Generally, the motor should be able to run in the forward and reverse direction, so the hydraulic motor is usually required to have structural symmetry in design. The actual working pressure difference of the hydraulic motor depends on the size of the load torque. When the moment of inertia of the driven load is large and the speed is high, and rapid braking or reverse rotation is required, high hydraulic impact will be generated. Therefore, the system should be equipped with necessary safety valves and buffer valves.

Under normal working conditions, the inlet and outlet pressures of the hydraulic motor are higher than the atmospheric pressure, so there is no suction performance problem like that of the hydraulic pump. However, if the hydraulic motor may work under pump conditions, its oil inlet should have a minimum pressure limit to avoid cavitation. Some hydraulic motors must have enough back pressure at the oil return port to ensure normal operation, and the higher the speed is, the greater the back pressure is required. The increase of back pressure means that the pressure utilization rate of oil source is not high and the system loss is increased.

Because the internal leakage of the motor is inevitable, when the oil drain port of the hydraulic motor is closed for braking, there is still slow slip. Therefore, when a long time of accurate braking is required, a separate brake to prevent slip should be set.