Christopher

Thanks for everything everyone, It is a very sad and hard time right now. I wish there was something I could say or do to take the pain away from my brother right now but the best I can do is just be there for him. It will take a very long time until he starts to feel better so I will be there for him as much as possible. Thanks again.

I have had a couple guys call me over the years and asked about that company as I live in Texas and I have heard nothing but bad things about them. My next rig will be from Bob at PressureTek, the 8gpm cold water rig I got earlier this year for a unique job has worked out great! I am bidding on a job for a parking garage and if I get it, I will get the hot box that will connect easily to the 8gpm cold water rig then next year I will be ordering the 8gpm hot water skid for another big job. For what you spent, you could have Bob build you a rig with a trailer and a Bandit and a good surface cleaner, depending on what you do and plan to do. That is a good amount of money and I am sorry to hear about the lousy quality and what you are going through. Give Bob a call and talk to him about it. When it comes to attorneys, check around, there are a lot of bad ones, kind of like suppliers.

One of the most expensive things would be the hot water heater. You would need methanol, caustic, some chems for titrating, etc... Then you would need some 55 gallon poly or steel drums, piping, valves, etc.... I have most of the small stuff including the pump, piping, valves, drums, etc... Just need to get the hot water heater, methanol and a few other things. You can build it for around $600-$1000 depending on how big, the production volume and what you have on hand if anything. You would not need a 55 gallon drum of methanol to get started but some places will only sell that quantity. Those kits and already assembled rigs are expensive and not sure if they really hold up to those claims of a batch or two per day. I would rather slow down and make sure it is done right and not end up with a ton of soap. One of the guys from the Biodiesel boards actually sells the bar soap he gets from the process and people have purchased it and says it is good soap. That would not be a bad idea....give away bar soap and bags or boxes with "Compliments of Superior Power Washing" on the soap or label. Not too many companies out there giving away free soap. Could be a great idea.

I am very new to all of this, so I am not sure what step that would be. I ordered the book by Girl Mark (Maria) a couple weeks ago and am looking into what exactly it will take to build the reactor and everything else besides how much it will be for parts. I just learned that the price of caustic just went up and the other company that sells it here is a lot cheaper but only gets an allotment every so often, that does not make much sense but that is how they run their business. The first company wants to try to get me with a fuel tax surcharge/epa fee of $35.00 for a 50 pound bag. What a joke! I will call the owner next week and talk to him about that. That is B.S.! If I have to pay that, I will just have it shipped from San Antonio or Houston, it is less per pound and shipping will be the same or less than the fuel tax surcharge.

I have read a lot that the amound of glycerin left is due to the amount of water in the wvo. There are a couple of ways to get the water out but are time consuming. I also heard that the wvo is hard on the injectors. I would like to make the biodiesel, just to be safe. Not sure about the 50%-60% yield, I heard that you have more like 80% but I am no expert, just learning about it right now. I could use the 55 gallon drums as they are readily available but there have been times where the new company put them out temporarily until the heavy duty tanks got there and people tipped them over just to be a**holes and made huge messes all over, I would like to prevent that from being a possiblilty.

It is very hard to get it here too. I talked to a burger chain and they told me that if I had my own steel containers like what is there already, I could work out a deal with them as their current company is coming to an end for the current contract. They told me that they only get like $15.00 per location per month for all that vegetable oil and food grease. I told him that I could pay him more for that but I did not have any steel containers but need to go talk to a welder to see how much to have one made. Steel is getting very expensive, the price has been going up and not consistent for the past 4 years now, China is buying up everything and hard to keep a price for steel for more than 1 day as it fluctuates so much. I do not know that much about those all-in-one units but they claim to make a 40 gallon batch in 1 day. Everything I have read mentions that it usually takes a couple days to do it so you do not end up with a bunch of soap (too much water in the oil). I am looking into it a lot right now.

Guys, I will be up in Houston on the 26, 27, and 28 of June. If anyone wanted to meet, talk shop or just hang out, let me know. I will be busy in the daytime but after 5pm, I will be out and about. I will be staying in Sugarland so I am not sure where some of you are located except Scott T. I know he lives in Westheimer. hahahaha just kidding scott. He lives in the Woodlands. Scott D, Adrian, Adam and anyone else, just let me know. Maybe just hang out and drink and talk shop and drink more and maybe drink some more. hahaha

Gene, with the burn on my hand, my son's surgery and work piling up I will not be able to make it. Talked to Scott T. about an alternate plan. Will discuss it later, maybe spending 1/2 the day out on a boat like on a Saturday in 2 or 3 weeks.

