Guys, I'm mostly a pneumatics man, with enough hydraulics knowledge to cobble up working stuff, but not a good feel for everything that's out there.
Can any of you tell me what's the quietest hydraulic motor/pump type?
I'm assembling a "line shaft" system of hydraulics to operate several machines off a common power source in an environment where electricity becomes impossible. We cannot bring together all the right characteristics for a hazardous location electric motor in a single motor to meet all of the requirements of the environment. So, instead, I'm going to build up a pump supply that feeds all the machines - one or all at a time via selector valves - kind of like an old line shaft setup. The electrics will be outside the building.
I'd rather it be as quiet as possible. I know there are snubber/suppressor/muffler rigs for gear pumps, but my experience is that gear motors make a lot of racket, too.
I don't need a lot of pressure or flow. The largest motor we're replacing is only 1-1/2HP.
LLoyd