I’m getting ready to purchase a WFP set up and I am wondering what is a goo amount of hose to start with. I mostly do residential but I am looking to add more commercial work in the near future.
Lets say a residential home with 4 bed rooms, two stories. About how much hose will do?
i use 350 feet of 1/4 inch airline and 150 feet of Garden hose. Never came up short with either.
How much do you want to spend? The cheepest would be to go with the 100ft of 1/4 air hose then get 100ft of silicone pole hose clear type. Are you using a cart or DI tank in your truck? Most carts will come with 150 ft of hose then you can add the pole hose to that. If you can afford it go ahead and get 300ft of nylon threaded hose and cox reel from this site. It will last you a long time and be worth the investment. It is easy to roll up and does not kink up. Garden hose is heavy and hard to work with.
[SIZE=“5”]WHATS UP SQUEEKY!![/SIZE]
I got a ghetto set up-I use rented DI tanks from Pacific water and filtration out of El Cajon for 75 bucks a pair, he will deliver to you for an extra 8 bucks his name is Ken (619)401-4111. I also use 2 Tucker poles, a 32 and 45’? All I use for the hoses are garden hoses. I got a hose reel from sams club for 50 bucks with 350’ of hose on it. The hose costs about 40 bucks for 150’ (2 150s and 1 50 footer) it connects to the pole hose thru a shut off valve connector (if the pole dont have one, you can get it made at hydroscape for about 20 bucks, and get an extra one in case you lose one like I did TWICE).
Also, get some rain birds, both sizes-you will need them here in SD for commercial work, those run about 50-90 bucks a pop.
If you want a cart, there is a nice Aqua cart sitting in a supply house at CM Supply in El Cajon that was only used once. Its got a hose reel on it with a pump, a tank,ro/di…real nice, but real heavy too. Its 3500 bucks but Im sure they will take 3 for it. The IPC Eagle carts look real nice and easy to use but yer gonna pay what at least 2500 for it? I plan to get that cart by the time summer is over if its still there.
I have two reels with 150ft on each. When I first got the machine and was on a res job I was pulling out both hoses and having each go around the home, 1 to the right and 1 to the left. I would complete the left side and switch over at the back of the home, have the helper roll up the hose while I completed the right side. Changed operations to where both poles were used at the same time and that was ok. Now I just use one hose and have the help do other things. My 1 150ft hose will get around most homes 360 degrees but I can come up short due to folliage and surrounding decor. But then it’s just a matter of moving the machine a little. But you have to have a long garden hose. I have 2 50ft garden hoses of which 1 is used for 99% of the res work. I rarely have to pull two garden hoses and when I do, I keep a close eye on PSI.
An average 20,000 sqft mid-rise building is about 100ft x 4. You can leave your machine at a corner where you will find most of your water accesss and blast out two sides of the building.
What are Rain Birds?
I was thinking about the 1 cubic foot tank with DI. I was also thinking about the Hiflo DI cart from Unger. Not sure if one is better then the other. I don’t know how many cubic feet the Unger system holds.
One of my biggest concerns is how high the TDS of the water in San Diego is, I have no idea what it is on average do you? I dont want to burn through DI to fast.
I was also thinking of buying a 28’ pole, I want to start out with 2 story commercial and residential. DO you think thats long enough for commercial?
WCR sales the Simpole 32ft which I use for both residential and low rise. It will work great for you and last a long time. As far as water purification, if your tds is around a .100 you will get lots of pure water from 1/2 cubic tank. If higher you will want to make a bigger investment in RO/DI system which will save you in the long run. Another option that is used in UK is to by a cheaper RO/DI that you hook up at home and fill a storage tank and then fill you van or truck tank and take the water with you to the job. This is what I have done for years and it works great and is much cheaper than using a cart.
We got some rough water here in SD…some areas like Poway and Scripps Ranch can be up to 500 TDS areas in Otay have up to 900 because some of the water is reclaimed, only for irrigation…not for drinking. The tanks I use will last on average 12 hours. The tanks I have now are putting out 17 TDS, when I got them they were putting out 8 TDS. I change them out at about 20 TDS but you can streach it to 25 but thats only in a pinch. Thats why I rent them. For instance, one account I have has 2 buildings I do at 250.00 each, with the wfp it takes 45 minutes each. 75 bucks for the tank…
A 28 foot pole, you are going to find, is gonna be worthless Mike. All you will be able to do is 2 story so you are limiting yourself at the start. Some 2 stories turn into 3 because of the way the building is built or the area around the building is, say the building is on a hill, so you have to be on the bottom of that hill to use the pole. How will you get to those windows? Sometimes you CANT use a ladder because the angle for your ladder wont work-too close to the building…too steep. My only experiance is with a Tucker pole, and I will tell you, at 45’ (it dont really go that high really) to be able to work the brush at that height is really hard…the pole is easy to get away from you. I dont know about those carbon fiber poles that are lighter than the Tucker, but it still has to be hard to work with…the water in the hose itself makes it heavy…
With the 45’ Tucker I am able to do 4 stories, but with that same pole I have to use it to do high 3 story buildings. My 32’ pole should be able to get those but just wont reach because of the building being on a hill.
Trust me, wfp is the way to go Mike. Even with the crappy water here it still makes you GOOD money.
[SIZE=“5”]Just an FYI, there is 2 guys out in Rancho San Diego and Poway who have no insurance…start up guys that look like landscapers who are doing a dollar a window-plus the real companies who will work for free just about-[/SIZE]
If you get a wfp Mike, you are going to be able to do more work than before and be able to do things that these clowns wont be able to.
