Scott Stone

Uhhm, am I the only one who's eyes glazed over with Ryans calcualtions??? I have the washer forward of the tank on both of my trailers, and I am putting a new one together tomorrow, and the tank will be forward on it, as well. Scott

This is just Scott talking, and sometimes I do things a little different. For my opinion, I would by the cheap one. Here is why, You are paying around $2k for it. If it goes belly up in 6 mmonths, and needs a new motor, I can buy a 20 HP Honda for around $1200. If the pump poops and dies, I can buy a new pump for around $400. The Generator is $300. Etc, etc, If the machine looks to be okay structurally, a little paint and effort will make it look nearly brand new. All in all, you could have a baiscally brand new unit, with a trailer for under $5k, and you get to run it in its present condition, with a larger tip, until then. As for the high pressure, since it was a new startup, I'll bet the guy that has it now went to Home Despot to get a tip, because we all know one size fits all. Scott Stone

Sounds metric. Go to a bolt store. they would probably have it. Scott Stone

Sorry to get back so late. I rent the tanks. Ionics, or GE Ionics is who I get the bottles from. For brushes and poles I would find another source than a typical Window cleaners supply. They would probably be a lot more durable and accomplish the same thing from another source. Think a painters supply. Scott Stone

I voted earlier, but I thought that I would throw in my additional two cents. I carry 1,000,000-2,000,000 aggregate. I also carry an additional personal umbrella policy that ihas a 1,000,000 value, on the advice of my attorney. Now I don't have to worry about all of the unforeseen situations. Scott Stone

You knew that there had to be one out there, and I am it. I am Mormon and have been all of my life. Just to clarify a few things. 1. Mormons do use the Bible and believe in it. We also believe that men are frail and that in all of the translations that have taken place, many by Hand writing before the Gutenberg press, the Bible had a potential to be mistranslated, or incorrectly copied. Some of it may have been intentional and some may not, but stuff happens. 2. I would not want the Book of Mormon or the Bible taught in School. The potential for abuses by someone that does not believe in either book would be considerable. I think that it is most appropriately taught in the home, and at the church of your choice, with whatever interpretation that a person feels comfortable with. I may not like your interpretation, but you do have a right to believe what you want. 3. Many other religions do believe in the Bible, or at least portions of it. The Muslims and Jews both believe in the old testament. The Wiccans and Pagans do not believe in any of it, but have developped their own belief system. I don't agree with it, but I respect my friends (and yes I do have some) that believe this way, as well as those that are Catholic, Methodist and Southern Baptist, etc. 4. I also believe that *** Education should be taught in the home, according to the belief systems of the family. Unfortunately, many parents do not take this responsibility seriously. Then they wonder how come little Junior, and his girlfriend are expecting a baby. Just thought that I should throw in my two cents. Scott Stone

I use DI a lot for cars. It does work. for windows you would just have to remember to scrub every inch. I would think that you could get away with a llong pole and brush, and scrub the windows, and then rinse immediately. If you take to long on rinsing, or move too slowly, then the soap will dry and you will have to do it again. This will apply to anything. Scott Stone

E-Spec has had issues for years. I stopped using them about 3 or 4 years ago. I ordered one type of hose, and they sent me the seprentine crap that they try to pawn off as being superior. I called them on it, and told them it was unacceptable, and they basically said tough noogies. I told them that I would be buying hose in a month to replace it because itwould be junk. In 2 weeks, all four hundred feet was toast. I now buy from somewhere else, for everything. Their loss. I may not be a big fish, but if someone is hungry they will work with me. Scott Stone

Because it is hotter now than it was before, and hopefully, your engine has more time on it that before, so that there might be less vacuum and the pump might not work as well. Mine ran fine for a year or so, and then as soon as it recently started warming up, it started vapor locking. I hav ehad it happen before with the same machine and a different engine. Scott

You can also use a briggs fuel pump for a vanguard. Now a problem that I had was it cutting out. I figured it was vapor locking, so I rerouted the fuel line up the right side, and put a hole in the side of the plastic to pass the line through. It is then a straight shot into the fuel pump. Scott

I forward my calls to my cell phone, and have someone on standby to handle emergencies, when everything works perfectly. I also do not usually stay gone for a long time. I fly back and forth. I might try a whole week again this year. Scott Stone

Umm, check the oil??? Some of the Hondas are reall sensitive to oil levels.

