Does size matter (hose)

I’ve decided to purchase a hydrotek from Russ. I’ve spoken with him a couple times and seems to be as interested in educating customers as he is selling a machine. I’m looking at the 5.5@3000 but I’m concerned about pressure drop with 200ft of hose through a hose reel. I’m estimating 300-400 psi loss using 3/8 line. Would using 1/2 line instead reduce that drop? He quoted me on 5.5@3000 but if going with 3500 psi isn’t a lot more I may go that route. I’d love to have 8gpm but that may be out of my budget. I’ll be running it myself. I’ve had employees before and would rather be a one man band unless my son wants to work with me. I also plan on getting the hydrotek cold water 8 gpm and reclaim system once the pressure washer pays for itself.

That thinking is somewhat backwards.

If the machine is $1800 and it takes 3 months to break even… now you’re back to zero, but start over with a $3600 payback for the 8. Now you’re looking at another 6 months to break even.

Why do you want reclaim?

What part of this business do you want to focus on?

As far as hose size, stick with the 3/8”. If I remember correctly the size has a lot more to do with gpm, but I’m sure someone will correct that if I’m wrong.

2500-4000 will all clean the same stuff. You’re just more liking to damage stuff over 2500. Don’t worry about the PSI. GPM is the golden ticket.

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Is that with a Honda GX 390?

Vanguard

Ok so 21 HP. You probably are getting full specs then.

Mostly flatwork restaurant drive thrus, sidewalks, residential driveways patios etc. I’m also thinking about possibly cleaning restaurant kitchens and shops. In theory reclaiming can be a good selling point to property management companies and less time rinsing. Also several properties I’ve done in the past there’s no access to water so it’d reduce the number of times I need to refill. A lot has changed since I got out of it. I’m 54 and starting over. I’m in a position now that I don’t have a lot of bills and what i do have is almost paid for so now I can do something I enjoy.

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Fair enough. I wouldn’t do any of that without hot water though. A hot water machine is where I’d start.

I thought about pressure pro and even bulldog pro but heard and read more negative reviews on them. I’ve seen very little bad feedback on hydroteks other than they can be a pain to work on.

In my opinion if someone doesn’t have hot water they have no business cleaning concrete other than residential. They are not able to do it fast enough to make money and they’re doing the customer a disservice as well as driving prices down

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Just saying, I run an 8@3500 hydrotek hot water machine, and I notice no difference when cleaning concrete with hot water. Tested it out on a 12,000 sq ft. parking lot. Didn’t seem like I could walk any faster or clean any deeper. I only invested in hot so that in the event I get into fleet washing or more greasy restaurants I’m ready.

Good man. Here’s where I’m going to give you my most common, dogmatic answer when people are comparing two mass market machines.

They all use the same engines. Honda’s or vanguards. Mostly the same Beckett burners. Tier two pumps which are perfectly fine and people make plenty of money with them, but require more repair and maintenance than tier one pumps, but not enough to worry about if you’re not running 8 trucks 8 hours a day. They all use aftermarket mufflers instead of OEM mufflers. And they all get their fuel tanks from Flambeau or Mueller. Long storyshort… same machines different labels.

Hot water works so much better on gum. I went in a store a while back and you could tell the sidewalks were cleaned with a cold water pressure washer. Pieces of gum were left and there were wand marks around the gum residue.

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Well yeah hot water works better for gum but I’m just talking about speed while using a surface cleaner. I personally didn’t notice any difference

I’ve read that pressure pro has had a lot of wiring issues and the heat rise isn’t that great. I’ve had landa and my first rig was a Farley back in 87. I only know what I’ve read regarding pressure pro and hydrotek

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Gotcha.

For the win on hot water machines.

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Out of my budget I’ve been renting one and the quality doesn’t seem to be what it was. Also I’m not a fan of the new Honda Engine. They seem to be hard starting.

With 5.5 you’re going to get roughly 150psi drop per 100 feet of hose with 3/8. See chart below:

I think any of the mainstream machines will do what you need. I’ve got the pressure pro machine and heater and they work fine. Maybe the pump only lasts 1000 or 1500 hours before it needs rebuilding. Who cares, if you threw it away and bought a new one, instead of rebuilding it, it’s like $.50/hour cost. I build in a 500 hour depreciation expense on my major equipment anyway to cover replacement and/or repairs and put this money in a separate depr. acct. weekly. After 500 hours on a given piece of equipment I don’t care if the darn thing blows up and and I had to buy a new one but since it hasn’t I can buy other equipment or another machine for backup.

Hose_Friction_Loss

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Thanks for the info. A depreciation account is a great idea

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