Best thing for that tool is if jaws did come along and eat it. Pad holds little water and Velcro wears away leaving your pad hanging off. It has a metal end so not good for pvc frames as it can scratch it if not careful and it looks like junk tbh, would be ok if it was a prototype but it looks and feels tacky. Unger, ettore and moerman are much better quality. My wagtail lives in a box along with other naff tools. But each to there own i suppose. Be fine for shops with bad frames but thatās about it. Even the ukās largest supplier describes them as ājunkā give this tool a miss and buy an unger, ettore or moerman. Funny weird video though 
I like the wagtail. It gives me almost perfect results when Iām on the pole, no detailing. Yeah, it feels cheap, but you know Iāve never had it break on me. Maybe because I treat it a little more careful because it feels cheapā¦ I dunno.
What I donāt get is why Wagtail has so many freakin different handles. I donāt like that nobby thing on the top, I like the slimline. Make one handle and thatās all you need. Also make them where they can use other channels. I use my dogeared ettore ss channel. Donāt care for the wagtail channels. Itās not that I donāt like the channels, I just donāt care.
In fact, you could reduce the line just down to the handle. Maybe beef it up a little bit so it doesnāt feel cheap - a few grams will go a long way. Maybe make a locking mechanism instead of the screw. Maybe make a clip which will pinch the mop instead of velcro then I could use any (modified) mop. Maybe make the mop clip fit ettore channels the best selling channelā¦ in the world.
Moerman has come a long way with their line and it works as well. Itās just that I bought a wagtail before moerman came out so I stuck with it. The moerman feels more substantial and has the locking feature which is nice. But all I need the wagtail for is upper windows and I usually use a 12" ettore channel in it alongside a regular mop and regular squeegee.
Yeah the wagtail looks and feels like it was made in a shed. I could make something similar in my garage lol. Itās like they developed it to around 60% finished then just released it lol
LOL
I used one of his handles to create a sill tool for wiping commercial sills (our sills get really dusty over here). Weāll see how the samurai goes and that might be next. But Iād need to source his handles to get it to market.
Or maybe Moerman. Theyāre totally up for new ideas and Iāve never even heard of a tool for sills.
Credit where credit is due. Willie Erken pioneered the single point free pivot concept. Essentially a one man band his tools were developed with personal funding and some government grants. I started using them in 2012 when the PC (pivot control) was introduced. From out of the box, bog standard they work extremely well and are an absolute time and energy saver. The first squeegee that could be used in hand and on short or longer poles using essentially identical techniques and workflow. Willie also needs to be given credit for pioneering the attached pad as a āflipperā pad enabling you to scrub and squeegee without dropping and changing tools. So letās not get carried away because without Wagtail the Excelerator would not exist. Iāve always said the Excelerator is the Wagtail that users always wanted but Willie was either unwilling or unable to develop. The high flyer is Wagtails response to Excelerator I believe. Instead of tit for tat design improvements they decided to go in a new direction. Personalities aside? This tool has some really innovative ideas BUT like previous Wags has a prototype, unfinished feel to it. Once again users are modding the hell out of it and itās only a matter of time before one of the bigger guys with deep pockets tidies up the concept.
Ok i understand what your saying but itās like comparing a fiat (wagtail) and an Audi (excelerator) ok so the guy was a pioneer, fair doās but the tool still looks and feels like garbage Luke will tell you that, bob hatt will tell you that and most of the UK lol in 11 years of window cleaning Iāve never seen someone in my area using a wagtail. They use ettore, Unger and now moerman, why? Because wagtail although maybe started as a good idea in todayās world is miles behind. As soon as i used one i saw the flaws. Crap pad leaves detailing and can scratch pvc frames. Thats why there are so many wagtail mod videos. The only time i would consider using it is on a job with wooden chipped frames that i didnāt want to use my decent squeegees on. The only folks that really like it are ones that canāt master the excelerator so the wagtail is an easy thing you can just throw around the glass but leaves plenty to detail. No one shows that in there videos, just flashy scenes of a wagtail flying around a large bit of glass. No one zooms in on the mess it leaves down the sides or lets you here the noise it makes on pvc frames with no seal. I will be doing a video this year on exactly what itās like to use with no flashy sounds or edits. Since moerman released there tools 3 years ago nothing comes close now. By the way this is not a pop at you, just saying the tool is bollocks
If I start making videos, itāll be after the supercop indian movies. A raised eyebrow and the screens fly off the windows. A nod at the glass and bam, itās clean. Iād only ever lift my aviators on a construction clean and all the stickers and gunk would just run right off the window.
No probs. Not comparing them at all. Not defending Wagtails track record either. As you know I almost exclusively use Moerman. Just pointing out that we donāt distort the history of the concept and should continue to give credit where credit is due. Excelerator wouldnāt exist without Wagtail. Fliq wouldnāt exist without Flipper. Hydroblade, Xline Rinsebar and the latest rinse bar from RHG wouldnāt exist without the original Wagtail Jetstream. Keeping it real ensures that ātowering egosā are kept at bay and that newbies understand that there is rarely such a thing as āoriginalā.
