Paul Kassander

When my tank leaked I just used a 100% silicone, the clear stuff. It remains flexible and there is more than enough in the tubes to seal up a bulkhed fitting or two. I would also reccommend drilling a couple of holes in the floor up near the front of the box, this will let the condensation and any spills run out without sitting in the truck. You may want to add a hose to the bottom of the holes to redirect the water under the truck wher it is not so obvious.

Good luck, remember your not just selling them pressure washing your selling yourself and your customer service. Go in it with a positive attitude and I am sure you will do great. If you ever need help just give a call.

Thats great, I will be watching for the articles.

If you want to force chemicals into the line downstream you will need to inject it at a greater pressure than the output of the pressure pump. The downstream injector works by venturi and I am not aware of anyway it inject chemicals DS without an injector, which needs to reduce the pressure to create the venturi. If you do want to use multiple chemicals with one injector you can do it fairly easy and inexpensive. The best method I found is to use a 3 way ball valve with some hose barbs and chemical line. It is simple and mostly problem free. If you want to do it with switches the best method I found was to use DEMA valves in a series with various barbs and T's. I found this to be a pain in the ... they would short out or crack in transport, they didn't seem durable enough for over the road. It was a nice system because I set up wires to the gun for switching chemicals, but it proved to be more maint. and expense than it was worth. So I switched back to the manual valve.

Check to make sure the water flows out of the tank through the hose when it is not hooked up, there may be a blockage. You also want air to get into the tank to equalize the pressure of the water leaving. if you seal it up completely your pump may suck for a while but eventually you will wreck your packings in the pump or collapse your tank. You may also have a air lock in your pump. Try force feeding it to get it primed then work out of the tank. Try to keep the tank as full as possible to maintain the positive pressure on the pump. If you run out of water you may have this problem again. I know it has happend to me a few times. I'm not sure how old your packings are in your pump but you may need to change them and it will help with the sucking. If that doesn't help give me a call and I will be happy to help with other ideas, it is the same type of setup I use.

Kohler really does have a good engine, I have hade good luck with the ones I have had. The seem to run fairly quiet too. The extra power the Kohler provides is a benefit as well, it shouldn't have to work as hard to power the pump.

Carey, I have had a 2 Steel Eagle's that I have used for the last 8-9 years at least 5-10 times a month and they have been pretty reliable. If you can keep from running them over or dropping them off the truck they also seem to require less maint.... I rebuilt mine once about 2 years ago, o rings and bearings, and it is still working great. My recommendation would be for the non adjustable arm height version. I had an adjustable one and it fell apart in about a month. I rebuilt it as a stationary mount arm swivel and have had no problems since. As far as wheeled or floater? I am a wheel guy, I like the stability of the wheels for all types of surfaces and not having to carry it around when not in use. I will say that I have never used a floater so I couldn't say which is better. I guess it is just personal preference. Sorry about your service issue, I always hate when that happens to me. If I can help you further or have any other questions please give me a call.

Excellent article.

Jesse, Good luck I know it is a big step, I remember when I came home and told my wife I quit my job. If anyone can do it I know a fellow WI person can. Let me know if you ever need any help or advice I am easily available an I am happy to help. I will keep trying to find you some good leads. Here's to your success.

Everything. new addition, landscaping, extra garage, hardwood floors, plumping, electric, new bathrooms, windows, roof. Oh ya the basement 3 times thanks to my wonderful power company and cheap sump pumps. I do still have about 3 original walls though. Steve if you have an exposed retainining wall there in an excellent 2 sided tumbled stone that is great for retaining walls. I used it to build an island type patio with stamped concrete. It was made by bend industries, and I think Unilock makes a similar product.

I have been using hot water on homes for years an it works great. I can always tell the second my burner runs out of fuel (thank you for not filling it at the end of the day last user) because I have to use twice the chemical for the same job. Just like rod said.

16' GMC Topkick with a 1500 gallon tank, 2 hot water skid units, and hose reels. I can wash about 80 tractors with that unit. I also have a F550 with 500 gal tank, Hydroblaster hot water skid unit, and a hose reel, it is great for homes and sidewalks. I can pull up, unroll my hose wash and leave most homes take about 1-2 hours tops. Plus I can fill my tanks while I wash for my next job.

Jarrod is right, 3 gpm on trucks will take more time with 2 than just 1 at 6gpm. You will need the flow to do anything with the bugs and other dirt.

