Just got an Alkota 8405HNL 8gpm/4000psi trailer. Have been renting until I had enough money and work scheduled to afford it. Looking forward to seeing how much faster it is cleaning with 8gpm versus 4.8gpm with the rental units.
What do ya’ll think and how is the switch between 4.8gpm and 8gpm in terms of cleaning speed?
Cleaning speed will double. Alkota makes a fine machine.
Before you get it dirty, swap out that pressure reel with a good one. What’s the purple stuff on the little tank? I’d get rid of the tank and get one without a bung hole in the bottom, especially if you ever decide to put bleach in it. Nice rig.
If Sean and William approve, you done good.
Wait until you try that hot water rig on concrete, I’m severely jealous. Don’t leave that parked on the street, it’ll be gone in 24 hours. I use a wheel lock for my trailer.
^ this and install a tracker. i’ve seen too many people regret not having one.
Nice rig. Couple things:
Crawl underneath and look at how that machine and the tanks are attached to the decking. If it’s just a washer and a nut then I would recommend cutting up some scrap sections of angle iron (or lawn mower blades like IBS has used) and drilling holes in them to spread the load out over two boards. Much safer that way.
Using air to blow out your lines is good but it is very easy to add a tank for holding antifreeze and then just plumbing that tank into your supply line (pre-filter, the filter housings can freeze and crack) that way all you have to do is close the valve at the buffer tank and open the valve at the antifreeze tank then fire the machine up on its lowest idle setting and throw the end of your pressure hose in the antifreeze tank and circulate antifreeze through the system for a minute or two before shutting the machine down. When you de-winterize, you just reverse those steps and be ready to pull the pressure hose out of the antifreeze tank when you see it start to run clear water.
Remember, with hot water machines you want to shut off the heat well before you shut down the machine. Make sure it’s running ambient temperature water out of the hose before you turn it off. If you just shut it down with warm water still flowing through there you will get deposits built up inside the heater coil.
Thanks everyone! Great advice, especially on the tracker. Getting an apple tracker to throw on tonight. If anyone has recommendations for gps trackers I’d love to hear them. DT I’ll definitely check under the rig for that support. I have a bunch of mower blades laying around. Got a craftsman pancake 150psi air compressor and blew out the system last night before the freeze. The rig has a schrader valve integrated into it for that.
The purple stuff in back is degreaser that the seller provided without my asking. Wanted it as a bleach tank. I have another 35 gallon tank that I can plumb in.
Got this unit because it was the only 8gpm I could find with a Honda engine. Like how there are QDs for all the hose fittings for easy maintenance.
Currently shopping around for insurance. Some providers are finicky like progressive not allowing the value of attached equipment to exceed the trailer value. Looking to store it at public storage since my garage is inaccessible for this but they require insurance on it first since their liability limit is $5000. Suggestions on this also happily accepted.
Will be buying a wheel lock today for the time being. Have it under video surveillance right now.
That Schrader valve is pretty nifty. My concern is that it’s on the outlet side of the pump so unless you’re pulling the inlet side off and blowing through those lines you’re not really protecting the pump itself.
When I kept my trailer at a public storage I had a renter’s policy for I think $30k and it covered my trailer and equipment.
That is concerning. I ran air through the valve and it seemed push all the fluid and antifreeze I ran through earlier out through the pressure hose outlet end. I repeated it 3 times with 6 gallons of compressed air to be sure. I thought the hose in the pic below was the outlet end because it leads to the hose reel.
Was that under your auto insurance or business property insurance? Auto is when it’s attached to the truck and moving but I figured when it’s in storage it’s business equipment and thus could be covered under property. May just insure the trailer and attached equipment separately. Need to do more research though. I’ve heard State Farm has good commercial auto that covers all attached equipment regardless of trailer value.
That is the heater coil outlet that runs to your hose reel. I mean the outlet of the pump where the unloader is attached. That Schrader valve looks like it will work just fine to blow out everything after the pump but it doesn’t do you any good for the pump and everything before it (water filter housing, water supply hose). Any water still residing in the pump can and will freeze. If you plumb in an antifreeze tank you can just switch to pulling antifreeze instead of water and you’re good to go.
It was a renters policy through State Farm. It is basically just an add-on you whatever policies you may hold with them. I do have my commercial auto through State Farm as well so all of my insurance is under the same umbrella. My business insurance is through an entirely separate company. I do have a policy on the trailer and equipment through that as well. I believe it’s some kind of an inland marine policy and I don’t know the ins-and-outs of it but it’s affordable and covers my butt should I ever need it.
What you blew out there is what was in the coil. I’m assuming you just unhooked the whip line from coil to reel seeing as how it’s all over the fender on that side. Next time, shove that air hose in the whip line and blow out your reel while you’re at it. Don’t want to crack a manifold. You can also unhook the water supply hose and get a duck plug that will fit in it (or just shove the air line in there and hold around it with a rag to form some type of a seal) and blow air through the pump itself. Doesn’t take much pressure to get the water out so don’t feel like you need to cheetah blaster it.
OR
Plumb the antifreeze tank and make winterizing and de-winterizing a two minute job lol
Which one do you recommend? I need one for my trailer.
Nice looking rig. Agree with William, you’ve spent that much, get some decent reels on there.
Not yet, but we are debating on getting one for our youngest son’s winter jacket as he seems to lose one a week at school. 
Lol. Great idea.
The tech behind the tags is pretty cool with how they use other nearby apple devices to help track it.
I’ll just get a 5 gallon bucket and some antifreeze. I just finished a job last night and blowing out the lines is a pain in the rear. Just got a proper truck to tow the rig. Difference is night and day. The rig blasts through grease like nothing. Loving the difference!
I will note that there is no metal reinforcement for the mountings. I’m wondering if the seller would fix it for me. I don’t know where I’d get the wrought iron to do the job and I don’t really have the help or tools to get under there and rebolt the thing.