That is a shame. I wonder if they were told about using harnesses and lifelines or just told to go up there and pressure wash. According to the article, that building had problems before with work being done wrong so you never know if they were told the safe way to do things or about safety equipment.

I am pretty sure I will be there. Just trying to find out if it will be less expensive to fly or drive.

What is it for a 1st class stamp now? $0.42 ?

Phil, you can register at youtube dot com and load it up there. You can put all kinds of videos there. Might be a good selling tool for your business, just tell your customers about your videos there if they have any concerns or would like to see how you do things or your equipment.

Hello Everyone, I am working on a proposal for some cleanup work. A car had a fire a while back and now they want the area cleaned. The car was in a covered garage with the ceiling at about 6'-4" and there is soot everywhere on columns, the concrete ceiling and on the walls. There is not much as for remains of a car as it was around June of last year and the car is gone. They have waited until now because of the insurance company and Lawyers. I am wondering what will remove soot and smoke damage from concrete and painted concrete (if possible). Thanks for any help.

That is one of the many, many reasons I will not do business with them. I know 5 other people that did business with them and their experience with them was enough for me to do business here in my state.I will not bad-mouth them, say how they run their business, how they treat you when a claim is made, or how their customer service is. I will just trust my friends and after a few conversations with that company, will do business locally (here in my state, not city). That is just me, others say they have had good luck with them.There have been many threads on the boards, do some searching and read. Make your decision based on your gut feeling, not what you just read a lot of.

Just wondering if they are having problems with their server? I tried going there this afternoon and just now but the site would not load up. Anyone have the same problem?

That was cool. hahaha

If that is what the manual says then do that.Is your pump a direct drive or gear drive or belt drive? This is very important.One of the guys on another board is going through this as he changed out his direct drive pump to a slightly larger pump and tried it with a tank. Since it is direct drive, it spins faster than a gear drive pump or belt drive so it is engineered to be supplied with water under a little pressure like from a garden hose.He tried it with a tank and it will not work. He talked to a lot of the guys out there and still, only when he has it connected to a hose will it have flow and pressure, otherwise you are running it dry and will eventually ruin the pump.You could run a pump from the tank to your pressure washer but it would need to be at least 5gpm and 35psi or more, your manual should say what supply pressure. To do this would be a lot of work, added expenses and more maintenance.Just connect it to garden hose supply or save up and get a belt drive and walk away from all those problems.

Another project I am working on is trying to get a ramp for my enclosed trailer. My welder can make one but just need some ideas or plans. The trailer is 6'x12' with wood floor and 2 barn-style doors.I would like the ramp to be hinged so it goes up and the doors close behind it. The ramp needs to be strong enough for my parking lot striping equipment and driver to go up and down it (roughly around 900 pounds) but be able to be lifted up by one person.Just checking to see if anyone has a ramp that is this strong and has pictures of it. Expanded metal did not work with 12" centers so I am looking for another option. Thanks for any help.

Great info, Thanks Russ.

That sounds like a good idea Adrian. Thanks.Maybe I can get a bigger version of it and put more reinforcement underneath as it will be extending around 6' out and would like it to be 4' or 5' wide.

I will be going to the trailer places next week (after I get over this flu) and see what is available.I asked the welder about the atv ramps and welding another plate of aluminum on top for more support. He said it might work but the cost would be a lot more than steel.Have not ruled out aluminum yet but would like to save some money if possible but would like the light weight too.Still searching for other options.

Thanks for the ideas. The trailer is too low to the ground for a slide under ramp. I thought of how the U-Haul trucks have their ramps below the beds in the frame and like that idea.I originally thought about wood. I was going to make it out of 2"x10" boards with 3/4" plywood on top. Spanning 6' out from the edge of the trailer it bowed a lot, did not break but bowed a lot to where I could not get the machines into the trailer so I am thinking of metal now.

I agree with Alan. I don't use a filter. If a nozzle clogs, it only takes a couple minutes to take it out and clean it and put it back in.

Maybe he does not like me. hahaha Just weird, I can get everywhere else, just not there. Hmmmmm.

That was a cool video of the helicopter trimming the trees.