I’m trying to determine the best pressure washer with a water tank to buy for my scenario and I’m having a tough time figuring it out so thanks in advance for any help you’re good enough to provide. The unit would be for residential use only, but I live in the sticks in red clay country (stubborn to come off and gets everywhere) with a driveway long enough to make water hoses impractical that ends up heavily stained each time it rains. The unit would also be used to clean lighter colored siding on a house that gets red clay on it as well as mold/other stains. I would much prefer a gas unit, but I could probably make a battery powered unit work if necessary (corded units aren’t practical). I don’t want to spend any more than I have to, but this feels like a bit of a tweener application - the most capable/larger units are expensive and the cheaper/smaller units likely don’t have enough PSI/GPM & their tank capacity is too small.
- Determine how many gallons per minute (GPM) your spigot can supply. You want to make sure your water supply can keep up with the pressure washer.
- For a residential setup, I’d look for at least 4 GPM and around 2,500 PSI. Higher GPM will generally clean faster, particularly when using a surface cleaner. If this is a honeydew list item and you have all the time in the world to do this, then you could get away with smaller but you may just hate your life a little more at the end of it.
- If your water supply can’t keep up with the pressure washer, you’ll need a buffer tank. The tank size and setup depend on the difference between your available water supply (#1) and the machine’s GPM (#2) as well as how long you intend to run continuously. If you’re pulling from a buffer tank, you’ll want a pressure washer designed to accept a tank-fed supply, typically a belt or gear-driven machine.
- If you need a buffer tank, you’ll also need the appropriate plumbing, hoses, valves, and fittings to connect the tank to the pressure washer.
- Measure the driveway and determine how much pressure hose you’ll need.
- Buy a properly sized surface cleaner. 4" diameter for every 1 GPM… so for a 4 GPM machine, a 16-inch surface cleaner is a reasonable choice.
- Buy a J-rod or an M5DS for applying chems and rinsing.
- Buy a downstream injector that is properly matched to the machine and your desired chemical draw rate.
- Buy the appropriate cleaning chemicals
- Then there are all the other little things: garden hose, quick connects, spare nozzles, fittings, hose reels, PPE, chemical containers, etc.
By the time you add everything up, you’re probably going to be at least $1,500 into it, even if you shop carefully. Buying used can certainly be cost effective, but you can also spend considerably more then buying new if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking at.
If this is strictly for cleaning your own property once or twice a year, unless you have the money and space to store everything, just hire it out.
I agree with everything you said. I would suggest that he could also rent if he wants to. depending on the costs and driving distances it may be more cost effective. Red clay says the racer aluminum brightener method on the siding I think, but I don’t have red clay in my area.
I thought about that, but in my mind, being out in the “sticks” means you’re 45-60 minutes from the nearest town, and even then, they may not have a big box store. Just have to weigh all the pros and cons and the breakeven point on cost.
I know, i suffer the same issue. Had to rent a dump trailer, closest place was 30 min drive. And it was junk. Spent 15 minutes kicking the snot out of the doors on the back to get them to close. Someone welded the broken door hinge and didn’t do a great job and it was cracked.