I like to cook on the grill, but I also like to do some dutch oven cooking. Nothing like biscuits and gravy where everything is made in a dutch oven, or Fajitas, or Dutch oven potatoes. That is some good eating. How about smoked pork and dutch oven potatoes? Guaranteed to keep boy scouts and their leaders happy, and fat. Scott

I got rid of mine the old fashioned way. She died. Not to worry though. I think that in the 16 years she could have been involved in my life, I saw her 15 times, and only 2 or 3 at my house. Of course, I had to ban her from the house...Caught her stealing my wifes check book; Scott

Or it could be really ugly. Had any cold snaps lately? I hope foryour sake it is just a nipple. Had one myself a couple of days ago, but the dire thing is that the coil could have a weld that is leaking, or it got a stress crack, or it forze and put a tiny hole in the coil. Scott

I recently lost 70 lbs. Even before the weight loss I could work all day without a lot of ill effects. I have been doing this for 15 years now and new guys are constantly amazed that they still cannot keep up with the old man, at 44, good grief. I am more careful about my diet, but the 8 hour sleep thing usually passes me by. Scott.

I so want to be mean right now, but I do not want someone to think that I am offending Jon. So I will keep my orneriness to myself... I hate it when I have to be nice. Scott

This is a huge job, and there is not a way in the world that you will be able to do it all your self, in a reasonable amount of time. Now some questions, Are you going to do the tops of the tanks? Are you being supplied with a lift? What is being used for containment? Just some rough figures tells me that each tank has about 60,000 sq ft of area. 200*3.1417*50=31417 for the sides 3.1417*100^2=31417 for the top. that is a total of ~63,000 feet. At 5 cents a square foot, you arelooking at 3000 a tank. You should be able to do it in about a day, so that price might be a little high, depending. Figure the paint at 40 cents a foot, and that is 24,000 for paint. Good luck. It is a good gig, but I would find it hard to believe a newbie would be able to pull it off. Scott Stone

There is a mile long tile tunnel in downtown Phoenix for the freeway. It is actually two tunnels, about a mile long. All tile, and really dirty grout. They have a contract to clean it, and I have bid on it, but never gotten it. I am way too high. Scott Stone

I'm with Rod. Zero coffee for me. Not much of anything else except maybe Diet Dr. Pepper every once in a while. Scott

Oh Jon, we all know you are a has been. Which is good, in your case, you has been there, and done that. Scott

There are a couple of things you can look at, before you go out and buy a new pump. The first is you will want to check the unloader. That is the brass thingy that is hanging off of the side of the pump with a knob on top to adjust the pressure. You probably have one of those that has a hard line that runs between the top of the pump and the bottom. This makes it a lot harder to check. What you can do is remove the two bolts that hold it on, and attach a hose with an open gun, Tie it open with a wire tie or something so that there is no chance of it closing while the machine is running. If you have full pressure then the unloader is bad. You can get one at any pressure washer distributor by asking for an unloader for a 3700 PSI machine. The 1 to 5 minutes for full pressure perplexes me, unless you are running off of a tank. then it is simply a matter of it is taking that long to prime. This is not a good thing. The packings inside the head get hot and idstorted and lose there seal. This could also be why you are getting no pressure. This is a little more involved for a repair, and I would pay someone to let me watch them do it, before I tackled it myself. Or you could just wait for the Lowes tech, who might or might not have a clue. Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions. 602-509-9741 is my cell phone. Scott Stone

It all depends. Since you are doing it with someone else, I would have a corporation, with a buy sell agreement. That way, even though it is your sainted father-in-law, you both will know what to expect. For what it is worth, going into business with a friend, is a good way to lose a friend. For insurance, I do commercial and governemnt work. It is a very good market to me. I have to carry a minimum of 1 million/2million liability. I also do the full workmens comp thing, etc. We run our business straight and above board, with no shenanigans. I sleep better that way. Stuff I wish I would have known when I started? Quickbooks is a life saver, and will keep your books straight for you. Set aside a set amount for advertising, every month. Just consider it one of your most important bills, especially for residential. People will lie to you to get a better price, and seldom does what you are promised work out. What you are starting out doing now, might be very well be 100% different from what you end up making money at. I started detailing cars. Last year, detailing made up .05% of my business. The only reason that I do it is because it is good therapy for me. I am sure that there are others. Scott Stone

I use a CPA. She is the perfect accountant, and a family friend. The reason that we use her is that our taxes are complicated due to the corporation, and we incorporated on her recommendation. The first year our tax savings was sufficient enough to pay for the total incorporation, the attorneys and accountants fees and still save us $5000 for the year. I do not know how much it saves us every year now, but I do know that we are well taken care of... She is also there for any kind of business advice that we might need, and is very trusted. The only way to have a CPA. Scott Stone

When I am done, I turn off the machine and walk away. It has not been a problem for me. I think that Ron has his guys do the same. It really is a personal preference thing. Scott Stone