Christopher

Great job on the testing Doug! Some of us have been wondering how to check the speed of the spray bar to find out how fast it really is spinning. Even though they are rated to 2000rpm's or even 2500rpm's, it seems like the swivel manufacturers are fudging the speed of the spray bar to make it sound like it is moving faster than it really is. I agree Nigel, with more pressure hose, there will be a lot more pressure loss unless you go with the 1/2" pressure hose which will be not much pressure loss compared to the 3/8" pressure hose. I have been looking for a large concrete area to try out my newly-modified Turbo Twister that is engine driven spray bar to see how it does.

I hear you Jon. I get maybe 4-10 calls per year for deck restoration and the people here don't like hearing the numbers I give them for a good job. Most people around here will just let the deck go until it needs to be replaced and some file a claim on their insurance for the rot and they get it replaced. 4 people last year told me that what it cost to maintain every 1.5 to 3 years, after 3 restorations that would cover the cost of a new deck so why bother?????? I try to explain to them the maintenance is protecting their investment and keeping them from replacing after it is rotting away but they are only looking at the $$$$$$ out of their pocket, not as protecting their investment. I would like to hear some good sales techniques for these situations, not the "used car salesman" typical stuff, good sales that will help in these situations. Anyone up to the challenge????

Thanks Rob.

I have seen pictures of the sidewinders, how good are they? How much do they cost? Where do you buy them? Thanks.

I have never had a problem with the reducer, just hit things sometimes and knock the nozzles out. Before the Tampa round table 2 years ago, Rex at PWP showed me how to use the locktite and re-use the spray bar if there is still a little bit of thread left in the bar. He said that usually you can do this fix 2 or 3 times then time to throw away the spray bar. I have done this 2 times on the classic bar and 2 times on the big guy bar. This last time I hit something hard enough that it tore the nozzle and aluminum off the spray bar so I ordered a new spray bar.

It is amazing how hard the gum gets out in the sun and baking on the concrete for years and years. I thought it would only be here in Texas where the gum is extremely hard to remove but Tony is right, that gum at the DMV was hard as rock, just like here in Texas. At the Vegas Round Table, people got to see what they have to deal with just like what I am dealing with when removing gum or cleaning gum here in Texas.

This is something that I have wanted to try for a while now. I am working on an apartment complex and you can't get too close to the buildings, they are good size and I have to use almost 600' of pressure hose on one building and a little bit more on another building. With 2 machines running, I have about 1225' of pressure hose in use with 2 guys washing. I tried adding the downstream injector close to where I was working and I could not get it to work. I called Paul to talk to him about it since I bought it from him when he was at Espec a while back and he gave me some ideas to try out. This is the Super Suds Sucker. One of his suggestions was the answer to the problem, Thanks Paul! I am running either 100' or 150' of pressure hose after the injector and things are working out good. This is good advice, Thanks Russ! Anyone that has to string out a lot of hose, do like what Russ suggested and keep the injector close to you, it does work good.

I had a similar situation a while back and found out it was the guns. Did you get the guns from Northern Tool? I bought some of their guns and 2 different style guns would not let me downstream soap. I disconnected the gun from the ball valve like you did, opened up the ball valve and it would pull soap. I tried a Suttner gun and it would pull soap. I have heard of other people having the same problem with some guns out there, I would stick to a brand name gun.

That company has some interesting technology but I would think that they also have a vacuum system to pull the water/contaminants into the vehicles as the push from the system from the surface cleaner will only push so far. That technology is similar to some that some of us use currently, just not in that particular application.

Nigel, I have not heard anything from them, probably because of the holidays but I am still looking.

Scott, I had been thinking about something similar, 2 nozzles to spin the spray bar and 2 for cleaning. I wonder what that would do? I am looking for a large area of concrete to try out my large surface cleaner to see what it can do, hopefully it works as great as what I hear about the turbo twisters. I would like to try out Jerry's 40" vacuum surface cleaner. That thing looks cool!

