Pressure washing questions

Hi pow/pre washers,

I saw this posting on line (Heavy-duty power washer for sale. Strong 3500psi, 3.5gpm, Briggs and Stratton motor. Runs great, comes with wand, tips, 50’ hose and chemical injector.) I know nothing about pressure washing except how to clean with one. I live in NY and I am not familiar with the H20 recovery laws.

In light of the above, please advise! PS the seller wants $1,000 but also says the price is negotiable.

IMO not a great deal

About 800 bucks overpriced.
You could buy a lot more GPM with 1k.

+1

Hi again,

I appreciate your advice. So should I take a look at it and make an offer of $150 or should I not even bother with contacting them?

What kind of specs should I be looking into when it comes to a pressure washer to clean house from 2,000 - 7,000 square ’ and driveways and decks etc.

I believe I would just pass on that particular pressure washer. You’ll want at least 4 GPM and 3000 PSI. GPM is far more important then PSI, more GPM allows you to work faster. More PSI allows you to do more damage quicker. As long as you have 2800-3000 PSI to clean concrete you’ll be fine. (3000 PSI is still plenty of power to do damage though, so you still need to know what you’re doing)

My advise is to stay away from decks until you have a few years of experience of pressure washing and soft washing. Decks are their own specialty all together.

Honda engines are better

I posted a link to the machine I just purchased below. It was the one i was advised to purchase by many different people on this forum. I was looking for a unit under 1600 dollars. I love the thing. I’m not an expert but I just spent a month researching pressure washers. You really need the following if you want to be efficient. Also, if you have the money, I would seriously consider buying a new unit. You don’t want to inherit someone else’s problem.

Honda Brand Engine
Belt Drive Pump
Bare minimum of 4 gallons per minute (PSI Means Nothing)
100 foot of hose
System set up for soft washing / Downstreaming (this is several different nozzles set up specifically for downstreaming)

Unit I purchased:
Lightweight Aircraft Grade Aluminum Frame EZ-View Sight Glass No Welds to Crack, Break, or Fail General Belt Drive Pump, ( 3 V-Belts ) Gen. Pulsar Modular Unloader with EZ Start Valve 4GPM @ 4000 PSI, 13 HP Honda Engine 50’ High Pressure Hose with QC

Check out envrospec = they have some nice cold water machine, I would go with a belt drive. 13hp to start with.

Kurt-

Thanks for sharing your experience shopping around…I’ll give those guys a call to check out that unit.

I have a few real newbie questions:

  1. How firm are they on the price? Were you able to negotiate at all?
  2. How will the unit be serviced if something goes wrong? You’re in MO, and they’re in OH…but I’m in NC.
  3. Did you go to pick it up or did they ship it to you? How much would THAT cost?
  4. Did this unit include wands, nozzles and hoses, etc. or was all that extra?

BTW, I use a Chrysler Town & Country for my window cleaning van…will I be able to move this pressure washer in and out of the van relatively easily? Do I need to build a ramp or hire stronger employees? :slight_smile:

Thanks.

The unit should fit in the van fine. I have a Chevy Astro cargo van and it fits in there with plenty of room to spare. I did have to purchase a piece of plywood for a ramp because it is definitely too heavy for one person to carry in and out of the back of the van. It came with wand, 50 foot of PW hose and I think the shipping was free (don’t quote me on that but pretty sure). It also came with everything I needed for downstreaming / softwashing. I would highly recommend purchasing another 50 foot of hose for now. Not sure on the bargaining with him. It’s a pretty good price already but try it. Other than that, you will need some simple cherry powder, liquid chlorine (SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE), a 5 gallon bucket with lid and 100 foot garden hose on a reel should be all you need. None of my guys have ever downstreamed before. For learning I paid them to clean my house first, then my parents, then my grandparents. After that they did our first customer house and everything went very smoothly. We haven’t looked back since and it has been a phenomenal investment. Good luck with everything Randy! Let me know if any more questions.

I have a question Kurt, or whomever. What is a good general solution to use on vinyl siding when you are softwashing? I have so many of my residential clients interested in power washing but I am sold on the idea of soft and want to invest in a unit myself. Obviously low pressure is not going to get the job done so what do you use to do the cleaning ?

You don’t need much pressure to soft wash. The main chemical is liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite). I get it from a local pool store. The chemicals do everything. It’s not the pressure doing the work. So basically, you spray on the chemical and after a few seconds all of the mold, mildew and dirt just disappears. If you purchase the unit that I posted earlier, Bob will go over everything you need at the time of purchase. Check out this video.

http://windowcleaner.com/vBulletin/power-washing/9834-soft-washing-video.html

FWIW, I called Pressure Tek, and Andy answered the phone. Bob was not in.

I mentioned this forum and Kurt by name (he had no clue about any of that), and I told him I plan to buy a pressure washer within a few days. I told him I had a few questions about the unit Kurt bought.

Andy told me he didn’t have a lot of time to answer questions and that I could get most of the information from the website. He did begrudgingly let me ask a few questions when I insisted, but it was pretty obvious he did not want to spend much time selling me a $1,500 dollar piece of equipment.

Needless to say, I was not impressed. I may call back for Bob…but then again, I may not.

Everybody has been saying good things about this pressure washer:

Lightweight Aircraft Grade Aluminum Frame EZ-View Sight Glass No Welds to Crack, Break, or Fail General Belt Drive Pump, ( 3 V-Belts ) Gen. Pulsar Modular Unloader with EZ Start Valve 4GPM @ 4000 PSI, 13 HP Honda Engine 50’ High Pressure Hose with QC

It has belt drive, 4.0 GPM, 4000 PSI, a 13 HP Honda engine, etc., and it costs $1,600.

Lowe’s sells this unit:

Shop John Deere 3800 PSI 4.0 GPM Gas Pressure Washer at Lowes.com

It has 4.0 GPM, 3800 PSI, is made by John Deere, features an 11.7 HP Honda GX 390.0 engine, and sells for $1,000.

If 4,000 PSI is overkill, then why is the Pressure Tek worth $600 more than the John Deere?

Is belt drive worth $700? Or is there more to the Pressure Tek unit that makes it better?

Randy, I’m sorry you had a bad experience with Pressure Tek. That was not my experience in the least. Again, I’m no expert, but one of the main things that goes into a good, solid pressure washer is belt drive functionality. Apparently they last way longer than those without a belt drive. Maybe someone else can chime in with more experience that me.

A direct drive transfers a lot of heat and vibration to the pump. Another issue with direct drives is that they turn at a higher RPM, which means more wear and tear, and it’s a lot harder on the pump to pull from a tank.

A belt driven pump runs at a lower RPM, keeping it cooler and allowing it suck water from a tank easier. It is also separated from the engine, so there is a lot less heat transfer and not near as much vibration.

That lowes pressure washer probably does not have a general pump like they used to come with, so there’s another plus with Pressure Tek’s unit. Not to mention the upgraded unloader.

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We offer several units that have similar specs 4gpm and belt drive take a look https://windowcleaner.com/pressure-washing-supplies/pressure-washers/portable
Call me 865-310-0728