finding my way equipment-wise

[Neil 14]

Hey guys,

Thanks for clicking on my post. This is my first !

I'm a long time Seattle window washer. Sort of crazy how long I've been doing it- around 30 years. I didn't mean to make a career of it, it just kept going Summer after Summer.

Anyway, a couple years ago I ventured into offering pressure washing. I purchased a 4000 psi 3.6 GPM karcher at Costco. By now it has at least paid for itself and I'm starting to see that I can make pretty good money in pressure washing partly because of my established customer base. I don't advertize it. I just let my customers know I can do it now.

So , so far I get asked mostly to clean exterior surfaces. The usual decks and patios and driveways are the thing they want. That's fine with me since I'd rather play it safe by not doing much risky work. ( so far anyway) I have a Hammerhead surface cleaner on order and I have no idea if my 4K PSI machine will make that thing perform the way it can.

So, I've been looking at the various equipment options to improve my capabilities. I have the budget to buy even a Powerline trailer rig I suppose. But I'm not crazy about dragging a trailer around . For the residential work I do, it would be hard to find parking with a trailer.

For this reason I'm thinking in terms of something I could put in my van. I have a Chevy Express van.

And realistically , I don't really think I need a water tank set up anyway since I always have access to customer water here.

So, thinking in terms of spending the budget on a nice self contained unit-ideally with hot water capability.

One unit I just recently noticed was a Landa unit : PGHW5-50524E

here is a link to one web site that sells these : LANDA PGHW5-50524E - Williams Cleaning Systems

I haven't had a chance yet to get pricing on this one. I'll be working on that soon. If anyone knows a source of good pricing on Landa gear, please let me know. No web sites show price on that one.

Or, another way for me to go might be to go with a much less costly but cold water unit from Northern

here: NorthStar Gas-Powered Cold Water Pressure Washer — 5000 PSI, 5 GPM | Gas-Cold Water | Northern Tool + Equipment

That one costs about $3200

I'd really like your opinions on either these ideas or maybe suggestions on other machines I could buy.

Thanks much

Neil

[Neil 14]

Please, anybody?

[A OK Pressure Washing 14]

Buy the pressure washer items you need at affordable pricing. We have Suttner Cat Giant General Pump Delavan Pressure Pro Hansen Mosmatic Comet Whisper Wash AR pumps trigger guns surface cleaners lances wands duct spinners swivels ball valves chemica

This is where I bought my last machine. I also by my chem's from Bob. If you call him he will be able to lead you in the right direction for what you want to wash.

The least you would want to go with is 4GPM belt driven. Also I would use a buffer tank so you can bypass the pump and not have to keep running back to the shut you machine off every time you are waiting for chems to dwell.

[Neil 14]

Thaniks for the link. I have a feeling I'll need to go with something like what they have there since I doubt I can afford a Landa.. Sometimes I wish they'd just list the price of things like that on the net ...sheesh. :) I imagine Landa tells it's distributors not to list prices on the net though.

I'm not far enough into pressure washing to know what you mean by needing buffer tank to not have to run back to turn off the machine to let the chems dwell. Care to fill me in? Sorry, I'm fairly new to this.

Neil

Buy the pressure washer items you need at affordable pricing. We have Suttner Cat Giant General Pump Delavan Pressure Pro Hansen Mosmatic Comet Whisper Wash AR pumps trigger guns surface cleaners lances wands duct spinners swivels ball valves chemica

This is where I bought my last machine. I also by my chem's from Bob. If you call him he will be able to lead you in the right direction for what you want to wash.

The least you would want to go with is 4GPM belt driven. Also I would use a buffer tank so you can bypass the pump and not have to keep running back to the shut you machine off every time you are waiting for chems to dwell.

[A OK Pressure Washing 14]

PT State - Index

Use the search button on this forum and the one I posted above. All you questions will be answered and have been answered from buffer tanks and softwashing.

After you have done some research on your own then ask your questions.

If you want you can call me later in the week and we can talk.

Attila

774-721-0012

[Neil 14]

sure, this isn't the first forum I've ever joined. I know about searching. But if you are too new to something , you don't even know what to use as search terms. But thanks for providing those and for taking the time to write what you did.

Neil

PT State - Index

Use the search button on this forum and the one I posted above. All you questions will be answered and have been answered from buffer tanks and softwashing.

After you have done some research on your own then ask your questions.

If you want you can call me later in the week and we can talk.

Attila

774-721-0012

[Doug Rucker 31]

Neil be careful about putting anything in a van. I know a contractor that just bought a brand new van and put a skid in it and now is unhappy becuase all he can smell is gas fumes.

