Russ Johnson
Equipment Expert
I think this is the setup that Kemp was referring to, the Pressure Pro Polychain Belt drives:
What about Pulley/belt kits with slides for the engine instead of gearboxes?
- Thread starter Christopher
- Start date
cajun cleanin
New member
That is the machine I have and it has the adjustment rack under the pump like someone before posted.It adjusts pretty quick (which I have only messed with it when I replaced the pump.The type of belt on this machine and the short distance between pulleys only allows a little slack in it.Actually mine is an 8 gpm after looking at the specs on the pic, same setup though.
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Kemp
New member
This is what I was talking about. The base is from my old propane hw skid that gave up the ghost. I went from belt drive to gearbox, gearbox died from lack of oil, back to belt. I mounted on the back of my flatbed for an extra machine. Kohler 20 hp and 2021 pump.
MrKlean
New member
Sorry guys. My bad. I think it was around 3am when I posted that and I had been talking about bleach and housewash (not to mention a whole lot of other chemicals) and how to neutralize bleach's effects with my supplier a few days before and got confused with another chemical "Sodium Thio Sulfate" (I think that's how you spell it) that does neutralize bleach. Sometimes we talk about so many things I get confused. Sorry about that. I will double check my replies from now on.
Just like Christopher said, it's not "acidic". I just get the "corrosive" aspects of bleach in my brain and my hands type faster than my brain sometimes. My apologies. As you can see by how much I write, I love pressure washing as much as I do learning and sharing info about it and man, when I get on a rant - look out. As you can tell, I'm a gearbox man!
Thanks Christopher for the correction and for keepin' me straight. Whoo-wee! Talk about embarrassing if that ever got out on the internet!
Hey BlueBiss, you're ok. Sorry dude, didn't mean to scare you there. I should have stated that the housewash "dilutes" it. And even though it dilutes it, the right housewash will also "kick" it up a notch so that you don't need to use as much bleach. I only use 1 to 2 gallons of bleach to 3 or 4 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket and about 8 ounces of housewash concentrate depending on how bad the mold is.
Sorry about getting you guys off equipment.
Oh, and OffDutyFireman, I have indeed had packings last 3 or 4 years or more back when I did this part time. I now do this 7 days a week and run my machine anywhere from 6 to 10 hour a day. Even though I use a 5 to 10 micron filter (depending on what's in stock), they still wear out. Sometimes when I clean boat docks and have to suck water from the lake, this tends to do a number on the packings too. Plus, through the years, I've had "helpers" that didn't pay attention and ran the tanks and pumps dry - with a 5.6 gallon pump, sometimes a house faucet doesn't always keep up with the pump. Especially if you run both a 5.6 and a 4 gpm pump from the same tank on the same house. So, last year was my last year hiring "helpers". I work alone now except for a groundman when I do chemical cleaning on roofs, so we'll see how long they last now. I always carry extra packings and replace them myself. It only takes about 30 minutes, which is faster than the time it takes me to drive to my local repair shop and I'm back to work before you know it. I keep a tight schedule, so I can't afford to lose much time. Same with carbs, solenoids and injection valves. I built a twin engine trailer for a guy a couple of years back and because he hardly used the machines (he was just starting out) after about 6 months, he began having starting problems so he took it to local shop where they promptly charged him $400 for "carburetor work". The carb was only $85 brand new and only takes 15 minutes to replace - at least, that's what I would have done.
