Hello!
First off I would like to thank the PWRA community as I have been reading and soaking up information for the last couple of weeks and have spent 48 hours in this forum and have found better information then I have anywhere else.
I am 20 years old and would like to start my business. I am planning on going slow with purchasing my equipment and then buying things through the money made from washes. I am going to buy a washer today or tomorrow from either Home Depot or Costco. I will then just carry it in my truck and use the washer to do my jobs while throwing money into marketing. Is this a good idea or am I missing something? I am thinking of either a Dewalts or Simpson Washer both having Honda motors. What is the minimum PSI and GPM you guys would suggest for my washer? That will be the last question I ask as I know you guys are all about soaking up knowledge through reading and not having people asking to be spoon fed information. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and to all who plan on answering it! Hope you are having an amazing day!
You sound like a go-getter. Find a local rental place that has a 4gpm machine for under $100/day. Knock out a few houses with it. Reinvest in a basic trailer setup with reels, buffer tank, etc. and a good belt driven machine. A pressure pro 5.5 or 8gpm are both solid options, not top of the line like a Landa with Udor pump, but quite decent. Go with the electric start and skid mount options.
Like IBS said, GPM is king. Take your time investing in equipment and find what is right for you but don’t skimp on gpm! I wish I had found this forum before I purchased my equipment but now I am making due with what I have until I can upgrade. Like IBS said, your not going to find commercial equipment at a box store, but you can find them online if you don’t have a supply store near you. And you can find a much better machine for not much more $$ than what your going to find in one of the box stores. I will tell you I have a 4gpm and this is my first year and I am already wishing I had more. So my advice, take your time and research equipment just as much as your researching everything else. I was also going to do as you and work out of the bed of my truck but I’ve already upgraded to a small trailer and in the process of building it out. I agree with moving slow and staying debt free, that is exactly what I am doing. But keep researching and spend your money wisely! Good luck to you!
I just started pressure washing… Added it to my services! I put it in the back of my work van but I am sure it could be bolted down to the back of a truck or a trailor. I plan on Doing mostly house washes so went with a 5.5 gpm 2500 psi machine.
150 feet of garden
200 feet of pressure wash hose
Stacked reals
50 gallon buffer with float valve and unloaded
Downstream injector with a 5galllob pale that I put my mix in
Here are some pictures! I am new to this industry and this forum… Everyone is great here! And one thing I have learned is to use that search bar… You think your question is unique but chances are it’s been asked a hundred times. I wish you the best! If you need any info on my setup shoot me a message I’ll get back to you.
Hi @RiseNshine99 Trevor, I like your setup, as I’m learning here and planning to start this business someday, I’m looking for a van in my country as well, but I’m thinking about venting the SH I will carry in it somehow, where do you keep your SH there, how do you secure it? and do you vent it? I also saw that you don’t have any shock absorbing rubber feet under the machine, is it working fine like that? I mean no harsh vibrations?
I don’t vent it at all… I have a long downstream injector so I can put my five gallon bucket outside the van. The machine came with the vibration pads but since we bolted it down to the van my mechanic didn’t put them on… This is a good question though as I am still learning… Will the vibration affect my machine? It does vibrate I can see the water that falls on it vibrating alot… But the machine works fine!
4 GPM minimum for residential, 8 Gpm and hot water if you get into commercial. Rent equipment get your feet wet, line up a couple jobs and you can profit off a rental. Save up for a good surface cleaner and pump, don’t cheap out on the essentials. It is worth spending the extra few dollars on stainless steel over brass.
Your exact configuration will depend on your customers and market. Are you in Florida, going to do roof jobs and softwash? Some guys don’t even have a pressure washer, they just have a 12v pump for softwash. Me personally. I don’t even really need a 12v because I do all surface cleaning in Texas, all brick and concrete.
As stated before I’m brand new to this as well, just started last August and it’s a part time gig for me. I’m a full time employee for the army corps of engineers. Mine is a 4gpm 4,000 psi hot water unit. I planned on focusing on commercial/business accounts, but I have learned when getting started you need to take any work you can get. So that includes houses. Besides the fact that I need a good 200 gallon water tank, my equipment can take on most any job. My 20 inch surface cleaner and jrod nozzles with the full x-jet M5 kit have been my life savers. Don’t mind the bad pic of my set up, I just got home for the day.
This is for @Patriotspwashing
Or anybody who could help. Y’all seem pretty savvy in this business. Can you reinforce single axle trailers to add a few more pounds of weight? Like a dummy I went and bought a Trailer from tractor supply, only to find out a local company beside me builds and welds there own. The heavy duty single axles from this company will hold 2,800 pounds of weight, meanwhile my tractor supply trailer will hold roughly 1,700 pounds, that’s payloads on both. Anyway to side track this with reinforcement? Or bite the bullet and sale what I got and go buy the local heavy duty single axle?
Thanks, naturally since my unit weighs 450lbs and a 200 gallon water tank will be 1,600lbs I would be the water tank dead center over the axle and tire welds. I think I’m just gonna have to buy a better trailer. Unless I could get away with a 100 gallon tank…
Its a buffer tank not a well, if you have a 4gpm, you shpuld be good without a buffer tank.
But if you want to be safe, then it is fine, a 200gl tank will help you when you get a bigger machine but then, its a buffer tank.
You only need, if any, 50 gl tops, dont drive with water.
Fill up at clients site
That’s my plan on driving while tank is empty and filling up at job sites. Educate me on why only a 50 gallon tank? If I used it a bunch, wouldn’t I be filling up every 30 minutes?? Say if I had a remote job? Having a hot water unit, I can do good work on pieces of equipment and box trucks from smaller companies. What if no water supply was close by?
Math… house gives you 5gpm your machines uses 4gpm, your tank will always fill.
Now lets say home gives you 3gpm, you fill buffer to 50gl
You have 50 minute work, 75 galons, 75 minutes
Got you, I’m pretty good at math. Just not all the small details of a unit operating with a tank as I’ve always used the business or resident water supply line. Thanks for all the info!
My machine cost me 2100 Canadian so likely 1500 American maybe cheaper. Has an AR pump and a Honda engine.
Being new to this… And this goes for anything your starting in I recommend you put some money aside for the stuff you will NOT know you need to have or what is going to really help. I put some money aside for this and now I am finding out I need the following.