Sent you a PM also.

[Douglas Hicks 128]

Neil, there is a tool company based in Yakima that is a Landa dealer. Those who have Landa PWs seem to be very pleased with the brand.

[go green pressure washing 14]

Niel welcome aboard and good luck with new business venture so many choices to choose from I started with a trailer mounted unit with 400 gallon water tanks and my next one will be on a isizu NPR flat bed.

[Neil 14]

Well, I went to a local Seattle Hydro Tek dealer today called Ben's Cleaner Sales, Inc. I learned a ton of little factoids about pressure washing equipment from the very friendly and non-pushy salesman named Jerry.

I'm sure you guys take most of that stuff for granted after a while.

Like I think it's sort of amazing that these little portable units put out so much pressure and fairly good volume almost comparable to the big commercial units that cost so much more. But we're talking about commercial machines that can run way more hours and get daily use and put out hot water.

But I had been thinking in terms of possibly putting one of those commercial units in my van , ha! After I saw how huge they are I had major second thoughts on that idea. Plus my van probably wouldn't be big enough weight capacity wise or horsepower wise since it's only a 6 banger.

Anyway, those big pressure washing machines just look like over kill to put in my van. Jerry did tell me they do put them in vans for guys. They work for about 8 hours installing them he told me and charge about 500 bucks to do it. It just seemed like if I would go that route , the thing to do would be to go buy a new-ish van with more horses and weight capacity or a Pick up truck actually, although, I like the van idea for the higher security as well as the ease of parking and street maneuvering. He told me sometimes these nice pressure washers do get stolen from trucks.

On the trailer front, Jerry told me that Hydro Tek comes out with a sale every year on their trailers and he thought a trailer with water recovery and filtration included would end up costing around 10 grand which I think is a fantastic deal given that some of the systems on trailers cost two and a half times more than that. But these are cookie cutter deals. The buyer can not choose to switch to another PW skid for example. You take the deal as listed or not but get a great deal if that is what you wanted.

Anyway, I thought that sort of thing might be a good entry level trailer for me.

For now, the good news is that my little portable pressure washer putting out 4000 psi and 3.6 gpm was totally capable of driving my newly purchased Hammerhead 18 inch surface cleaner. I tried that on my driveway today. Just as I thought, I had to use it as a way to loosen the surface dirt and then follow up with a white tip on the wand to rinse off the dirt , but that worked well and , of course, was much faster than just using the wand.

At any rate, I think for decks and normal non- oiled driveways and sidewalks around Seattle for the wealthy residential folks I work for, this sort of portable cold water pressure washer is looking like a quite functional answer.

But I do wonder about the idea of finding a portable with higher flow rate at 4000 psi. As I said before, mine puts out 4k psi @ 3.6 .. I've been scanning the net searching for higher flow cold machines @ 4 k psi since this Hammerhead can handle up to a flow of 4 k psi @ 8 . So does anyone know of such a machine of good quality?

Thanks for listening and thanks for the encouragement :)

Neil

Another

[A OK Pressure Washing 14]

Neil,

I understand being new and not knowing what to search for.

Give me a call and I will explain everything that I do and what equipment is a must have.

It is a lot easier than typing back and fourth on a message board.

Thanks

Attila

774-721-0012

[Doug Black 18]

But I do wonder about the idea of finding a portable with higher flow rate at 4000 psi. As I said before, mine puts out 4k psi @ 3.6 .. I've been scanning the net searching for higher flow cold machines @ 4 k psi since this Hammerhead can handle up to a flow of 4 k psi @ 8 . So does anyone know of such a machine of good quality?

Thanks for listening and thanks for the encouragement :)

Neil

Another

Well it all depends on what you mean by portable. For me personally, my 275 lb machine is portable and I wheel it all around easily, but it surely is less "portable" than the machine you are talking about. And my friend is unable to push it back onto the trailer due to its weight.

4000psi and 4gpm is about tops for what you are talking about and they weigh around 175. For power washing the smaller machines are great but for pressure washing the larger definitely pays off. Belt Driven Cold Pressure Washers vs Pressure Washer - Cold

I mean with a skid versus portable all they do is add or remove wheels... So with am 8GPM machine it's going to be a big boy.

I bought a smaller one from Northern Tools in 1996 and it was great but things may have changed over the years.

[Neil 14]

I found a couple of pressure washers that fit what I'm thinking would be a good fit for my Hammerhead surface cleaner. Both are cold water machines.

