@AAPressurewashing00 Auctions. Agricultural, industrial, and Oilfield actions. I went with diesel the following reasons:
a) longevity (my small engine “little sister” costs 500 to overhaul. Big brother costs about 800. But besides, both will in all likelihood see hours in the 10s of thousands before needing to be overhauled).
b) noise levels (if you are running near the top of the torque curve, it’s a lot quieter than running an air cool gasser at redline)
c) familiarity (I’ve got way more time logged working on 2 cycle gassers and liquid cooled diesel than I do with 4 cycle air cooled engines)
d) while it’s a small thing, the idea of common fuel for the entire trailer really appeals to me. Also, I could technically get a stamp to buy red fuel and be out of pocket that much less.
E) price. Right now there are lots of companies selling off unnessicarily equipment, upgrading for a tax shelter, or straight up closing up shop. I scooped up a light plant with a kubota d905 and 1200 hours for 660 dollars, then turned around and sold the axle, fuel cell, and gen head for 250 bucks the same day I posted them on FB market place. Could have gotten more if I had waited, but I figured a kubota d905 with 1500 hours for 410 dollars was about as close to robbery as it gets without a ski mask and gun. I bought an isuzu 4le1 with 300 hours on it for 1500 dollars…300 hours. It’s not even broken in yet. The oil is clean enough to fry chicken wings in. If I had waited, a turn key 4le1 went for 1K dollars 3 weeks later, mine had to be rewired. Granted, I spent 1200 dollars on power transmission rather than the 400 it would have cost to work with equivalent gassers, but at the end of the day, I’m still coming out way less than buying up prefabed skids, new honda engines, and pumps or (lord save me) whole units. The cost for a whole 8.5 gpm unit nearly made me choke on my morning coffee when I decided to start researching all this. I understand why the cost is what it is, but wow…
I understand that to an established, profitable business, turn key units is the way to go as downtime just isn’t acceptable, but that’s not me yet. Also gave me the chance to learn a thing or two and spend time knocking back cold ones while I did hot work in the garage.
Man, if you are really interested, I’ll send you picks of my finished build. And hey, if you tried to talk me into building you one, I’m sure we could come to an understanding, so long as you don’t mind lead time measured in months.