Hey guys,
For those of you who do gutter cleaning as an ad on, do any of you own a proper gutter vacume machine. If you do, do you think it was a good investment. The reason I ask is because cleaning the gutter by hand is back breaking work especially if you have a lot of gutter cleaning clients. I know it’s a big outlay, but the time savings and saving to your body only makes sense. Any thoughts?
BigBlue,
I’m new to window washing and I plan to purchase a Vacuum System so I can clean out gutters up to two stories without ladders. I plan to start in Feb. 2015 when I retire from my 60 Hrs a week job. Look forward to staying intouch a to see how this pans out! PAC2015
We use a pressure washer. It’s been the best method for us. I haven’t used a vacuum but a lot of gutters we do have shingle dust, leaves, water, etc in them which turns into a mud. I don’t think a vacuum would pull that out.
It would if you had them vacuumed regularly enough. Sign the homeowner up for 2-3 times per year if needed. The gutter vacuum is the future. It will make you more money than a waterfed pole.
Any engineers or Mathletes want to figure out how much hose you could run off a landscaper sized leaf vacuum?
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Just blow it out with a blower vac, walk around the roof, its not like you will have to worry about the shingle dust or whatever.
Even when the mulch is wet?
To be honest if it was damp then yes, if it was soaking wet I would reschedule. I don’t really have to deal with a great deal of rainy days even when it rains its warm. It all depends on what other services you are doing If you are just doing a gutter clean ideally you would want it to be dry, if its damp you will probably need to rinse the areas that got dirty afterwards. I personally would not clean all slushy wet gutters, its just gonna drain time. If there is a reason for the gutters to retain water then free up downspouts and let dry.
My method for cleaning gutters is go to the corners put in wedges(like doorstops) into the corners so that all matter is directed out of the gutter, then its basically just walk around the roof with the blower and a 2’ pole with a thin scoop on the end mainly to break up solid matter so it can be blown away a average roof takes around 15-25 mins, then 5 mins on the ground cleaning up the debris, but then it depends on the gardens on the ground, I have always been luck that they have leaf matter and mulch already down do it just adds to that, would be a bonus boost of nutrients too.
There are some attempts at leafblower to guttervac conversions - - they’re all pretty dismal though - - high airflow rate but dismally low water lift.
The requirement for either customers electrical hookup or a generator has always been a major flaw for guttervacs IMO - - but building a gas powered machine that does the same isn’t cheap. You’d need a 13hp engine, a “Roots” or “Sutorbuilt” blower vac (Or the type used in truckmount carpet cleaning machines) - a way to bolt the two together (Simple enough if you source the right unit) and a trolley to mount it on and a big collection drum with an easy way to empty it.
All this would be very heavy, but leaving the machine in the truck and running 300’ or more of vac hose isn’t practical because the sheer volume of crud you suck up would inevitably cause blockages! So you’d need a shorter hose and a really good trolley system with big wheels thats compact, easy to manouver, easy to get in & out of your truck etc etc,…
No one has managed to design this yet - - come on WCR,… here’s a challenge for you!!
thanks for all your comments. The blower method Steve mentioned doesn’t really work most of the time as living in Victoria, there is a lot of wet stuff in the gutters and if you try to blow it out it would be a disastrous muddy mess. This is the macine I am looking at. It is a system you would invest in if you do a substantial amount of gutters. The suction is awesome even with 100m of hose. Looks really professional and capable of cleaning larger contracts (schools/hospitals). The money is fantastic especially with repeat clients. I’ll post a vid if I get it and show it in action. Vac Master 2030 Hot Point Diagram.pdf (806 KB)Vac Master 2030 Hot Point Diagram.pdf (806 KB)
Nice looking machine! What’s the price tag?
$20k
We have a vaccum, its the bomb. As mentioned though it works best when the gutters are maintanined regularly. If the gutters havent been taken care of in a while and have stuff growing in them then its just easier to go in and scoop by hand. We have the gutter sucker fyi.
