pressure washing heavy equipment

[Mike Smith]

I have a site work company that is interested in having their heavy equipment cleaned on a regular basis. I am purchasing a hot water skid unit 5 gpm 3300 psi unit. I allready have a heavy duty 16' flatbead trailer 525 gallon tank 3000 psi cold water unit 4 gpm two hose reels w 200' high pressure hose assortment of wands and many chems. Ive been in business 4 years. They want an estimate by spring because that is when I told them I would have the equipment. They have several excavators, dozers , graders and off road trucks. my question is how to charge, by the piece or the hr.? Thank you for any responses. Water will be an issue I will charge them a hauling fee for going and getting water. They also want engines done as well.

 

[ron p]

i feel there are too meny

questions to be asked to help you as far as price.
Heavy equipment is done the fastest with large amounts of water. Mud needs water to get down to the paint.
Is it that kind of work?
Some equipment just needs to be washed like a off-road rig. Some jobs are more de-mudding then cleaning the paint.
Another variable is how far and long will it take you to get water?
You know this is one of the dirtiest jobs you can do?
Tyvek suit and a long range tip will be most helpfull. A 1 1/2 inc hose and nozzle connected to a fire plug works best.[i know-you dont have that avail.]
How often are you going to be washing them?
On some sites this wont matter,they get just as dirty in 1 day as in 2 weeks.
Save your hot water for the degreasing to save fuel costs.
Also do they want the tracks completle cleaned out?
The trucks-what size are they?
The water thing is what get's me. I use a high volume type of washing for OTR rigs.
Dave Olsen and MEL prob. wash the most heavy equipment on this site. They are the ones to talk to.
If you charge by the hr. you'll prob not get them as clean as YOU want to get them because they want you to speed. If you charge by the piece THEY might not ever think you get them clean enuff.
In either case,I would wash the biggest and dirtyest piece first and get an idea of what was fair and water consumption.
Any ponds or lakes near by?
Anyone near you that rents water trucks?

 

[Dave Olson]

Hello Mike,

We have always charged time and material for heavy equipment. The heavy equipment that we clean are at coal mines and scrap yards.

Keep in mind equipment like these you most always can find more to clean!! The hauler in this picture is rather large. Note the man standing next to it on the left side of the picture.

Dave Olson

 

[Dave Olson]

We always use a two man crew when we do this type of equipment. If the customer has city water we will tap on to it otherwise we go to a fill station to refill our 1000 gallon tank.

Most often when my guys have used a tank full of water (we always come to the job site full) they are ready for a lunch break anyway. So they refill the tank while they are out.

Dave Olson

 

[Mike Smith]

Thanks guys, yeah Ron unfortunately I know about the dirtiest job in the pressure washing industry....chicken houses whewwwwwww but someone's gotta do it so when it comes to blowin mud and grease id rather do that than blow crap all day lol. It is more like demudding than cleaning the paint. These pieces are nasty!!!!!!!! Dave I saw 2 trucks just like that one in your pic that I will be bidding on as well as excavators like that one except with buckets. Ive done one 3 times this year with cold water and 3000 psi. Had to blow hard mud out of the tracks then degrease. I charged 50.00 per hr and the job took 3 hrs and included cleaning the engine. Used strong degreaser sold by my local distributor at full strength and let dwell while I blew the tracks out with my 0 degree tip. Degreasing with cold water is slowwwwwww that is why Im upgrading. I made ok money but with these machines Im bidding on I may boost that hrly figure up to 65.00 due to extra expense from having to run a burner and much larger engine on my machine. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[ron p]

$65

is still too cheap.
Chems and fuel will eat you up.
You can find easyer work for better money.
Like i said, water volume is the only way to de-mud.
You might want to think about a 25 hp engine hooked to a 8 gpm pump.
Then again if by the hour,just do it the way your doing it.
Try a 1/4 inc hose barb screwed into a pipe fitting with a quick disconnect[plug] screwed into the other end,instread of the 0 deg tip.
I use a x-jet.

 

[tommy]

Dave

I am getting ready to bid on several of the big trucks that are in the picture. My question is how long does it take to clean one? Also, what type of price do most people charge?

The ones that I am wanting to wash look brand new.

Tommy

 

[Dave Olson]

Hello Tommy,

A hauler like I posted in my first post could take as little as 30 minutes to 5 times that long! This type of equipment works in a very hostle environment. This one was at a GM foundry and hauled some really nasty stuff. Sometimes they needed the interior and exterior frame rails degrease along with the cab and chassis!

The crane in the 2nd picture had not been cleaned for about 12 months. My two guys probably spent 1-1/2 to 2 hours on it, including engine compartment, tracks, and turret. Been awhile since I took that picture but they probably did 7-8 units that day (not all that bad). Here is another one that they did that day.

As far as price, ask your customer what he wants/expects to pay. If you can make a profit at that rate then both of you are winners.

Dave Olson

 

[Tim Smith]

My 2 cents


Bulldozer $65 - $75
Graders $75 - $85

*with a 25% to 35% to haul water.


the above is anticipating that you are washing more than one piece of equipment per trip.

use a high alkali degreaser & Aluminum brightener will help