What is the BEST pressure washer?

[rScotty]

We've just had the mother of all floods here in Jamestown, Colorado, and I'm looking at a massive cleanup.
So what is the Best of the pressure washers?
What features should I be looking for?
I don't mind spending money on good tools, and this one will get a workout.
Thanks, rScotty

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Mate. I've got a Karcher. It's high quality with brass internal fittings.

The reason that I specificly bought it is that it's what they adamantly use in the RAAF to wash down all of the aircraft. For some weird reason, instead of going for an inexpensive (low bid) washer, they went for the best long-lasting quality washer.

There are a multitude of attachments for it too.

 

[ENC]

Hard to beat a Honda motor. But all else equal vet the higher pressure. With higher pressure you can use a higher volume tip for the same application so basically works faster.

 

[CurlyDave]

I looked into this a few months ago when my homeowner grade pressure washer finally wore out the water pump after about 10 years.

First there are at least two different types of Honda motors used in pressure washers. Homeowner grade use a plastic camshaft. This is the one I had and the high pressure water pump wore out before the motor. The other type of Honda motor found on small pressure washers is an industrial grade and has a steel camshaft. One of the places it is used is on contractor grade machines.

I read a lot of reviews on these and the easily available one with the better Honda motor was the DeWalt. About $600 at Home Depot. Unfortunately the DeWalt washers use two different pumps. The CAT ones are good, the AAA ones are not nearly as good and can fail early, sometimes on first use.

About the same pressure and capacity as the DeWalt is the Ryobi at Home Depot for about $400. This is the one I got, since all of the DeWalt ones at my HD had the AAA pumps. This had the same Honda, plastic camshaft motor as on my last one.

I had a hard time justifying $200 more far a better motor and a worse pump.

The Ryobi works well for me. If you have a lot of stuff to do in a short time, I think it would be a good choice for you. The warranty was a year, and if it fails early you can just take it back.

Of course the is a third grade of pressure washers, which were the industrial ones which sometimes have hot water washing capabilities and are very expensive, in the $thousands.

 

[banjodunn]

G'day we are on our second Karcher in this workshop in 25 yrs the current one having done 12yrs service with only the occasional O ring in the handpiece, both were/are hot water units and the first one being replaced due to a split in the heating coil, new one has stainless coil and I think from memory has warranty for 25 yrs on the coil. The big thing if you get a hot unit is to cool the unit down before shutting off I usually run it until I can hold my hand on the steel part of the lance comfortably.

Oh and this unit gets prob 5-6hrs a week use on average.

Jon

 

[dragoneggs]

Well sort of depends on how much you use it. Many homeowners don't use enough to justify the expense vs. a rental. I have a craftsman which has worked for me but if I were to need to use it more, I would definitely go with Honda. I love Honda small engines! Lawnmower and generator have served me better than any other small engines. Don't get fooled by PSI... look at CFM as well.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Don't put me down as an expert by any means, but from my experience, my ideal pressure washer would be:
Simpson brand
Honda engine, commercial grade - 11hp - 13hp
3000 psi approx.
3+ gpm
3/8" nozzles & hose

Simpson, well known brand, makes all grades from cheap to high quality.

 

[psdx]

Don't put me down as an expert by any means, but from my experience, my ideal pressure washer would be: Simpson brand Honda engine, commercial grade - 11hp - 13hp 3000 psi approx. 3+ gpm 3/8" nozzles & hose Simpson, well known brand, makes all grades from cheap to high quality.

I agree - I have the Simpson PS4240. It has a quality motor and a quality pump. It has enough power that I generally use it at half throttle so it's also quiet. Simpson makes quality stuff and makes the Dewalt unit mentioned above.

 

[Jaylegger]

I just replaced my 2300 psi 2.5 GPM unit with the Dewalt DXPW4240 (essentially the Simpson PS4240, both manufactured by FNA Group). Has the most excellent Honda GX390 engine and the AAA (Comet) 4200 psi 4 GPM pump. I at first was hesitant on the pump, it's made by Comet for AAA and a relatively new model but after reading way too many discussions on some forums from guys who service Cat, Comet, and General my quality concerns were eased and the pump has a 24 month warranty just in case.

Anyways, this unit has way more power than I require for most of what I do but for cleaning my aggregate concrete driveway run at full power the extra gallons per minute and pressure is exactly what I was hoping for. This thing is very impressive at it's rated full pressure and GPM but PSI can be infinitely adjusted via the unloader adjustment or by lowering engine RPM to match the requirements of any job you may have.

 

[rScotty]

Thanks all for the info. This is an education.

The flood has knocked out our package and postal delivery, so it's necessary to pick one up on a weekly trip to town.

As I get older, the time saved by buying quality becomes more important than price.

So where does one find a washer with a bronze lined pump, reels for the hoses, a rack for attachments, and all powered by Honda?

Are they at box stores? Which ones?
rScotty