Ok guys. been researching this stuff and going to youtube college. I have a few ideas for layout of my truck and going to ask for yalls input on this.
I have picked up a 55 gallon poly drum for batch mixing softwash/roofs. Its an olive drum and it is slippery. My anchor points i have on the truck currently are too low. I am thinking about either putting a pallet (or half one) in the back of the bed to secure the drum with eyebolts and ratchet straps. (yellow box in picture)
The other option is to use a portable router to cut out the plastic tops to add cargo rings to the top of the bed (red boxes in photo) and ratchet strap it higher so its not slipping. That way i can easily remove the tank when finished and store inside.
I would prefer my stuff be easier to remove and not super permanent at this point of time as i have to park at a ferry terminal and be gone for a week or two at a time and dont want people stealing my stuff.
I have a question regarding Reels. I have ordered a couple cox reels (they actually ship to me)
Are they heavy enough to use in a pinch without bolting them down? The reels are 26lbs by themselves plus hose. My thoughts are i could make a shelf to mount them to on the right side like ive seen a lot of people do, or put them at the end of the tailgate and run them like that and just bring them inside when not using them.
My 12v battery setup is a milk crate holding battery, and plan is to have a plywood cover over the top to attach pump to to secure and keep relatively mobile using stainless camlocks for easy off and on as well.
The pressure washer itself is still on wheels for portability but my intention is to roll it up at/near the end of the truckbed and it stays there while doing the job. I have 200ft of 3/8 hose plus another 50 if i ever needed it and the soft wash setup has 200ft as well. I have a ramp forā¦you guessed itā¦portability and being able to store.
So i guess right now for me the biggest problem/questions i have is hose reel placement where its usable and able to be removed somewhat easily and which setup for securing this drum would you go with? Welding something is out of the question at least for now and id prefer to keep everything at least somewhat easily removable so its not getting stolen.
Iāll see how the quality is when they get here. No one else but Amazon is willing to ship to Alaska so Iām in a bit of a bind currently. If you hate those youāll definitely hate my plan B
Heck, I already forgot you are in Alaska lol. But still, those reels suck. Without being bolted down they will just fall over when you try to pull hose.
Gotcha. Man I picked the wrong biz or the right biz once I get setup.
I figured with American made cox Iād have better luck but with no one wanting to ship Titan or hannay or anything like that without being an extra 500 bucks each for one in shipping Iām in a bit of a pickle. Definitely going to have to shop for this stuff next time Iām down south, just donāt want to be rolling up 200ft of hose by hand in the meanwhile.
There are many options out there, it just depends on what works for you and what you are trying to accomplish at point in your business. Many will tell you to not bother until you are able to fabricate/purchase a skid or trailer to keep dedicated to the wash business. They are not wrong, but it doesnāt mean you canāt make due without having something permanent. When I started out I wasnāt ready to commit to keeping my wash equipment in the bed of my truck all the time as I wanted to use my truck for non wash related stuff. I built a wooden frame from 2āx4āās that I could slide in and out of the bed of the truck. It was built with the idea of being a ladder rack, but over time it evolved to being a tie down point for other items. Using eyebolts in the wood, I used ratchet straps to secure the wooden structure to the lower hooks/anchors in the bed of my truck. I started with the washer just being lifted in and out of the truck at each job, then got to the point of leaving washer in the truck with longer hoses. Then I took them washer off the cart and found a way to mount it to the wooden frame in the bed of the truck. The appeal to me was I was able to move wood boards around easily as my needs evolved or equipment expended. And the whole set-up could slide out of my truck in a matter of a few minutes so that I could take just the truck somewhere if I needed to.
Wood isnāt the answer most will agree with - itās not permanent, but it does allow your to customize more easily than with a piece of steel or aluminum.
You truck bed probably has holes that you can mount cleats to, underneath that plastic rail. Most do. If so just cut holes in the them at the front and put in the cleats. Amazon has them ātruck rail tie down cleatsā
Great minds think alike. Last night i ordered some bull rail tie down anchors and a router bit with rollers to clear out the front like you mentioned.
@Racer just put together a swivel/ball valve like youve shown. I leave for work for a week on but when I get back next Friday all the parts should be here to put some sort of half ___ssed rig setup and Iāll see what I like vs what I donāt.
Iāll take some pics of my setup and me washing the inlaws vinyl siding so you guys can have a laugh or two.
I have a few Cox reels and theyāre okay for starting out. Hell my main pressure reel is a $150 GP reel off of Amazon and itās still rocking right along. I keep wanting to order new reels but I am a notorious tightwad so I just have to get my moneyās worth out of something before I replace it. Truck build is next and itāll get all new electric reels. Then Iāll be a real washer.
Did you immediately replace the seals they had with viton?
Surprise surprise noone here has viton seals so trying to find some online. Iām assuming the reels just use a standard 3/8 or 1/2 seal but that might be me being crazy.
Took off the swivel. Was a bit of a pain in the butt to get. Going to buy a HF oring kit but Iām doubting these are going to be the right size. If you have any input on specifics so Iām not buying the wrong stuff.andnhaving it sent back Iād be appreciative @DisplacedTexan
Nope, never replaced a single seal on any of my reels actually. Never greased 'em either. I just let the machine idle down and run for a few minutes at the end of each job so Iām pushing fresh water through them constantly. Especially with the Schertz Box. Not that it would necessarily be a bad idea to do either of those things I just never have bothered with it.
I donāt know. The HF Viton kit has quite a few different sizes in there but I have no clue if any of them work in your reels. Again, I donāt think itās necessary to swap them out. Just let the machine run for a bit at the end of the job and you should be fine at least until youāre ready to upgrade anyway.
This is true. I still do it because it gives me the warm and fuzzies and I let it run while I walk around and pull tape and wipe stuff off. If I see a spot I missed the machine is still going.
Man. I have been thinking long and hard about what Iāve.been wanting to use as a setup and still not quite ready to pull the trigger. Have even been looking at those tinier Japanese work truck/vans that are enclosed.
I think Iāll use my trailer as staging equipment, and perhaps a van or small box truck to keep everything covered from constant rain and secured when Iām away at work.
Tough to make a decision when the logistics to make any of this stuff happen requires as much forethought as whatās going into my setup