One is portable listed on this page: Pro Max Pressure Washers.

and the other a smaller size skid mount unit : PWMall-HDCV5540HG-4000PSI Gas Pressure Washer 5.5GPM GP, Honda GX630 E/S

[Neil 14]

Thanks for the links Doug. That first link to the "portable" pressure washer has the lowest listed prices I've seen for a 4000 @ 5.5 machine- under $3K

I have checked Northern for a PW in that same pressure and volume range but they don't have one. Too bad since their prices are pretty good. Good to know your Northern ended up being a good buy though.

Neil

Well it all depends on what you mean by portable. For me personally, my 275 lb machine is portable and I wheel it all around easily, but it surely is less "portable" than the machine you are talking about. And my friend is unable to push it back onto the trailer due to its weight.

4000psi and 4gpm is about tops for what you are talking about and they weigh around 175. For power washing the smaller machines are great but for pressure washing the larger definitely pays off. Belt Driven Cold Pressure Washers vs Pressure Washer - Cold

I mean with a skid versus portable all they do is add or remove wheels... So with am 8GPM machine it's going to be a big boy.

I bought a smaller one from Northern Tools in 1996 and it was great but things may have changed over the years.

[Neil 14]

oops, just talked to another salesperson who told me I probably will need a buffer tank even with these "portable" machines. I was under the impression that a flow of 5.5 would be OK with regular city water spigots.

She made the point that usually it probably would work ok but if it wasn't that good it could damage the machine. So, apparently I need a buffer tank with that much flow which mean I lean towards the skid mounted one I listed above. HMM :)

[Doug Black 18]

You can use a small buffer tank without having a skid. Also, a buffer helps to reduce pressure builds on the machine and just generally makes it nicer. Raleigh water pressures are nice for my 5 GPM but outside Raleigh in Wake Forest, Rolesville, and surrounding areas in can be more hit and miss. Even those connnected to the Raleigh stations can have problems with demand side booster situations.

Even with my small machine back in the day there were times where I wished I had a buffer tank but it's best to have a belt drive to pull it.

If you have questions you have reach me today but tomorrow I'm power washing all the day long....

[Rick2 42]

I'd check into that a little more about a buffer for a 5.5.machine, they are nice but it might be a little overkill. Check out the water supply in your area. Place a 5 gallon bucket under a water tap and see if it fills in under a minute. I think you'll find you have plenty of seconds to spare.

[Neil 14]

I love the common sense idea of the five gallon bucket and a timer to check local flow rates. I need to do that soon and I will. But as far as I know, usually Seattle has really good flow rates at residents. But as a window washer that sometimes uses a Tucker pole for multi-story building window cleaning, I know that flow rates really can be bad here if the building is old.

I was thinking about this today while I was earning money pressure washing :) ( I love this stuff BTW) One idea I'm liking is that I could just hold on to my current Karcher 4k @ 3.6 for times when I suspect the flow rate at the supply is slow and then if the flow is good, go ahead and use a 4k @ 5.5 machine. That way I just use the machine the water flow will allow and forget about using a buffer tank . I do like the idea of using a buffer tank for the flow rate reason and the bypass reason, but I like just having the ability to bring the PW up to the area I'm working a lot. Unless there is a portable buffer tank option I don't know about, I can't really see running this thing from my van attached to a buffer tank.

Which begs the question- is there a portable buffer tank option? I guess you could mount one of these portables to a frame with wheels on it and then attach the buffer tank to that frame. But it wouldn't be all that portable by the time you did that. I can't see lugging that up stairs for example.

And once it comes to the buffer tank thing, I assume these high end machines are all adaptable with the proper ports for such things on the pump somewhere. ( not having done that before :) )

Doug, what do you mean by "small buffer tank" ? How big are you talking? And I assume you are talking about your machine being mounted in your trailer or van or whatever you have?

chow for now :)

Neil

I'd check into that a little more about a buffer for a 5.5.machine, they are nice but it might be a little overkill. Check out the water supply in your area. Place a 5 gallon bucket under a water tap and see if it fills in under a minute. I think you'll find you have plenty of seconds to spare.

Edited May 13, 2011 by Neil

[Doug Black 18]

I use a 26 gallon buffer tank. It's easy to hook up and disconnect. Someone here said they use a fiver.

I don't know why you want to haul your pressure washer up stairs?

[Neil 14]

I don't really want to haul it up stairs. :) My hose is only fifty feet long so far.

longer hose could be good :)

I use a 26 gallon buffer tank. It's easy to hook up and disconnect. Someone here said they use a fiver.

