, rod, or both ends; decelerates the piston before it impacts the cap
- Position sensing - magnetostrictive, LVDT or inductive for closed-loop servo applications
When integrated control matters: position-control servo presses, self-regulating lifting systems, drift prevention on boom cylinders, and any cylinder where the downstream valving has been failing in the field.
Product types we engineer
Custom builds across the full range of cylinder configurations - hydraulic, pneumatic, heavy-duty mill and standard welded / tie-rod.
Hydraulic cylinders
Low-pressure and high-pressure custom builds. Working pressures from 500 psi up to 10,000 psi on specialty applications. Single- and double-acting.
Pneumatic cylinders
Compressed-air actuators for assembly automation, packaging lines, material handling and food-grade service. Aluminum and stainless bodies.
Mill cylinders
Heavy-duty large-bore cylinders engineered for steel mills, rolling mills and high-tonnage presses. 6" to 20"+ bores, pressures to 5,000 psi, continuous-duty seal packages.
Welded and tie-rod
Custom variants of our two core workhorse designs. Welded for compact OEM fits, tie-rod for field- rebuildable industrial service.
No minimum order quantity. Prototype, one-off and pilot programs welcomed alongside serial production.
Engineered for the conditions standard cylinders fail in
Standard cylinders are spec'd for the average. In the applications where a cylinder failure shuts down a facility or risks safety, "average" isn't enough. Custom cylinders let us match the environment, not fight it.
Conditions we engineer for
- Specific stroke lengths - beyond what any catalog supports, short or long
- Extreme temperature - from arctic cold below -40°C to steel-mill heat above 200°C
- Hazardous environments - explosion-proof, ATEX, IECEx requirements
- Specialized fluids - phosphate-ester (HFD-R), water-glycol (HFC), biodegradable vegetable-oil, high-water content HFA
- High-cycle fatigue - 10,000+ cycles per day on packaging and automation
- Abrasive dust and debris - mining, forestry, demolition, aggregate
- Corrosive atmospheres - salt water, chemical plants, wastewater, food / dairy
- Unique mounting - compound-angle trunnions, offset clevises, custom pivot geometry
From concept to production
A five-stage engagement process designed to move a custom cylinder from a conversation to a shipping PO without surprises.
Share the application
Send a CAD, a drawing, a failed sample, or even a sketch on the back of an envelope. Plus a line or two on the application - fluid, temperature, duty, environment.
Engineering review
Our R&D engineers confirm the geometry is manufacturable, propose DFM-driven cost-downs, and specify the seal, bearing, finish and control packages.
Proforma quote
You receive a fully-detailed proforma invoice with the specification, tooling cost (if any), unit price at each volume tier, and first-article lead time - typically within 5 - 10 business days of receiving your spec.
First article (FAI)
A prototype is built and dimensionally verified against the print. Full first-article inspection report ships with it. Typical first-article lead time is 3 - 6 weeks after quote approval.
Production
Once the FAI is approved, serial production runs. Quality control reports ship with every lot. Repeat orders pull from the same setup - no re-engineering, no re-tooling cost.
Turnaround expectations
Predictable timing at every step so you can plan against a real schedule, not a best-guess.
Custom quote
Complexity-dependent. Simpler parts quote faster.First article
After quote approval. Tooling-heavy parts lean to 6 weeks.Repeat order pulls
Once FAI is approved and stock is held in Bridgeton, MO.The Overland difference
Quick turnarounds
Same-day shipping on in-stock items ordered before 12:00 noon CST. Custom quotes in 5 - 10 business days.
Competitive pricing
Quality custom solutions at operational-friendly prices. The goal is lower lifetime cost, not lower bill-of-material alone.
Easy ID
Organized part numbers encode type, bore, rod, stroke and mounting. Reorder by quoting one string, not hunting through a catalog.
Experienced team
Decades of collective industry experience and extensive databases of prior builds. Most custom specs start 80% complete.
Full resources
In-depth catalogs, sizing worksheets and DFM guides available to customers. Tools that help you spec the right cylinder the first time.
Reliable quality
ISO 9001 quality system, IATF 16949 for automotive, documented QC reports with every shipment, material traceability on certified grades.
Industries we serve with custom builds
Steel mills and metal forming
Mill cylinders for rolling mills, forging presses, casting lines. High-temperature seal packages and heavy-duty rod construction.
Oil, gas and petrochemical
Wellhead actuators, valve operators, refinery equipment. ATEX / IECEx compliant builds, phosphate-ester compatibility.
Mining and aggregate
Crushers, haul trucks, draglines, conveyors. Heavy-duty chrome plating, dust-protection wiper packages, over-engineered rod construction.
Marine and offshore
Rudder actuators, crane cylinders, deck machinery. Nickel-plated or stainless rods, salt-water compatible seals, IP-rated housings.
Industrial presses and machine tools
Hydraulic presses, injection molders, machine-tool slides. High-precision tie-rod builds with integrated position sensing.
Defense and aerospace ground support
Weapon-system lifts, ground-support equipment, hangar-door actuators. Documented material traceability, extended QC packages.
Standards and certifications
Audited to the standards your industry already runs.
ISO 9001 quality management on every build, IATF 16949 for automotive programs, ISO 14001 environmental management. Mounting to NFPA JIC T3.6.7, ISO 6020/2 and ISO 6022 heavy-duty standards. PPAP available for automotive and aerospace custom programs.
Frequently asked
Send us a CAD, a sketch, or a failed sample. We'll quote in 5 - 10 days.
Tell us the application - fluid, temperature, duty cycle, environment. Send whatever you have - 2D drawing, 3D STEP model, PDF of the current OEM part, or the part itself if it failed. Our engineering team replies with a proforma quote and a first-article lead time within 5 - 10 business days.
US Office and Warehouse
4338 Bridgeton Industrial Drive
Bridgeton, MO 63044
United States
Engineering hubs
Vietnam (primary) - Malaysia - China