Getting a 4 GPM in and out of a truck bed?

It just makes you more efficient so you can do more jobs in a shorter amount of time. At the end of the day I didn’t need an 8gpm machine. I could have gotten by with 4-5 BUT the investment means either I can do more jobs in the same time or have more time for my family. That is all I am getting at. If anyone is pushing you in this forum for bigger better equipment it’s because they want to see you succeed! We derailed this post a bit. If he needs to load and unload his equipment then he needs the lift that @squidskc posted a few days ago that goes into the hitch. Brodie do you still have that pic handy?

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Question wasn’t aimed at you. And there’s no ‘industry’ here nor need for giant rigs. Going out and buying one would would be idiotic. I wash little houses for people too old to do it themselves and I give them a reasonable price and everybody is happy.

Well said and a good voice on this forum.

Question wasn’t not aimed at me either. Never said anything about giant rigs. It’s about being professional. Nighthawk guy is passionate. Nothing wrong with that. But he’s wrong. It would get old if you kept rolling up to car fires in a $500k Pierce with a 1250gpm pump and finding a man driving a Pinto with 5 gallon buckets of water putting the fire out. All depends on rhe perspective you look at it with.

No it actually was not aimed at you. Specifically. Everybody knows what you think already. Anything I’m wanting your opinion on I’ll head with ‘philosophical non-answer laced with derision wanted’

Trying to pull that polished image high dollar shit where I live would only make you a clown. People here wear work boots not dress shoes and they don’t care who’s equipment is the shiniest.

Thanks to everybody else I appreciate the input.

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You are missing Williams point… appearance dictates price point. Someone wheeling a machine off a ramp and dragging around the house is perfect if you only ever want to be the $99 person. Don’t get angry with good advice. Doyour thing until you can improve your business plan. I think that was the point?

It’s alright. @JessWinter disagree all you want but keep the profanity off the forum. Quit being juvenile. No one has said anything about shiny equipment or big rigs. It’s about being professional and effecient. You have shown you are neither. Read and learn and you will better yourself.

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Fair point Canuck I get that. My business plan is growth by word of mouth and maintaining a reputation for doing a great job at a reasonable price. That’s why people call me. I tried the nice clothes and shiny business cards and web advertising and truck signs thing for a minute before I figured that out. That’s not what works here in rural AR. That stuff turns people off to you. Tells them you have dollar signs for eyes and that you charge too much. I could give you ten guys who’ll say the exact same thing - successful guys in all kinds of fields who haven’t had a business card in 10 years and don’t advertise at all. If you’ve lived anywhere like it then you get it and if not it’s hard to explain.

Whatever, way off topic. Bored with explaining why I was just hoping for a simple answer to a simple question. So if anybody’s got any more info on how to get the machine in and out of a truck bed… that’d be pretty good.

I think you’ve gotten the wrong impression about William. It’s ok, you certainly wouldn’t be the first. He can have a particular tone in text that I’m sure isn’t intended.

As far as I know, William hasn’t gotten new business cards in years. He doesn’t have any lettering on his work vehicles. All of his trucks are bought used and aren’t particularly shiny, from the pics I’ve seen.

My take is, he’s not talking about having the appearance of professionalism, but actually being professional. That involves having an efficient, reliable setup that enables you to get the work done in the most efficient and safe way possible.

I loaded a 3.5 gpm machine in and out of my vehicle for about a season. It got old quickly, and even though I had lettering on the vehicle and nice uniforms, I felt like a hack because anyone with a little knowledge of the pressure washing trade could tell I was doing things the hard way.

You don’t need an “impressive” rig to be a professional. From the sounds of things, appearing too polished will work against you in your market.

And you can certainly get by for awhile with the portable machine. But a true professional will aspire to gradually improving their operations, and ultimately the experience for the customer.

I can actually charge a little less now that I have better equipment, achieve faster and better results, and provide more timely service for my customers. Having better equipment means making more money, without needing to charge more. That seems like a win/win for me and my customers.

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It boils down to self-confidence. IBS has more confidence in you than you have in yourself.

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Yes, you can use ramps. I actually have a set of ATV ramps that I already had so started out using them. I will tell you though, it was a huge pain. Loading and unloading that unit by myself and trying to get it up those ramps by myself was a chore and probably not the safest either. Now I do have a 4wheel drive truck with 35” tires, so the ramp was pretty steep. I could do it, but I had to take my time and strategically place everything and then get a quick hand hold on my truck on the way up to keep myself from busting my butt! However, it can be done. Depending on your truck, you might have a different set up and it may be way easier than mine was. I will say, after doing it a few times I quickly changed gears and am in the process of building a trailer at the moment. I am all for growing slow and staying debt free, but I was also worried about busting it in front of a customer or even worse hurting myself trying to use the ramps. Everyone’s situation is different so I’m by no means hating on your idea, just giving you my opinion of my set up. More than anything, I just didn’t have the room by using the ramps either. Those ramps took up a lot of space!

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Thanks man I appreciate the info.

Good luck to you! You will figure out a system that works. Just keep trying things and changing things up until you figure out what works best for you.

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I don’t understand the need to get it out of the truck. Why not just have enough hose to do the job.

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Haven’t you been paying attention? His customers don’t wear dress shoes. @FATJOE, you really need to pick up on things better than this :slight_smile:

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You would think you are dealing with grown adults here, but I guess not. A person comes to this forum to ask a simple question and you get check the search bar, do this don’t do that. Why can you get a simple answer? Why have this site if people are going to act the way they do. You call yourselves professional well act like it. Again I ask who taught you? How did you learn the trade? What makes you a professional? I never get a answer. Well I self taught myself and ran across this sight when searching for new equipment, thought I would join to see what other people had to offer, but from 2013 it is noting but sarcasm and down grading. There is some great information here but dang you have to weed thorough all the B.S. to find it, why not just answer the simple question? Are you scared someone is going to take your business? Like I said were I come from you teach the man below you and above your job. And this is not toward any one person but to a group.

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I have a 9 to 5 job. I started power washing on the side because I needed money for my family. I was a weekend warrior years ago picking my belt drive machine out of my truck for every job. When it comes to feeding your family don’t worry about what you look like. Have a goal and figure out how to get there. I couldn’t buy top quality equipment to charge top quality prices. Everything I made went to my bills. I set a little aside every year to upgrade or add to my business and I do mean a little. Do what you need to do to make money. I don’t appreciate guys who work with no insurance, use illegals, charge less than everyone else to spend money on dirt bikes and boats. That’s who guys here try to avoid helping. Everyone has to start somewhere some guys just start smaller than others.

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Well said…

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I am sure most here think you are an adult. The search button is here because most of us have answered the exact same questions for years by the non adults that come here asking simple questions. Great that you train the guy above and below you. Odds are from your references, you are a fireman and get your check from the public. If I’m wrong on that assumption I apologize. I was a paid fireman for a long time as well. Nothing wrong with that. Private sector is different. You want training? Pay me and I’ll train you. It would be great if all the business around me went out of business. That’s capitalism. If they don’t go out of business, at least be professional and don’t bring down the prices for the rest of us. What you are saying feels great saying it I’m sure. Might even sound good to the ears of the unknowing here. But, it is wrong and it would be great if you carried it somewhere else, or hung around and learned here. There is a tremendous amount of free knowledge here that will benefit your business and make you more efficient if you pay attention.

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I thought myself…and once I used the search bar enough to understand the basic concepts I asked legit questions and got legit answers.

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