Hello Everyone, I have not posted in this area yet but here goes: I have a customer that has the Orange Saltillo Tile in walkways around his house and the back patio is also tile. It has who knows how many years of erosion and neglect. This is outside where the animals do thier thing on it, tree sap, leaves, etc.... I tried using a little bit of pressure and warm water around 150 degrees and got some of it up. The Tree sap looks like it has stained the tile. There is no glaze or wax on thes tiles and a lot of them have pits from erosion. I am wondering: 1. Will floor strippers work as good as pressure washing chemicals to clean? 2. Has anyone done this before and what were the results? 3. Has anyone tried comparing the floor buffer to pressure washing on tiles? I talked to a guy and he said that the floor buffer with the right pad and stripper will take some of the top off and make it look good again. Does anyone know about this? Thanks for any help.

That is great when networking and friends help out each other.

Thanks for sharing that article, it was good and informative.

Nice video Jim and very informative.

It looks like you have things setup good with the most weight over the axles. The rings that you are using to secure the ratchet straps to..........Are you using screws into the boards or bolts going through the boards. I can't see too good from the pictures. Screws can rip out if you stop fast enough and send the tank sliding into other stuff. Those rings do look good and are easy to install. Jerry has a good point about leaving room around the skid for maintenance/repairs and for air flow, it sucks having to unbolt things or move a lot of things around when you have to work on the machine.

I agree with what most have said here. This is your company, your reputation and how you feed your family here. If your foreman is not responsible enough to make sure that the job is getting done the right way the first time then after all these problems then it is time for a new foreman. Sometimes guys become too close of friends on the job and then the quality of work suffers at your expense. Most places have a paper trail system, kind of like what was mentioned here before you let them go. The customer complaints is what is there to help your company to do quality work and help you better your business. With all those problems it is obvious that someone needs to go whether it is a worker or forman is up to you but before another complaint comes in, it is time to give a warning that the next one will probably mean someone's job and when you let someone go then they will see that you are serious and possibly give you a little bit of respect instead of just laughing at you and giving you shoddy work knowing that you aren't going to do anything about it like always. People getting fired always gets the attention of those that really want to keep their jobs, the others that are not serious will keep on doing the same thing until you do something about it. Good Luck.

Great looking trailer. Curious why you went with the type of trailer that the bed is over the wheels, besides being a little bit wider? Will you try to make the 2" hose reel fit on the trailer or just throw it in the truck when needed?

That is a nice truck! How do you like the flip-lock poles? I have been wanting to try them for a while.

Hello Everyone, I have some concrete to clean on the side of a house and at the back of the house. In the middle of the sidewalk there is a huge Air Conditioner that blocks the sidewalk and there is only a few inches clearance around it. There is a 6' wooden privacy fence on the side of it running the length of the property isolating the property from the vacant lot. I need a way to get to the back yard by either crossing over the Air Conditioner or the fence to do the job as the people will not be home and the only other way is through their home. Please let me know if you have any ideas to do this safely. I was thinking about the "Little Giant" ladder to go over the fence but I do not have one and the shop that can get them will have to order it and it will be weeks. Thanks for any help.

Just called and talked to the guys there. Thanks Rob.

Dallas is about 6.5 hours North but if the job is large enough....No problem. I have the vacuum recovery system. I will call tomorrow. Thank You.

I have used tennis balls on the guns since I learned about it back in 2004. I just use an ice pick or scratch awl and poke a hole in the tennis ball on both sides then run a string through it and tie it, then loop it through the gun handle like in the pictures above so you can take it off if you have to. If you drop the gun, the tennis ball will pop out and the trigger will close where velcro will keep the trigger open. That is why I still use the tennis balls on the few guns that I still use, most things are now operated with ball valves but have safety features included.

Count me in also, I sure could use that vacuum surface cleaner. Thanks Jerry.

Count me in also, those are great mini computers!