Aplus

Alan, Interested to hear your longer term results using the Giant unloader. I've lost one K7 already, and hearing about your experiences with them has not raised my confidence level.

Can you recommend a good place to buy the LED assemblies? They sure are a lot brighter, and more visable.

Like I mentioned, I'm going for the show, demos, and any roundtables I can get involved with. A personal friend of mine has also been in the p/w biz for many years, but does not get involved with bbs or such. He decided to make the trip and see what it's all about, see if he can make any contacts with vendors. The way I see it, the whole trip will cost me around $200, which is nothing really, and it helps me get psyched up for the upcoming season.

Matt, a K7 is a flow unloader.

That's the way I was seeing it Rod. I've got a q/c pressure gauge, and no matter where you place it, when the trigger is squeezed, the needle quickly spikes up. Whereas on my flow actutated rig, the pressure ramps up gradually when squeezing the trigger. I'm not an expert in this matter, but rather expressing observations.

It wouldn't hurt to open up the K7 and give the innards a good cleaning and lubrication.

And even if you do have to switch em' to pressure actuated, it's not a big cash outlay. One thing about that which bothers me is using it with a surface cleaner. I feel a flow actuated unloader is easier on the swivel in the long run. It seems to me that spiking the swivel union constantly has to be hell on the inner packings.

Certainly it is possible to use a tennis ball as you mentioned. I would not recommend that. Serious injury or property damage can occur very fast using high pressure water. If a person became unable, for whatever reason, to release the gun.....that is bad. There is a product available called "The Third Hand", which is a small rubber shim with a wristband attached to it. The premise is, that if you drop the gun, it will release. Belt harnesses are available, and admittedly they are not real comfortable to wear, but they do help redistribute the forces across your body, so the strain is not directly on your back, or arms. The best bet when working with extension poles is to use the lowest psi that will get the job done. Switching to a flow actuated unloader helps a lot too, it doesn't kick like typical pressure actuated unloaders. And finally, a good quality gun usually has a lower squeeze force required to actuate the gun, making it easier to operate.

Yes the 3/4" plywood should do the trick, although if the ramp is going to be long, you'd want to screw a couple 2x4 underneath to beef it up. Problem is, it can get heavy, and more cumbersome to move the ramp around. A typical 4gpm portable cold is 175-195 lbs. If loading into a p/u truck bed, two guys can easily lift and load without a ramp. For one guy, hernia #1 is on it's way.:lgbugeyes I use trailers to haul my equipment, so the lift height is only about a foot. I keep a piece of OSB in the trailer, for a quick ramp, in case I'm working by myself, and tired. Normally, we use two guys per crew, so it's not a problem to just heft in/out the washer. Get a height measurement from your truck, and then you can figure how long the ramp needs to be. This will give you an idea when it's a good time to switch over to aluminum.

Rod, the binoculars are a good idea! My old eyes aren't like an eagle anymore....LOL! I also keep a tube of acrylic adhesive caulking in the trailer in case I need to glue something back into place. One time I was washing a house that had this fancy dental molding, and even at low pressure.....about a two foot chunk broke off, the stuff is made of some kind of dense foam like product. But anyway, I'm thinking "crap, now what am I gonna do?" Well it just so happened that I had my gutter cleaning supplies in the back of my truck, and had some caulk, and saved my butt.

I prefer to not use mega-long extension poles. My favorites are a 9' & a 12' Extendawand, with an Xjet. I have a 24' but almost never use it. Eventually I will get an 18' and do away with the longer one. This house was pretty high, and the 12' with an xjet did just fine. We wash this one twice a year, because it is off a gravel road that creates a ton of dust which really clings to the white vinyl.

I use an xjet to apply the detergent, and usually a #9 (4009) for rinsing. A brush on an extension pole works well for scrubbing gutters. The only time I use a ladder is when there is an attached garage, and I ca't get the right angle from the ground to get that side of the house. I'll go up on the garage to make it easier to do that side. Other wise, the ladder stays in the trailer. I always carry a ladder when doing house washes, because you never know if a piece of siding will blow off, and when it does, it seems to always be at the top.

Well I phoned them today, and admission to the trade show and demos are free. So it looks like I'll be heading out sometime Friday, have some time to lounge around, hopefully catch up with a few folks, and be ready for the trade show. It's only 181 miles for me, practically a chip shot!

I use nitrile gloves too. Yes they hold up against stains and thinners. I keep an assortment of various types of gloves that are used for different tasks as well as different seasons of the year. Probably the most comprehensive collection of gloves can be found at www.directsafety.com Actually, I prefer using the standard catalog rather than going online, and you can request one be shipped to you.

I've heard that TUFF makes some good value point equipment.

I used Gutter Zap with a light brushing. I also use Gutter Shock and obtain the same results. Different soils and conditions on gutters require adjusting the mix strength as necessary. On this particular job, I mixed 1/4 gallon GZ to about 2.5 gallons water.

I usually wash houses at about 800-900 psi. I have reasoned that in order to wash at a lower psi, I would have to increase the strength of my house wash mix. The stronger the soap, the more opportunities for bad things to happen.....kill plants, streak windows, etc. It's give and take somewhat on the amount of pressure. And also, the water hardness, and type of soil on a house plays a role in how you approach it. So I will typically vary nozzles between #8 & #11 depending on the particular condition.

Looking for something like this?

Well you're sure not gonna make a million dollars right off the bat, but if you work hard, maintain high ethics, and roll with the changes, you can make a decent living at it.

It is a good business to get into. To answer your question whether you can make enough money right away to cover your expenses.......well that's tough to say, it depends a lot on your advertising, your sales techniques, and pricing. I wouldn't recommend jumping into anything without having a little float money to get you thru the startup period.

If anyone has a local Harbour Freight, they have some good deals too. Just have to be careful, because some of the stuff is not good quality. If you don't have a local store, they have online and mail order stores available nationally.

In adddition to Rod's list, I also include the following: Tape - black and duct tape. Assortment of washers, deck screws and loc-tite thread adhesive. Quart of oil. Razor knife. Needle nose & side cutter pliers. Spare unloader. Spare tire, wrench, & jack for trailer. Garden hose Y adaptor. Q/C high pressure gauge. Extension cords. Shop rags. A few small C- clamps. And more stuff I'm sure. It's taken a couple years to build up the inventory I carry on each trailer now days. I'm not going to let a small repair or failure from preventing me from finishing a job. A couple 20 gallan Rubber Maid plastic bins hold everything nicely.

You didn't mention what kind of equipment, but generally, I have a spare of almost everything. As far as a cold water machine goes, it's easier to have an entire spare unit rather than repair on the job. A comprehensive tool set is also important.

Check your email.

Haven't towed the trailer with it yet so I can't say, but so far, I've been getting between 9.7 & 10.2 mpg. (all city driving, haven't gone on freeway trip yet) Of course the truck only has about 800 miles on it, so it's not really broken in yet. I would have liked to have went with the Duramax diesel, but just didn't want to shell out the extra $4k (with employee discount). When diesel fuel was cheaper than gasoline, it may have made sense, but around here it's about the same price as premium gas, so it made no economic sense. The diesel would have provided at least another 7-8 mpg, but still not enough to cost justify. My truck, as is, can tow 9200#, which is ample capacity for me, thus providing another valid reason I didn't need the stump pulling power of a diesel.