PW on a flatbed truck or a trailer

Goldstone Exterior said:
We have 5 trucks with a similar setup for each one. We can clean garages as low as 6'6"
Click to expand...


That picture is kind of small, do you have any others? What about the other side?

From far away it looks like a nice truck.
 
pb4ugo said:
How many people actually have a second vehicle capable of towing their wash trailer at their disposal? This is directed at those that say they can still use their rig in the event of a vehicular failure.
Click to expand...

I have always either had 2 tow vehicles or had access to one.
 
The Cleaner said:
I have always either had 2 tow vehicles or had access to one.
Click to expand...

Same here. Though years back we did not have the luxury of two diesel trucks. If one broke down, we was stuck. We had to rent from hertz at $350 a day for a dually in 1994 ish. ( Had a 1991 Ford F250 with a 351. In the shop every 6-8 months... Trany problems) It wasn't till our 5 year that were was able to buy a brand new diesel, and then, another two more for the second. Being that they were each in the 50k range, it was tuff.

So I know that for some, it is not possible to have two trucks, however, if you had a flat bed and the truck breaks down, you are at the very least in the same boat. It's just that the trailer gives you more options if your truck breaks down.
 
We use truck mount rigs and trailer mount recollection as well as truck recollecting on small jobs. Like the others have said what works best for you. I have had both and prefer truck rigs in a box as weather can be an issue for me in WI. I found them easier to drive and manipulate in lots, but I do primarily truck fleets where I have to move frequently and need to carry more water than a trailer can handle easily. Now I pull up roll out a hose and wash, roll it up and leave. In some situations if I was using a trailer it can add as much 10 min to my wash time moving it around. I have also found that the equipment travels much better on a truck than a trailer, less bounce.
 
Paul Kassander said:
We use truck mount rigs and trailer mount recollection as well as truck recollecting on small jobs. Like the others have said what works best for you. I have had both and prefer truck rigs in a box as weather can be an issue for me in WI. I found them easier to drive and manipulate in lots, but I do primarily truck fleets where I have to move frequently and need to carry more water than a trailer can handle easily. Now I pull up roll out a hose and wash, roll it up and leave. In some situations if I was using a trailer it can add as much 10 min to my wash time moving it around. I have also found that the equipment travels much better on a truck than a trailer, less bounce.
Click to expand...

I am not a fan of used equipment, but budget is tight and its hard to find more contracts these days. Today, I called the guy who was selling the GMC, and he told me he sold it in the morning. That leaves me with one option for now. What worries me is what you say, if the truck brakes (and it is 10 years old with 120k miles), that will put me in situation that I hate the most. I still need to make my choice fast because the pressure washer arrives in a week or less and I want to put it in work immediately.
 
Christopher said:
I would get more supply hose and more pressure hose so you don't have to move the trailer so much. You probably don't think about that right now but it does take time to move hoses, move the truck, get situated and start back up. Guys will take their time when moving the truck, I have seen companies burn up 20 to 30 minutes easily.

More supply hose definately, 100' is not much when dealing with shopping centers and not all of them will have hose bibs that work all the time.

I have a hose reel I got from Sam's club that is just for storage, I do not use that cheap swivel because it is too small and will restrict too much. I keep 360' of hose on it. I have 225' of 3/4" supply hose on my electric hose reel and keep another 120' of hose on a spare hose reel on the trailer. With all that hose, I am usually good to go when, not if a place has bad hose bibs, not enough so I need to string out a few hundred feet of hose to get the job done and if I need to run 2 hoses to the tank for weak or slow flow from the hose bibs.

Pressure hose, again, to keep you from moving the truck so much, 100' will get used up quickly and you will be kicking yourself for not buying more and having it with you. I have 200' on one reel and 250' on another reel and a lot of times I will add the extra 50' or 100' jumper on there so I don't have to move the trailer so much. It is all about doing as much work as fast as you can and without having to stop working to move the trailer that much.

Get spare fittings, o-rings, guns, etc.... I know of a guy that does not believe in keeping spare stuff on his truck or trailer. He started a job on Friday nite and an 0-ring blew out and he was shut down until Monday morning to get a new one from the local place. I would hate to explain that a $ 0.10 o-ring shut down the job over the weekend and why you don't believe in keeping spares with you.

Get some extra nozzles, they do get lost sometimes.