I don't know why you want to haul your pressure washer up stairs?

Edited May 14, 2011 by Neil

[Neil 14]

OK, I just checked the water flow rate at our house here in Seattle and my five gallon bucket filled up in 20 seconds. So, if most of Seattle is like that, I'm good with almost any unit I want to buy . But I know many do not flow that fast-probably because of clogged plumbing.

I love it when I can know the facts so directly. :)

I'd check into that a little more about a buffer for a 5.5.machine, they are nice but it might be a little overkill. Check out the water supply in your area. Place a 5 gallon bucket under a water tap and see if it fills in under a minute. I think you'll find you have plenty of seconds to spare.

[Neil 14]

I think my plan is starting to jell a bit for what I want to do.

I've realized that for what I do, since the demand for my PW work is nearly all residential and just doing things like decks, driveways , and patios ( mossy Seattle stuff :) ) , a cold water machine will be fine.

Then, I have noticed that most of the surface cleaners are rated for max pressure of 4000 psi , so I don't need any more pressure than that. But after using my new Hammerhead a few times lately with my 4000 @ 3.6 machine, I find that it doesn't rinse very well sometimes and I have to pass over areas more often than I'd like. Yesterday using it on mossy concrete , it felt like using a lawn mower on too tall grass and having to make more than one pass at it. So I think I'm going to go with a 4000 @ 5.5 machine. This one: PWMall-HDCV5540HG-4000PSI Gas Pressure Washer 5.5GPM GP, Honda GX630 E/S

I envision putting this in my Chevy van sideways near my barn door style doors with the gas fill port pointing outward. Then I would put the hose reels to the right of that stacked. Behind the reels would be the buffer tank I figure. I don't want to drive around with a lot of water or maybe non, so it would be good if the tank had a drain that could quick connect at the door to a large diameter hose for drainage. And of course, it would be good to set up the tank as both a buffer tank and a supply tank with the tank having a float shutoff valve. I would want to go with a minimal size tank so that it would fill quickly enough but act as a good buffer tank.

Since I do mostly residential work, I almost always have water access. The question is flow rate. As I discovered yesterday, Seattle has the potential for around 15 GPM since my 5 gallon tank filled in 20 seconds at my house. But I'll go with a buffer tank in case I end up using a tap with bad plumbing at some point ( and I get that not having to trigger the gun so the pump doesn't over heat is a good thing too.

I have asked the company that gave me the best price on this machine to help me with the plumbing for the buffer tank and the tank itself. I searched on buffer tanks yesterday and didn't find anything specific on how to set that up. I'll look harder soon, but is anyone aware of a file somewhere that details that?

Any comments or suggestions are welcome :)

thanks much

Neil

[A OK Pressure Washing 14]

No Welds to Crack, Break, or Fail General Belt Drive Pump Gen. Pump Pulsar Unloader Valve with EZ Start 5.5 GPM @ 3500 PSI, 20 HP Honda Engine 50' High Pressure Hose with QC's Gun and Wand Assembly with QC's Maxi-Flo Chemical Injector with QC's Lifet

Check this out Neil.

This is almost an $800.00 savings. Not to mention the support you will get from Bob at Pressure Tek is second to none!! The option for you to call me is still on the table.

774-721-0012

Attila

Edited May 15, 2011 by A OK Pressure Washing

[Neil 14]

Thanks for the PW suggestion. I do like that one except that the one I think I'm going with has a much bigger fuel tank and 500 PSI more pressure and I took a look at the dimensions of the Pressure Pro today and how it would fit in my van and wow, it's no big deal. I easily have the room for it plus a small buffer tank as well. I really want to set this up with things like that and the hose reels to make work life as easy as possible. I know this is going to work since i already get PW work from my window customers. This is such a cool thing, I wish I had done this a long time ago :)

I will call you this week at some point when I have time. When is a good time to call? Thanks for that offer :)

Chow

Neil

No Welds to Crack, Break, or Fail General Belt Drive Pump Gen. Pump Pulsar Unloader Valve with EZ Start 5.5 GPM @ 3500 PSI, 20 HP Honda Engine 50' High Pressure Hose with QC's Gun and Wand Assembly with QC's Maxi-Flo Chemical Injector with QC's Lifet

Check this out Neil.

This is almost an $800.00 savings. Not to mention the support you will get from Bob at Pressure Tek is second to none!! The option for you to call me is still on the table.

774-721-0012

Attila

[A OK Pressure Washing 14]

Call antime we will make it work.