Opinions...?

[Guest rfitz]

I was considering one or both of these set-ups on my van set up and was wondering if someone who has experience with these set-ups could give me their opinions..? I want to have a set up on my van specifically for doing decks

and housewashing, and was curious to see if having seperate tanks and sure flow pump mounted in van for chems like cleaners, briteners etc.. with a chem line and T valve to switch chems, or would having maybe something like just a deckster on board to apply chems, stains, sealers is better.. any comments would be greatly appreciated...???

[ron p 500]

rfitz. in my opinion you should have a van set-up with a 5 gpm wash unit,2 hose reel's that hold 300 ft of line[each],tool's,extra part's,a X-JET,a 19" surface cleaner,a 55 gal drum set-up as a large float tank,room for your chem's,fuel can,msds,first aid kit,eye wash kit,duel lance,ext. pole,step ladder,ext. ladder,and a hand cart type set-up as your chem sprayer[home made deckster]

THEN set-up a small trailer just for applying sealer's.

Tarp's,rag's,cardboard,light plywood,sealer,plastic,roller's,pad's,pump-up's,airless sprayer,airless sprayer ext wand,sander's,pad's,screw gun,circ. saw,tool for getting crud out from between the board's,bug spray,bee spray,water cooler,mask,ect.....

As you can see a van would be very crowded by itself and you dont need everything jammed in.

You dont want everything with you every time you do a house wash either.

well this is my opinion that you asked for.

[Guest rfitz]

Hey Ron

Well said, I like the idea about the trailer for staining materials etc..

but exactly about the van set up I was getting at was, should I have the chem sprayer set up mounted in a van, 2 tanks 10 gal each sureflow pump, 200 ft chem line, etc.. or just use a deckster or similar for spraying chems, sealers etc.. oh by the way, on the deckster, they mention a gold plated special pump, do you happen to know the exact pump they use so I could build this unit identical..?

[ron p 500]

if i were you and were to use the deckster or homemade type deckster. It would be portable not mounted.

You have the cost of a reel. You have the problem of 'RUNNING OUT THE CHEM" FROM A LONG STREATCH OF LINE. I.E. Go from stripper to citric acid then to the sealer.

If you use a hand cart and the type of fitting's [quick disconnect type] that self seal when disconnected [like hyd hose fitting's do] Then you wont need to purge the line with water every time.

You wont get friction loss and it's easyer on the pump.

A shur-flo pump that has the rateing's you want and the correct seal's is all you really need. www.northerntool.com

some guy's like to install a "bulb" [it's a buld that you buy at a marine store to use to prime a boat motor with fuel]

this is what i would use.

Run clean water or the proper solvent, then water thru the pump each time your done and that pump will last you a long time.

For sealer's use the paper cone's to strain the finnish's.

I know beth wont advocate the use of a x-jet to apply the product's she sell's and i understand why. If you can see past that? you can x-jet a lot of stripper's,brightner's,housewash's, and soap's.

Their is a real nice pic of the homemade deckster under ''application's'' on this site.

[Mike Cappa 14]

I have a van set up, alkota 5 at 3000, 275 gallon tan, and have enough room for everything else, no extra trailer. You just have to take your time and set up everything correctly, with no wasted space. Have your reels come out the side of your van. Make your own deckster with 5 gallon jugs, some ball valves, some tees and a specialized hand truck, that you can make yourself, or have someone make you that can weld. You can also have 300 feet of hose from the sureflo and keep it in the van. You would really save space that way. What ever you plan on doing, you can fit it all in the van, I have, and you will have a smaller tank. I can't have a smaller tank because of my commercial work. It was really fun setting up my van. It gets you thinking, and you keep thinking about how to do it better. Don't worry, you will get it.

[Guest rfitz]

Hey Mike,

That is so true, the possiblities are endless, that is what makes this biz so cool, you can keep making your vehicle so customized, as it has to be, it is your mobile office, and you have to stay effecient... I was thinking of keeping 2- 10 gallon tanks in there as well, for house washing, 1 for bleach, and 1 for soap, have 2 injectors, and use each as needed or both at once, because every house I wash is different, as is also the case with each deck...

[Mike Cappa 14]

Rob, I do this for houses. I use the same injector (adams) and have the line from the injector going to a "T", then one end of the t goes to the soap tank, the other end to a bleach tank, soap, 15 gallons, bleach 5 gallons. On each t there is a plastic ball valve which helps meter the chems more precisly. It also helps when you wash something you don't need bleach for. You can just use soap. I may add another line for acid, I may start doing truck fleets also. I am going to have custom rectangular tanks made, so the width is small but the height is high, It will take up less room. Or I may have a long single tank made with dividers and three inlets, and three outlets. I am still pondering.

[Guest rfitz]

Mike, sounds like you have a nice set up, Im looking to do something similar,

but I know for a fact 2 things will happen next year, 1st my price for doing decks will bo going up up and up, Im currently at approx. $1.50 a sq ft and that isnt enough, I need to be closer to $2.00 a sq ft and 2nd I will be using alot more home brews to strip, clean and briten decks with, the wood cleaners briteners etc.. are just way overpriced, and you end up at approx 30% of your price paying for cleaners and sealers, I need to be at or lower than 10% total for materials, thats cleaners, fuel, stain etc.. that is why I love housewashing so much more, I make double per hour than on decks, and also, Im never over approx 3% for materials, anyway back to your set up did you know envirospec sells a double headed down streamer, its called the double gulp its all stainless and runs $70.00 they also have the spider it draws 3 chems at once? so you dont need all those T's in your lines.... it runs about

[Mike Cappa 14]

I know, but I don't buy from them anymore. I didn't like recieving the wrong equipment because their call takers where just that, call takers. I also like the satisfaction when it comes to doing it myself, if something I made breaks, I know exactly how to fix it...fast. And time is money. Everyone is different, some like to build, some like to buy, nothing wrong with either. I like having the simplest setups so if something does go wrong, it is easier to fix. Also with the t's and valves, if one goes bad, a quick replacement will do, I don't have to replace the whole thing. It mainly comes down to what works for you. Get up Sunday morn. grab a beer, or a smoke, open the van (all the doors) grab a pen and notebook and just keep jotting down your thoughts. You will be amazed with what you come up with, don't get mad at me because you lose sleep because your mind won't stop thinking about it. Then you get to start on how you will set up your cab. Laptop mount, speakers, printer stand, files, ha, you gotta love it.

[Aplus 525]

Ron,

Where's that pic?

[ron p 500]

under "applacation method's"

[beyoungsr 14]

Ron P,

Where is the applications section?

I am guessing you were refering to Tony's pic.

[John T 744]

Riftz,

What kind of Van do you have and will it have enough power to tow everything?? I had a Van and sure as sh## I blew the tranny on it because I was carrying to much weight.

I think Van set-ups are great for Commercial Cleanings but for residential at least for me they were to cramped.

If I ever go back to Van set-ups I would look for a Diesel Van that can pull a ton and still be halfway decent in gas.