Pressure Washers?

[SimS]

I was reading Branch's warning about pressure washing a running diesel and was reminded of the hassle of cleaning off my muddy tractor. I want to buy a pressure washer and I would like to hear y'all's opinions and suggestions regarding pressure washers and feature I should be thinking about. Thanks in advance.

Sim

 

[Thomas]

Welcome TBN first of all. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

There a lot of good pressure washers on the market..electric & gasoline power,and lets hope you don't get your L3710DT pack w/ mud {stuck /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif} in which you need alot of pressure to washer her down.

I bought a 5hp {gasoline power} at Sears w/ adjustable nozzle,and will deliver about 2,000 psi and its done everything I ask of it.

Consider other uses not only for your Kubota before purchasing.

I also cover the muffler & air intake to the filters w/ a plactsic bag before using the pressure washer on a tractor.

There was a long thread while back covering pressure washers.

Take care and tractor safe.


Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[JATO_RaT]

Sim, the warning about getting water on a diesel pertains most importantly to the intake manifold. You must not get water in the cylinder. This can be a major problem resulting in a bent rod(s). When you look at pressure washers perhaps one of the most important things to remember as far as a general purpose washer goes is to go for gpm over psi. a 4 gpm 2000psi washer is far more useful then a comparable HP washer rated at 3000 psi at 3. Again, this is for general purpose washing i.e., driveway, prepaint, tractors etc. Rat...

 

[Alan L.]

DON't get a Techumseh engine.

 

[Billc]

DO get a Honda engine.

Mine is from Home Depot. It was a return. About 3200 psi, I think. Anyway point is this: If you are looking for a deal you might want to try Home Depot. Look out front (usually) for the returns. You will see returned mowers (not many this time of year), pressure washers, edgers, etc. Often there will be lots of the cheap pressure washers. Don't get them, they're not very good. Keep on the lookout for the big pressure washers with Honda engines. They can be hard to find because they are rarely returned. Guys who work with pressure washer buy the good units. Home owners buy the cheap units. What you are looking for is the unit that was bought by a homeowner....ah la Tim Allen...and it was too much for them OR they bought it to do a job and then returned the unit. Can't tell you how often this happens. When I worked at Home Depot I wondered why these folks didn't just go to a rental place. The answer: They wanted to rent a unit for free. So they buy a great unit in the 3000 psi range, take it home and use it, then return it.

People do this with mowers, lawn equipment, tools, etc. It would tick me off when they returned it. They would tell me it wouldn't start right. I'd take it outside and it usually started just fine. My aim was to let them know that I thought they were a liar. Still, I had to take it back.

If you see a returned unit that is in rough shape don't buy it. It's been rode hard (usually by a contractor) and put away wet. Look for the clean units that show very little use. 99% of the time it's one of the "rental" returns. Just double check and make sure it runs well. Then offer 50% of the new price. Home Depot is not trying to make money off these units. They just want the units gone! They look bad in front of the store, someone has to clean and reprice them regularly, someone has to leave the floor and go out front every time a customer has a question about one, and someone has to push them in every night, and out every morning. They want the units gone. Work your way up to the store manager until you get the answer you want.

Hope this helps.

Bill Cook

 

[putty340]

hello sims, just remember the old rule" you get what you pay for". I bought a cheaper one from costco a few years back-it lasted a little over a year,you will never guess how long the warrenty was for?- yes- one year.I was very dissapointed it was a Generac brand, and i will never buy anything generac ,or made by them again. The valves were made of plastic.I havent brought myself to buy another one yet. good luck

 

[Monte]

I've been looking online and found some promising washers at http://www.store.yahoo.com/industrialequipment/index.html

I have a new BX1800 (still too new to give a review) and want to finally keep my stuff clean. I'd also like to wash winter road salt off the cars a little more regularly. I know the direct drive pumps don't last as long, but the person on the phone of the above web site said they are rated for 200-250 hours.

I was considering the 5HP Honda engine with a direct drive pump - $515 delivered. If it lasts for 200 hours, I'm guessing that will be 4 to 10 years for me. I figure in that much time I'll know if I really need to pay for a good one (they have them at this site, too)...

Any comments -- I'm headstrong, but occasionally listen


Monte

 

[SimS]

Thanks to all for the good advice. I think I will try Bill Cook's Home Depot "rental" return trick. I figured Honda would be the preferred powerplant and "you get what you pay for" would also hold true. GPM, PSI, GPM, PSI... let the hunt begin!!

Sim

 

[Bill_in_MI]

Another area to watch out for when you use the pressure washer: the radiator. Be careful as it is easy to bend the aluminum fins. I learned this lesson the hard way. I believe I saw this warning on this board in another thread, but just in case...don't do what I did. Good luck. Let us know what you end up with.

 

[JATO_RaT]

I'll second your Tecumseh comment and add that Briggs and Stratton isn't any better. If you want the best small engine, Honda will be very hard to beat. I have a 13 HP Honda with a CAT pump rated at 4 GPM and 3500PSI. A 5 hp and 8 hp washer are very good ways to go and would not hesitate buying one of these smaller washers. I have the larger one simply for washing homes prior to painting, the extra GPM they provide speeds things up, Rat...

