I started my power washing business in the fall of 2020 after COVID forced me to move forward with starting my own business. I hope no one take offense to my timing, I know the past year has pushed many new companies into the market and it has changed things. PWR has been an invaluable asset in learning and I am deeply grateful for the active and knowledgeable members here. I am grateful every day to be running my own company, for better or worse. I am no expert but I wanted to share my build for those who, like myself, are finding themselves starting up with limited help.
My wife and I are leaving Florida next month to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail for 6months & 2100mi from Georgia to Maine. This is terrible timing for starting my business but we have put it off for several years and honestly, there will never be a perfect time for such a trip. My goal over the past few months has been to learn and grow my business so that when we return I will be better prepared to hit the ground running!
100ft flexzilla hose (don’t waste $ on construction hose like I did)
Surface cleaner, guns, gas cans, leaf blower, etc. ride in the truck bed for now but I would recommend a ladder rack and tool box if you can afford them starting out so you can skip the 30min of getting everything together in the morning!
Since pictures were taken I have skid mounted my washer to the trailer and taken it off the wheels for better water flow. I would definitely recommend skipping this step and if you are doing a trailer build, assume the washer just like everything else will permanently stay on the trailer.
I really like your build. It looks really efficient and well thought out. It looks like you came up with a pretty simple solution for mounting your hose reels. Could you let me know what you used and how well it’s holding up so far?
I get a kick out of the guys on Facebook that have a trailer this size and feel like they just have to have a 275 gallon water tank.
@tcmitchvol I simply used 2x6s as cross beams and 4x4s for supports. I used the trailer side rail to bolt the 2x6s to and then set them on the 4x4s. I painted all the wood and my trailer is kept in the garage so it has stayed dry and hasn’t sustained water damage over 5 months of use. I used thick bolts and 2” wide washers and backing plates.
The wood has really held up better than I thought, I think with proper tlc it can at least get you through a season which was my goal.
The 35gal tanks are definitely small, but work well with a 4gpm pressure washer and 7gpm softwash pump. Minimal weight carried and minimal water wasted!
Thanks @Paul1. That should work just fine for what I have in mind.
I’ve run a 35 gallon tank with a 5.5 PW in the city and never had any problems. For me it’s more about having a place for the bypass to go rather than a drop in flow. Haven’t gotten my soft wash system where I like it yet, but I may go 65 gallons there. I did a nasty house over the summer with a 25 gallon tank and had to refill it a couple times with the 5.5 softwash pump. It was portable and a pain pushing it around when full.
@Pau1 if it hadn’t been for that 2020 catalyst, I’d still be 9-5pm shaved n suited up(or on zoom🙄), plotting instead of playing. Nice job with the build!!
