There is a 40’ Pole out there that I want to try out for some of my glass commercial buildings. Anyone out there use one and have an opinion on it?
I already have the Unger 30’, but there’s a lot more I could get done with the 40’…
Have you considered a water fed pole? I’ve been told by several people that have used the 40 ft pole that it’s heavy and dropping between sections can be cumbersome. Not to mention switching between tools when it’s at 40ft would be awkward.
I turned my monster Pole into a water fed pole, with some hose and a brush. Works Great!!
windowman
Yes I have used a water fed pole, and t was a failure on the particular jobs I am concerned about.
Here’s a trick I learned from my supplier - if you have the Unger pole, buy the 27’ Ettore and remover the rubbe handle. It will slip into the bottom 2 sections of the Unger. You have a relatively rigid 40’ (approximately) pole out of it.
If wfp was a failure I doubt a regular pole will improve the results. How was it a failure? Spotting issues?
http://windowcleaner.com/vBulletin/pure-water-window-cleaning/9468-why-i-dont-use-wfp-long-rant.html
I remember that thread. I also see in that thread many reasons why a 40 ft traditional pole won’t be any better for you. You didn’t want to scrape on a pole, or use a white pad to mention just 2. I’m not trying to be argumentative but I can’t see where you would gain anything more w/ a 40ft monster pole than using a water fed pole. Just my opinion though.
A) 5 Stage RO/DI Cart $3000-$5000, Carbon Fiber Poles - $1,500-$$3,000 (I wouldn’t ever use fiberglass again.) Heating bill to keep them from freezing in the winter in my garage $$$ ?. May sit around alot because I don’t have the kind of jobs that would benefit from WFP. Plus I don’t think I would buy anything less than the best if I got into WFP again. It could get expensive, considering I would probably want to have a vehicle with the RO/DI permanently mounted instead of the cart I used before, so add $5,000 for a used truck or van to mount the unit in. I starts adding up quick.
B)2- 40’ poles = $600. One for the wand, one for the squeegee. I may use them on other jobs, but if not, they’ll still turn profitable in a year for me. So I wouldn’t mind seeing them sit around only to be used quarterly.
C) If I’m going to do a poor quality job on windows above 30’ I may as well use the less expensive option.
I am going to try marketing this coming year and hope to build my business to an extra employee or two. If I am successful, I may try WFP again the following year, but I still think it is just not my niche.
Man, anyone who can effeciently use a 40 foot pole is DA MAN. I have a hard time with my 24ft…
have you ever seen the shoulders of someone who uses them. my neck would be killing me the next day after a full day of use. not to mention having to bolt those poles up and then down. learn how to use a wfp. MUCH easier my friends.
I use the 30’ quite often, probably extended to 24’. Not that bad, gets a bit wobbly. Don’t even think of finessing a wagtail up there…
in my avatar photo i was using a 30foot carbon pole with a wagtail on top. this was made up by joining 2 sectional fishing poles ,the lower sections are fibreglass but mainly it is carbon. i got good enough results but really needed 2 seperate poles (1 to scrub,1 to squeegee) because it was a total pain to keep bringing down/up the weighty scrubber .
i ABSOLUTELY HATED staring skywards on that job as it was a big seafront building,salty glass hadnt been touched for3 years ///took me hours to clean ,in fact took me a whole weekend and i decided that i will stick with doing lower pole work only. my thinking is that if glass is really dirty the only way to get a good result is by being face up to the glass on a high ladder,otherwise how can you see that you have done a good job? . i now have a big ladder with a pair of ladder limpets .these give some reassurance because theres a real risk working alone. to be honest it needs a lookout/helper when using high ladders
Thats a great idea! - Do you use this often John?
Not much need for it these days. Before carting my wfp system around I used the trick a few times as needed. Now I will use Pure water typically.
Since price and quality is a concern maybe you might want to look at a bucket truck. The smaller used ones can be had for around 10 grand on craigslist. I know that the price might not be something you’re looking to spend but with something like this you’re not dealing with the issues of a wfp. You’re getting face to glass and you can lower your mid-rise prices to attact more work. You might be able to use it on some residential work also, if the bucket is long enough. a 50 or 60 footer should easly span most front yards from the road in order to reach the 2nd and 3rd floors of some homes.
I would love something like this. Ready to go for lettering.
Kim Little purchased a bucket truck years ago, and stated that it was the WC’ing-related purchase he regretted the most.
What didn’t he like about it? I could see it being a money hog if you dont have the work coming in.
Access issues.
I asked about that before here and people all told me it was a bad idea…
