I’m sure this question has been asked in some varying degree before.
I’m looking at starting to get into pressure washing of driveways, patios, siding, and fences as a bit of a side thing, in hopes I’ll one day be able to focus on it full time.
I suppose I have a partial setup already, depending how you look at it.
I have a trailer unit already, which was used as a water supply on various job sites. It has a 200gallon tank, and an output capable of 6 to 7gal per minute (No pressure), with ~150ft of hose on the reel. I’m thinking it could be a good starting point as a buffer tank, which i’m thinking will feed into a more portable pressure washer, if that’s even an option that is. I was advised that max PSI should be 2700, and I should aim for at least 6gpm.
Is that an absolute need? Or could i get away with my current 3200si, Honda GX200 unit? If not, then I’ll look at picking up a Honda 390. What pump would you recommend in that case?
The end goal is to retrofit into a proper box setup on a pickup truck, but I’m trying to keep the initial investment low until I have proof of sustainability.
If you’re using a little GX200 pressure washer, why bother carrying a tank? Is 6 GPM needed? No, you could clean a driveway with a 1.2 GPM electric if you wanted to, but you won’t be efficient. I’d say the general consensus is that a 4 GPM is the absolute bare minimum for anyone wanting to make money at this. You’ll need at least that to effectively run a surface cleaner. 5.5 or 8 GPM is what most guys run.
I see you just joined an only have a few minutes of read time. Spend the rest of this week using the search function, then come back next week with your list of questions. Everything you need to know is already on here.
Welcome @Ozzi. Sounds like you’ve done some research, but I’m not sure how solid it seems based upon what you’ve shared with us so far.
If you are using a machine that is less than 4gpm the common consensus is that you don’t have to have a buffer tank as the lots of spigots coming off of houses will provided what you machine needs. This is absolutely dependent on your area and how the water supply is set up at each home. If using a smaller machine, say 4gpm or less, you can certainly still use a buffer tank if you like. When plumbed correctly with your washer pump it’ll allow you to be able to not have to be dependent on the customers hose spigot flow as much as well as allow you to be able to step away from the wand for as long as you need to with help from a bypass.
If using a larger pump, say a 5.5 gpm or more, then there’s a better chance you’ll need that buffer tank setup.
Keep in mind, you’ll also need a separate tank to store your cleaning solution if you plan on using more than just water.
As suggested previously, take some time (okay, a lot of time) and read through and familiarize yourself with the forum. Learning how to use the search bar will be the key to your success here for sure. In my experience the search bar is best used on a tablet, laptop or desktop. My iPhone 13 doesn’t alway display the whole search bar drop down screen and leads me to a think that some topic don’t exist.
With the search bar, type in things you want to know more about and then go ahead and go down the rabbit hole. Some key words I’d encourage you to search would include:
trailer builds
trailer layout
surface cleaning
spray tip calculator
buffer tank
pre-treating
post-treating
setting expectations
thing you wish you knew when you first started
tips and tricks
And really anything else your heart desires. Want to know about how to grill a steak? It’s in there. Seriously.
Glad you found this place. Hopefully you’ll learn quite a few things from this forum and will be able to build that successful business you are hoping for!
Do yourself a favor. Find a 4-5.5gpm belt drive washer, nothing less. I started this whole mess five years ago and started with three different direct drives, big mistake.
Even if the spigot does offer a good supply, you still need to hit the trigger at least every minute to keep the pump from overheating. Believe me it’s a real PITA having to do that.
