Large machines
- Thread starter Rsuds
- Start date
Vince Wood
Active member
I've actually always wondered the same thing Brian. The ideal thing would be to convert an old fire truck though into a unit. This way you could have an 8 gallon or 50 gallon per minute unit at the same time.
innovativewash
New member
We all want to get jobs completed faster but there comes to a point were someone is not going to pay you for a $500 house wash when you get it done in 25 minutes. They will think the value is not there and then you start to have problems. We had a property manager, last year, question our work because of how fast we performed it. Job was perfectly fine but she didnt see the value of paying $15k for 4 days work.
There is a point where the money you make is less then what you would with a smaller machine. Bigger machines require bigger trucks, which take more fuel/maintenance and since they are only good for certain jobs you have a piece of equipment making no money. Also comes down to how much water you have access to as well. 50 gpm would drain the majority of the trucks on here in less then 10 mins, most in 5. Besides a fire hydrant or bringing a water truck your water would not last either.
These trucks do exist, they are called flusher trucks to my knowledge and run the pumps off the truck's pto setup.
These trucks do exist, they are called flusher trucks to my knowledge and run the pumps off the truck's pto setup.
Rsuds
New member
I have already tried to get a truck with a pto setup and they are not the way to go.
It is your job to find more jobs for this equipment to make money. If you can not get enough of these jobs for this equipment then do not get this equipment. But if you want more.
Ralph Q
New member
Wonder what size hose you need for 20 gpm?
Steven Rowlett
Member
We are putting the finishing touches on a 13 gpm @ 3,000 psi cold water machine we built. I will post pictures when we have it complete. Waiting for the soft start unloader to come in.
Zap It Wash
New member
13 gpm that's a beast
JBurd
New member
Are we talking triplex pumps or the "mid" pressure (300-500psi) lawn sprayer style (like udor kappa and gamma)? Getting 20 or 30 gpm out of a "mid" pressure pump is very doable with small engines and the built in unloaders are very smooth to work with (no kick back). They shoot very high too. Soft washing only of course with a max 500 psi.
Zap It Wash
New member
Hal how do you like that Udor?
Steven Rowlett
Member
Actually "The Beast" is the name on the machine. We are installing a K9 unloader on it. We will be feeding it with two 1" Red Goodyear hoses. Hopefully I will be posting pictures before long.
Sirocco Jerry
Active member
Hot Rod Shop with Mega Pump System
I have a design on the drawingBoard for a diesel engine system with multiple pumps..
6ea 7gpm pumps running at 6gpm for abuseabilty, @ 4000psi = 36gpm @4000psi
.. that's for 3 guys with 12gpm each for that building 2B washed FAST,
.. or a riderVersion SurfaceCleaner at Wild-Willy workSpeed.
I would LOVE to build this !
..as we ARE the HotRodShop for this industry for almost 30 years.
I have a design on the drawingBoard for a diesel engine system with multiple pumps..
6ea 7gpm pumps running at 6gpm for abuseabilty, @ 4000psi = 36gpm @4000psi
.. that's for 3 guys with 12gpm each for that building 2B washed FAST,
.. or a riderVersion SurfaceCleaner at Wild-Willy workSpeed.
I would LOVE to build this !
..as we ARE the HotRodShop for this industry for almost 30 years.
Many of the limitations and considerations mentioned on here as to 'why one wouldn't want to go all out with regards to GPM' don't apply where I work. As such, I'm hoping to read and learn all I can about how it's possible to get all one can get and still handle it physically.
Our speed of getting the job done and gpm is not limited due to customers' perceived value (our customers are consumers of our product; not our pressure-washing work, so no one will be upset or feel cheated no matter how fast we clean); our speed and gpm is not limited by water supply issues at least up to 90 gpm (30 gpm per location) if we could find a way to tap in to our own lake water supply and filter it while still protecting our pump or pumps at a high volume level; and speed and gpm is not limited by flood or drainage or recovery issues, because all our outflow, when valves are opened for cleaning, is contained in a concrete channels that go straight to a waste-water treatment facility that we own, operate, and maintain. That facility can handle 5,000 GPM, and our discharge pipes that flow through it can handle up to three valves open at one time and still drain them to an acceptable level for cleaning; or to put another way, up to three concrete raceways can be pressure washed at one time with lots and lots of gpm flowing through them. In fact, adding more, cleaner lake water to the concentration of nasty water coming from the raceways being cleaned, would help the treatment work better. Our biggest issues with our treatment system relates to too high a concentration of crappy stuff; not too much flow.
In my work application, at a fish hatchery, we could feasibly tap in to and draw as much as from three supply points at one time, as much as 30 GPM each, continuously for as long as we need it. The taps or spigots would come from 6" iron pipes of flowing lake water that draw from two huge inlet pipes that are an average 95' down from the lake water surface. We have 52 of these 6" pipes to tap in to. At a minimum, each of these pipes are providing 120 GPM to our fish raceways + supply to our hatchery building for a total of 12,000 GPM average flow that is somewhat variable by the fluctuating lake level. The flow through the 6" pipes are also fluctuating and cannot be completely evenly distributed, because we don't have even head pressure throughout our hatchery, but the 120 GPM estimate per pipe would be the minimum expected with any valve fully opened; and so even as much as 30 GPM would take away no more that 25% from any fish raceway and that would be acceptable for limited periods of time. Currently, we fill our trucks using a pump that draws from a pool, and that pool is created from the flow from only one of these 6" pipes. And that pump draws 100 GPM to fill our trucks quickly, and the fish in the raceway below that pool can handle the removal of 100 GPM for several minutes with no issues; and so I feel confident about any GPM from any pipe, up to 30 GPM, up to an hour at a time, with no issues.
Pressure washing on steroids, like has been asked about and I'd like to learn all about, for our application, have the following limitations that I can think of:
(1) I think, but don't know, that since our goal is to remove algae from concrete; concrete that is normally under water but is drained while cleaning; our PSI needs to be at least about 2800. We need considerable scrubbing power from what I can tell, but I'm not really experienced enough with enough applications and using different GPM levels to know for sure. So we need as much GPM as is possible and can be handled by an individual, while still providing enough scrubbing power to remove the algae.
(2) Of course we're limited by whatever is decided would be our investment in equipment and contractor work limit for a high-volume set up.
(3) We're limited by whatever equipment is available; i.e. if 10-12 GPM is the highest volume available with minimum acceptable PSI to scrub it off, then that's our limit.
(4) We're limited by our own knowledge of how to set equipment and set up a monstrous system and by that I mean that we don't even know enough to ask the right questions or who to ask them from.
(5) We're limited by our expertise and skill; so even if we gained the knowledge to have such a customized system of high GPM put in place here, we'd have to gain the skill and expertise to maintain it and operate it correctly.
(6) We're limited by the amount of power that can be safely and practically handled by one man over a period of many, many years of routine work, done periodically; maybe three or four 30 minute sessions of work every couple of weeks, for many, many years. Pressure washing is part of our job, but it's by no means an every day thing for each person on station.