Here's a tip for everybody: For the last couple of weeks my chemical injection valves totally quit working on me. After about 3 days of messing with them, I finally gave in and took it to two different shops and even they couldn't figure it out. One sold me a new injector valve and said I'd have to throttle my engine down to about half way for it to work - I didn't understand that since I've never had to do that before. It did work, but it would barely reach two story soffits. Another sold me a new gun and 100' of new hose, suggesting that maybe I had a "collapsing" hose or a gun that wasn't opening up all the way. Heck, I even bought a new cutoff valve - and nothing worked. Now, I've known these guys for years and know they wouldn't intentionally rip me off. Altogether, I bought 3 new injector valves from 3 different suppliers and none of them would work (Envirospec, Powerkleen Corp and Northern Tool). I was at my wit's end. (Before this happened, I had no problem getting chemical through 450 of hose when I cleaned boat docks) Then the other day, while I was waiting for my tank to fill up at a job, I decided to take the injectors apart and noticed that even though all the injector valves came pre-assembled with quick connects, none of the injector valves had thread sealer on them where the quick connects attach to the body of the injector! So I wrapped some teflon tape around them, put them back together and presto! Man, I had chemical coming out of there like gang busters! I couldn't believe it! Two weeks of agony because the manufacturers were too cheap to use teflon tape (or thread sealer)!!! You just don't know how happy I am to have my injectors working again. Even my wife noticed a change in my attitude. Heck, I even took her down the Helzberg's jewelry and bought her a necklace and earrings! What a difference a chemical injector can make. For the last couple of weeks, I had to use a 12 volt sprayer to apply chemicals. (A pump-up sprayer just doesn't cut it on a 5,000 sq. ft. two story home with a two story birdcage.) And man, what a drag it is dealing with more than one hose. So, there you go folks. Don't say I never you nuthin'! Merry Christmas!
Well, I gotta go. The phone's ringing off the hook and I've already got a half dozen estimates I've got to get out today. Shoot, I'm booked through January and working on February. Everybody have good one and be safe out there! Over and out!
offdutyfireman
Active member
Switch to Udors and you won't have to rebuild pumps. I have 7 that run about 60 hours a week with no rebuilds. I don't run 5.6 or 4 gpm pumps as most of my work is commercial. We run two 8 gpm machines off of each tank.
MrKlean
New member
That's very interesting. I was tempted a few weeks back when one of my local repair shops called with a trade in they had for sale for $800 that was a 2500psi, 10gpm. I don't do much commercial but I thought about it. I know a guy here that uses a 5000 psi, 8 gpm for residential and when I went to renew my liability insurance, he apparently gets his insurance at the same place I do and when they asked me if I knew him, I said yes and they told me that he causes so much damage to homes that they may not be able to insure him anymore since he had over 6 claims in about 8 months. When I ran into him later at a chemical supplier and he mentioned that he blew out a kitchen window on one home that did about $15,000 damage to the new cabinets the customer had installed. Needless to say, I passed up that machine, but now that you mention the monsters you're using, I might revisit that idea. Are you using the GKC series 3000/3500 psi models? And what hp engines are you using to drive those big guns?
For the little commercial work I have now, I use my little ole 5.6 with a 20" Whisperwash surface cleaner. When I first started out, I had the 28" Big Guy (with a twin engine trailer and dual burners using the second machine for rinsing) but it just didn't cut it when it came to cleaning the white drive thru's of the Chick-Fil-A restaurants. Then there was so much wear and maintenance keeping it all running that I got rid of it and now I just run cold with a degreaser and concrete brightener, which my current customers seem to really like. When I had the double burner set up, I had one guy almost get scalded when a hose that he was standing over, burst. That hose rose up off the ground like giant serpent up between his legs, shooting a stream of scalding hot water everywhere and he was dancing around screaming like a mad man because it seemed to follow him which ever way he turned to try and get away. I was across the parking lot and it seemed like forever before I could get to the machine to turn it off.
Also, how many guys do you have working for you (Seven 8 gallon machines? Man, you don't mess around do you?) and how often do you check up on the work they do? I tried hiring a guy last year just for my commercial but ended up losing 4 restaurants within 2 months after he took over. The restaurant owners said it was financial reasons because of the economy, but my guy was constantly apologizing thinking he didn't do as good of a job as I did (makes me wonder why). I inspected his work and thought he was doing fine, but those losses made me rethink hiring others to work for me anyway. I really worry about my reputation. I guess I'm still stuck in that "If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself" frame of mind thinking because one of them did say that when they hired me, they thought they were getting me, not that other guy. I would like to take on more commercial work, but that really changed my mind about the whole thing. I'd really be interested in your thoughts on this. I mean, I know you win some and you lose some, but sometimes it bothers me when I think about it because I had those restaurants for over 5 years before I hired him without a single issue the entire time. I do have more restaurants calling, but I've been hesitant since I've been doing everything myself. I find commercial work somewhat boring myself (no offense), but may consider trying it again with the right guys and depending on what you have to say. Back before I had so much residential work, the commercial work was nice because it was consistent. At this point, it would be extra gravy for me if I could get the right mind set (and the right person) to do it again. I don't know why, but sometimes, I take losses like these personally.
