Dave Olson

Hello Rob, Our primary unit puts out almost 10 gpm. Running two guns helps in many things that we do. Sometimes we run three. Also there are times that having the high volume on one wand really gets the cleaning done. We cleaned an old manufacturing plant floor using just wands. We did 100,000 sq. ft. in 4 days using both of our trucks and we picked up all of the water! As long as you can keep the pumps supplied high volume is the way to go. Our trucks are as big as they are just so we can carry a large quanity of water! Of course we have alot of other stuff on our Red truck too. It weights about 34,000 pounds fully loaded. Dave Olson

Having extra equipment is the key. Trucks, pumps, hoses, surface cleaners, they are all going to break at the Darnest times!!:( I have too darn much equipment but there have been times we've needed almost every piece! :) Sometimes it seems that when you have equipment out of service that is when more customers call! :D Of course when it gets really slow, you wonder if you should go break something! NOT!! :) Dave Olson

Hello John T, Neat Car!:cool: Does the wife let you drive it much?:rolleyes: Dave Olson

Wow! Thanks Beth for posting this information. I've asked applicants for years over the phone how big they are( height & weight) for years! Dave Olson

Hello Robert, The big red thing on the left side of the picture is the boiler. It does steam too! This unit was made by Whitco. Does a great job for us. Dave Olson

Here is the picture I was trying to attach to my last post. Dave

You need to determine what you want to do with the equipment and the type of weather you will operate in. You also need to set a budget for what you can do. I once had a fellow want to talk about setting up a unit. He was driving a Lexus and said cost was not a problem! I happen to have my truck in the parking lot, so I showed it to him. "Well, not that much!", was his response. This is a picture of that unit. It operates on Lp fuel. The boiler is 980,000 Btu. The main pump puts out almost 10 gpm and operates up to 3000 psi. It has a 45 Kw Genset on board and all of our pumps are electric with 24 volt switches. It can haul 1000 gallons of water, 140 gallons of Lp and 100 gallons of gasoline. We also can carry a 5 man crew. Gross weight of the truck is about 34,000 pounds when fully loaded. Dave Olson

Hello Paul, As you said "Everything is hard before it comes Easy?! Both of these fellow have worked for me for over 12 years. You just need to be where the water isn't! :) :) Dave Olson

I would stay away from strippers! To hard to control. This is a picture of a job that we did last week. 3000 psi, 4.5 rotary tip, 200+ degree water. Ran two wands. Swept up the chips. If they want complete removal (they repainted building) we would have use baking soda on what was left on the wall. Dave Olson

Hello Chuck, My wife and I have lived here since 1977. We have never done anything special for them. We cut the stalks at the end of the growing season and look forward to seeing the show in the Spring! Dave Olson

Hello Paul, I've been told that the ants eat a wax type substance on the outside of the bulbs. If the ants weren't there the flowers would not bloom! Dave

Hello Paul, We get'em here in Illinois too! Really look nice. Dave Olson

What is/was the biggest stumbling block Hello Ron P, One stumbling block that I have is loosing the ability to see! There is no question in my mind that my business has suffered because of this. I have mentioned in other posts that I am a visually challenged person. I only bring this up because one or maybe two people run for the most part all of the businesses represented here on the BBS. If that person has a hard time doing (paperwork, inspecting jobs, doing the work, etc) the business must have someone that can do what needs to be done or the business will cease to operate! I suggest that each look at their businesses and plan what you would do if you could not do what you do for your business to work and succeed. You may have an injury or just getting old (like me). :) It is not really much different than having spare parts, pumps and or equipment when a failure happens. You plan ahead for the time that you may need them. Remember you cannot always pay someone else to do what you yourself have done/are doing! I know because I have tried. Dave Olson

Hi Guys, I will try to post a picture of our Pulsation Dampener. It is a 1 quart size with 3/4" inlet. It is made of stainless and has a viton blatter with a 1800 psi nitrogen charge. We paid around $800 for it several years ago. Dave Olson

Gravity feed from these tanks. We use 1-1/2" from the tank 2-500 gallon verticals plumbed together. Just before the inlet to the pump we reduced to 3/4". Pump output is 8 gpm. All valves are full port. Dave Olson

The Nikro system that we have is for Dry only. On this job we were cleaning the interior of supply and return ducts for a very large air handler. Parts of the return had 4-6" of dust inside!! Dave Olson

Our system is adjustable in most everyway. Pressure, volume, temperature, etc. Modulating fuel valve on our boiler allows us to adjust temperature/flame. Baird By-pass Relief valve allows us to adjust pressure. We can change the flow/volume by the size tip we select. Dave Olson

NIKRO Industries Commercial - Industrial Series of Vacuums These folks manufacture vac's for dry applications. We have one of their 5000 Cfm HEPA filtered units. We use it for dry duct cleaning. Here is a recent picture of this unit cleaning several hundred feet of horizontal duct. Dave Olson

With our system we can change to flow rate and increase the flame in our boiler. I turned our pumps pressure down to 12-1500 psi. Put in a #10 tip. Adjusted the modulating fuel valve on the boiler (Lp). We were at an industrial plant last year and steamed a 5000 gallon tank for a couple hours to help loosen product on the walls. Our temp gauge on the boiler was around 375 degrees. We us 3/8 ball valves on our lines so didn't need to worry about an open gun. This is a picture of part of our equipment in the back of our Red truck. The boiler is on the left side of the picture. Dave Olson