Get a spare spray bar for the Classic, you will need it sooner or later. This way when, not if, you knock out a nozzle out of the spray bar, you can be back up running in about 10 minutes or less.
Click to expand...

I was thinking to get two 100' pressure hoses, I may switch to one 200' piece per your suggestion.
I've got extra kit of nozzle tips already.
I know we are not going to use chemicals for now, but what do I need for that part? Another tank and what else?

Thanks,

D.
 
We have done lots of centers with 150' of pressure hose, if there are 3 guys working you are always moving up. 2 guys working 1 guy moving the truck and pulling the slack, forget about depending on water at the center and get yourself a hydrant hose and wrench. OH yeah and Meter...then go at it !!!
 
I would rather have a 200' piece of hose instead of 2 of the 100' sections. When you put them on a hose reel, where the 2 hoses meet there is a straight piece that does not roll up good on the hose reel and that fitting gets a lot of stress and eventually starts leaking.

It would be nice if there was a flexible 90 degree type fitting, kind of like what Russ J's pivot nozzle holder but for 3/8" hose so it would bend to fit on the hose reel when rolling up the hose but when there is no pressure on the hose.
 
greg/sd said:
I would say flatbed. I have had everything from big trailers to box trucks,I've been happiest with a flatbed.
Click to expand...


what the hell do you know !!:jester:
 
We use 100' at a time at shopping centers.
Start far from the truck walk towards it drop the surface cleaner turnaround and rinse. Walk the hose back pull the truck up and let the truck pull the hose.
start again.
You also get more power from 100' than longer. Of course this is what works for me.
 
To me starting out with a nice pulling truck and a larger trailer would be good. If you need 12 feet buy 16 if you need 16 buy 20 ....ect
After that I would want a box truck with a full color wrap. If you have the money.....In my case I will settle for a 20-24 gooseneck and wrap the sides....

The box truck really represents a company....Trailers still give me the thought of a guy that is solo or a guy that has maybe one or two workers. At least for residentials business.

Having a proir background in landscaping I see this all over.....Box Trucks and flatbed Isuzu vs guys with pick up and trailers.
Maybe in commercial it doesn't matter for most is done at nighttime.

As far a parking garages .......I really don't know....trailers vs mounted truck rigs
I guess it would be nice to have a 550 with 12 foot bed and maybe pull a small water trailer.....That one would be up to the pro's on here to commit more on........
 
The list..

Hey guys,

I am still in progress of putting together a PW setup.
I should receive the Hydro-Tek SS35006VG, extra nozzle tips and a Classic surface cleaner next week. Tomorrow I am closing the deal on the flatbed F-450.
I am looking for a decent size water tank not more than 350gal.
Which one would you recommend from these guys: Tank-Depot
They are pretty much in the area so I will pick it up from them.
After all, I have ran out of budget and to complete the setup I need to look for the cheapest options that will temporary do the job. Later on, I am planning to upgrade whatever goes bad.
I made a list of items that I would purchase, but wanted to hear a final word from the more experienced here. Just to make clear, we do mostly power sweeping, ground work, and property maintenance on the shopping centers and plazas that we sweep. The PW equipment will be used on our existing accounts to pressure wash: sidewalks, walls, back service alleys (concrete, building walls, brick walls, asphalt, dumpsters and etc.)

here is the list of the items to be purchased: link
and a downstream injector fro, here: link
I get back 6% referral fee from Amazon, so that helps the budget a little.
I am getting only one reel to see how it performs, and I will get another one later. Unfortunately no budget for now for garden hose reel :(. Eventually, I will get another 200' HP hose, a reel for it and a reel for the garden hose.
What else is a must for my needs? links or prices would be appreciated :).

Thanks again,

D.
 
I think that if you got all that stuff from one of the vendors here, you might save more than that 6% but you just never know.

I have some of those general pump hose reels, they are not good, the swivel will start leaking very soon and the paint will start peeling/chipping within a few months. I would not buy another one.

I would get a few couplers and plugs that fit what things you are buying like the hose, guns, etc.... Nothing comes with the plugs and couplers most of the time.

I would keep a few other things on the truck like fuel can for the gas and diesel so when you are low you don't have to leave the job to get more fuel into the machine.

Get a flat shovel, broom, bucket, etc.. so when doing a place that is very dirty so you don't end up washing the whole parking lot.

There are other things to keep with you, like o-rings, o-ring pick or other thing to change out the o-rings when they do bad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top