Oh, and for Bluebliss and Christopher, man, all day today while I was pressure cleaning I kept wondering where I got that "chlorine is acid" idea and then I remembered that I had read a few years back that when you add chlorine to water, there is a chemical reaction between the chlorine and the hydrogen in the water that changes the chlorine/water solution to both a "hydrochloric" and "hypochlorous" acid mix as you can read here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochlorous_acid). Granted, they may be considered a "light" acid, and maybe I'm still wrong, but that's where I got the idea that it's an acid. So, I hope this helps you understand what I was trying to say.
Thanks OffDutyFireman. I look forward to hearing what you have to say and I will be checking out those Udor pumps.
810f250
Griffs Services PowerWash
Jim, the company you are referring to has his unloader set at 5000 psi?....., even if he used a bigger nozzle to lower the flowing working pressure, the shut off/closed gun pressure is a lot of stored energy.
I have heard only good thing about the udors, but what first attracted me to them was the highest oil capacity in its class, I dont own one however
I have heard only good thing about the udors, but what first attracted me to them was the highest oil capacity in its class, I dont own one however
MrKlean
New member
OFD (OffDutyFireman)
Those are some sweet setups you got there! I was actually getting jealous seeing how you got everything you need in there! I like having room to work. I've been thinking about going to either a van or panel truck, but after seeing how you were able to slide that 32 ft ladder up under there, I'm really starting to like those panel trucks! Looks like you didn't miss a trick either with more lines and switches than a Saturn rocket in there. Man, you've got some serious money tied up in those trucks. Thanks for the videos. You've really got me thinking now! A very impressive tour de force.
810f250 - Yeah, he doesn't really keep up on stuff, like learning how to run lower pressures, so whatever the machine is set at, that's what he runs. He doesn't use hose reels, so between his pressure hoses and his roof cleaning hoses, it looks like a giant bird's nest in the back of his trailer. He uses a pressure trap unloader, so that's probably how he blew out that window. I like flow type unloaders for the very reason you mentioned about the stored energy - there's less banging on the rest of my equipment. The part I didn't understand was, how long did he stand there blowing water in the window to cause that much damage. I don't know, but maybe it was one of those multi-million dollar homes with some kind of rare wood cabinets from the Amazon or something, who knows. And, you're right about those Udors. That was the first thing I noticed when ODF mentioned them was that they had the largest oil capacity of any pump its size. From what I've heard, a larger reservoir of oil not only lubricates better, but it also helps dissipate heat better. (Might be the secret to longer lasting pump packings.) I think my next pump just might be a Udor.
Those are some sweet setups you got there! I was actually getting jealous seeing how you got everything you need in there! I like having room to work. I've been thinking about going to either a van or panel truck, but after seeing how you were able to slide that 32 ft ladder up under there, I'm really starting to like those panel trucks! Looks like you didn't miss a trick either with more lines and switches than a Saturn rocket in there. Man, you've got some serious money tied up in those trucks. Thanks for the videos. You've really got me thinking now! A very impressive tour de force.
810f250 - Yeah, he doesn't really keep up on stuff, like learning how to run lower pressures, so whatever the machine is set at, that's what he runs. He doesn't use hose reels, so between his pressure hoses and his roof cleaning hoses, it looks like a giant bird's nest in the back of his trailer. He uses a pressure trap unloader, so that's probably how he blew out that window. I like flow type unloaders for the very reason you mentioned about the stored energy - there's less banging on the rest of my equipment. The part I didn't understand was, how long did he stand there blowing water in the window to cause that much damage. I don't know, but maybe it was one of those multi-million dollar homes with some kind of rare wood cabinets from the Amazon or something, who knows. And, you're right about those Udors. That was the first thing I noticed when ODF mentioned them was that they had the largest oil capacity of any pump its size. From what I've heard, a larger reservoir of oil not only lubricates better, but it also helps dissipate heat better. (Might be the secret to longer lasting pump packings.) I think my next pump just might be a Udor.