 

[Bird]

What in the world could you guys possibly have against Tecumseh?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif They could be the best motor in the world now, for all I know, but after the one I bought in '69, I haven't even considered ever owning another one./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And while I've had good luck with Briggs & Stratton so far, my first choice would also be the Honda.

Bird

 

[JATO_RaT]

Bird, Tecumseh made many horizontal shaft motors with some of the worst carburators available. I have actually had oneTecumseh, a 5hp vertical shaft that was very good. My pick for the worst engine ever made was a 4HP Clinton I bought back in about 68. I think of Honda much like I do Kubota, well engineered. Kohler makes some good engines, especially if you have a rototiller as the old cast iron line was bullet proof. Rat...

 

[Bird]

Rat, you bring back old memories. My first power lawn mower was a Clinton that I bought new in '55 (a teenager intending to make money mowing yards). I think I lost money that year trying to keep it running and I only kept it for one year, but since I bent the crankshaft when I hit a big dog's bone in an overgrown backyard which contributed to the problem, I really didn't blame Clinton. My dad and grandad used a Clinton powered tiller for many years. Of course, I don't want any more Clintons. The Tecumseh (Toro lawnmower) did make 5 years, with lots of carb work along the way, and the last two years, I could mow my very small lawn twice and then have to change oil because the crankcase would be full of gasoline./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Dealer said no cure except a short block, which would cost as much as a new lawnmower. So that was the end of Tecumseh for me.

Bird

 

[Alan L.]

I have a Craftsman rear-tine tiller with a Tecumseh engine on it. I also have a pressure washer I bought at Sam's for $250 a few years ago. Those engines have terrible carburetors. I have never been able to use the tool without first taking the carb apart if it sits more than a week or two. The problem I am having with both is they won't run more than about 5 seconds. Neither one will work, pending more carb work. I have done everything I know to do to the washer carb but still can't get it to run. And I have a very muddy tractor.

Wouldn't do much good if I had it running though because I have a gravel drive, and its muddy as heck right now - not to mention frozen.

Did I mention the Tecumseh engine sucks?

 

[M. Sullivan]

Related general question on my electric power washer. Hoping someone can help. It had a ground fault plug on it, which became loose, shorted occassionally andd finally fried (beautiful orange flame!). Question: Can I just put on a standard plug end and make sure it is always plugged in my ground fault wall socket?? Unable to find the replacement plug end, and it operates when plugged into a standard wall socket. Want to be safe--not cheap. Thanks in advance!

 

[MReeter]

SimS,I have the same washer as Rat,13 h.p. Honda,"rebuildable" pump,3500 lbs. pressure.For cleaning off the tractor,car,truck,whatever,this thing will take off the paint if your not careful.I always reduce the pressure,this unit is a little big for the average Joe,like Rat,I would recommend a 5-8 h.p. Honda powered washer with a good pump.We bought ours at Sams Wholesale for a grand,The reason we went with the bigger model,the other washers with the smaller Briggs Engines were $600-700.

 

[cowboydoc]

I agree with you Bird. I bought a Devilbiss, I think that's the name, from Lowe's five year ago. It has a 4hp briggs and stratton, 1500 psi, 2 gal./minute, and 3000 cleaning units and I have no complaints at all with it. I use it probably 40 or so hours a year. In the summer I wash all the vehicles and horse trailers with it and use it to clean machinery and give my horses bathes. Use it to clean sidewalks, and decks, and I wash the house and barns every year too. I use it at my office building four or five times a year to clean the parking lots too. I would say it has to have over 200 hours on it and it still fires up everytime. All I've done is change the oil. I bought it new in 96. I paid half of what the honda ones are and I don't see any reason not to buy another one.

 

[Thomas]

M.Sullivan,
The answer to your question is yes but its a bad idea,for you will lose that added protection.
GFI trips in milli seconds compare to a regular circuit breaker,and thats why most states wiring codes its mandatory to install GFI breakers.
Water and gold are great conductors for and electric shock. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Be careful and enjoy the game this evening.


Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Joeinindy]

On the subject of cheap pressure washers, don't buy one! The first one I had was a Coleman electric and it only lasted 6mos and had to return it, the second one made it just past the year warranty (6 more months). being the tight wad that I am I replaced it with another piece of junk made by Campfield (I think that's how it's spelled) it lasted 1 year and 6 months and now it's shot. Looks like I'm going to finally use to same logic that I used when buying cars and my Kubota, you get what you pay for!

 

[JATO_RaT]

M Sullivan, absolutely you can. Either a GFI oulet, or a GFI protected circuit will do. A GFI circuit breaker is a simple breaker available in 120V or 240V, in a variety of current protection capacities with added GFI protection, some even have various levels of protection depending on the application. Personally, I would prefer a GFI at the outlet instead of a plug end GFI since it will be far less abused. A breaker is designed to trip at anywhere near its rated load for a duration of time. A GFI is designed to trip whenever a percentage of electrons is not accounted for, i.e. when some don't come back because they have found an alternative path like you. Rat...