Travis, If you would loke help determining the exact pressure you want you can give me a call and I will be happy to help. Or you can look in my store if you already know what size you want. http://mobicleaninc.com/store/category/9xuq/Spray_Tips.html

I have a customer that has a terminal in south west Chicago who is looking for someone to wash their trucks and trailers. I am told he has about 7 tractors and 15 trailers, possibly to be washed weekly? If you are interested E-mail kassander@mobicleaninc.com or call me at 414-351-9274 and I can get you all of the contact info. Thank you, Paul Kassander Mobi Clean Inc.

I'm not too sure, they are a new customer for me but they are nationwide. Most of there equipment is leased so they may have the lease company wash it. (ya right) I will find out, there are a few customers that I have that are national and may be interested in looking for vendors. If I get any leads I will be happy to share them.

If you have a low oil shutdown (by the oil filter) try disconnection that. sometimes a piece of dirt will get stuck in there and tell the machine to shut down. On a more obscure note, look on the back (shaft side) of the main block. Up near the top center there is a bump out in the casting about the size of a nickel. If it is cracked or you see what looks like a ball bearing sticking out your cam busted through the casting. If this happend your valves are not opening properly and the motor will not run. This happend to me with 3- 16hp vanguards in the past. I was told I ran them out of oil BS. It was a casting issue and they eventually gave me a new short block for each. The engines were probably manufactured about the same time as yours about 2-3 years ago. I found out from some local briggs employees this was a semi common problem, about 1% (thats me). Hope this helps, if not feel free to call and I can give you some more ideas.

I have always used water tanks as supply for my machines and have never had difficulty. Like Howard said you want to oversize the inlet hose to offer as little restriction as possible for the water flow to the machine. Definately make sure to suck from the bottom of the tank the water head will help to prime your pump when you first start the machine up. The only time you may have problems is when the water level drops low and you are trying to suck the water up to the machines. I use a 1500 gallon tank feeding two 5.6 gpm pressure washers and the only time I have any issues is when I get down to about 3" of water and some air gets in the line. My pump inlets are about 3' off of the floor. My second truck has 500 gal the same way, but the inlet is set almost level with the tank output which allows me to get almost all of the water out of the tank leaving about 1". Try to keep the line as straight and short as possible to avoid any unnecessary restrictions.

S corp has worked out well for me for my 13 years in business. The annual filing fee is $25.00 in WI which is pretty cheap insurance to keep from loosing your house in the event of an accident. The initial filing was pertty easy as well, It is definately worth checking out for all wash contrctors. That small "paper" separation between you and the business can be a huge relief if you, or an employee ever have an accident, that was the main reason I did it. Plus you can draw out the profits at the end of the year and only have to pay personal income tax on them, where if you take it in pay you have Social Security and Medicare tax, and it would increase your payroll numbers increasing your workers comp and unemployment.

1 Mil general liability with an additional 2mil umbrella policy. Really helps to get those larger commercial jobs.

A good rule of thumb is to buy parts rated to 1 1/2 times your pumps rated pressure. Typically when the manufacturers make thir parts they stretch the ratings to the max or over state their capabilities. 2 wire hose will last a lot longer than 1 wire and can take much mor abuse, even getting run over by trucks, dragged, etc. (as shown by my employees who dont like to roll them up before moving) and I have also found that using soft unloaders like the K7 saves my hoses from blowing open as soon as a trap unloader will.

Thank you for the well wishes, I wish I took the time to get involved in stuff like this site a long time ago. There really is a lot of good info, almost too much. My head hurts now, I think it is time for a break.

Make sure to check your state web site as well. Another tip is to break up your claim at least twice a year, then you get cash back instead of a gredit on your return. Remember you cah go back up to a year on your claim.

If you like envirospec products you can call on me, I became a distributor about a year ago and I am more than happy to give great service. I am based in Wisconsin so you people in the midwest can save a lot on the shipping costs. Sorry about your past experiences, but gve me a chance I will be happy to help. 414-351-9274 Paul

If you take the time to track and log the fuel you use in your washing equipment you can get a refund on the fuel tax you pay. Or just get a fuel card for off road use only so you know all of those fill ups are for your equipment. Just look on the IRS web site for form 8849 & 8849s or the annual form 4136. They are under the catagory of excise tax. You should be able to file in your state as well. I know last year I received about $4,000.00 back. It takes some time but I dont know too many jobs I can do for $4,000.00 an hour.