For the $, What surface cleaner is the best?

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BMC PRESSURE WASHING

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If you were probably only going to do a driveway per week, what cleaner would you buy? I do want something that will be dependable. What about these stainless steel ones in northern tool books, are they any count, also what size inyour opinion woulbe to big or to small. Thanks for any help.
 
Depends on how much power you have to push it. Here is a list of my suggestions.

13 hp 4gpm @ 3500 psi - 20 inch surface cleaner

13-20 hp 5.5-8gpm @3500 psi - 24-28 inch surface cleaner

26-33 hp 11-13gpm @3500 psi - 36 inch Maxima surface cleaner

I like the Whisper Wash surface cleaners the best. Always go with the two bar not the three bar setup. Use 15 degree tips for 20-28 inch surface cleaners and 25 degree tips for the 36 inch Maxima for the power recommended.

P.S. For some stupid reason the Maxima 36" surface cleaner comes with a 1/4" hose from the gun to the swivel. Take the hose and the gun off and replace them with a good 3/8" hose and a high pressure ball valve. Now you are ready to rock.
 
A 20-24 inch would work good for your machine. Your engine can push up to 8gpm @ 3000psi. It would be twice as fast.

When you are ready to upgrade, I would get an 8gpm pump for your 18hp and put the 4gpm on a 13hp engine and then you could have the option of joining them together to produce 12gpm to push a 36" maxima in the future.
 
Dollar for Dollar I would have to say my homemade surface cleaner is the best .. But if you dont want to build one for a few hundred bucks , you could lways go buy a steel eagle, you can get a 24 inch one in the $700.00 range.
 

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BMC PRESSURE WASHING said:
If you were probably only going to do a driveway per week, what cleaner would you buy? I do want something that will be dependable. What about these stainless steel ones in northern tool books, are they any count, also what size inyour opinion woulbe to big or to small. Thanks for any help.
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no they are garbage , ask Big Ash !

For the money , dollar for dollar , pound for pound ...... whisper wash :D
 
Russ Spence said:
For the money , dollar for dollar , pound for pound ...... whisper wash :D
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I have heard many people here praise the Whisper Wash. What makes it so much better than the other surface cleaners? Better swivel, lighter weight, or some other feature???:confused:
 
I have the Classic and the Big Guy.

I think that quality and performance for the price is the best thing about them.

I really like the 24" steel eagles that I have but like the lighter weight of the classic.

When I do the big areas, I will use the Big Guy or the 24" Steel Eagle, depending on how much water supply I have, some places have poor supply so I can't go too fast.

The cost to rebuild the Whisper Wash swivel is like under $100.00 where the Steel Eagle Deublin swivel is a lot more expensive, not sure but was told that by the dealer when I bought it.
 
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Vacuum recovery / recycle system...

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Yeh thats one of my next investments pretty pricey though was at delco in december and saw some nice equipment for recovery but I ran out of money and had to put that on the back burner.dh
JohnB said:
That Landa works almost as good as mine... Oh but wait I am making one with a vac hook up also .. I have been working on a new improved design.
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Ron,

I understand your really liking the Water Jet, I used to have one. Until the swivel went out and I found I could buy a Big Guy for about the same price as the repair!

In my personal experience, the WJ was prone to bent spray arms and the tips wore out quickly. I used mine for about 1 1/2 years and went through 4 or five spray bars and replaced the tips at least 3 times. I used mine exclusively for residential - usually 1 to 3 drives per day in-season. I had a 24" Steel Eagle also for about 1 1/2 years. It was ok, but it really didn't compare to the WJ. When the SE died, I borrowed a fellow PWers Big Guy. Wow! Opened my eyes. I've been running the BG for about 2 years and am just now needing to replace the seals. I much prefer the "Hula" skirt of the BG over the solid scraping-the-ground body of the SE.
 
I really only need this Surface cleaner Vac for one Job.. It is to clean hospital floors... They like that grout nice and white.. We have actually been setting up sort of a water dam and as one guy pushes the surface cleaner we squeege the water into the dam on the floor where my homemade wet vac/ pump steady pumps out the water.. Thanks to Mr Alan on the help with the wet vac pump project , it is still working great..
Russ it's hard to tell but how much water is there actually left on the floor, is it just enough left to run a mop over , or will I still need to squeege.. Also what kind of vac system ( CFM ) HP etc...
 
Russ Johnson said:
Vacuum recovery / recycle system...

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That is one incredible system!:)
 
JohnB said:
Russ it's hard to tell but how much water is there actually left on the floor, is it just enough left to run a mop over , or will I still need to squeege.. Also what kind of vac system ( CFM ) HP etc...
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The surface is just wet...very little standing water. Notice at about the 36 second mark, some water escaped, so he shut the washer off and went and sucked up the residue.

Vac is 120 volt, 8.6 amp, 104 CFM, 91" lift, capable of recovering 5 gpm. Recycle pump is 12 volt, 13 amp, 4.9 gpm, 4 stage filtration with 8" X 24" oil absorbent skimmer.
 
Mike Sullivan said:
A 20-24 inch would work good for your machine. Your engine can push up to 8gpm @ 3000psi. It would be twice as fast.
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Your calculation is wrong. You need 24 hp to push that much and not over tax the engine. The 18 hp engine is only good for 6 @ 3000PSI. There is a complex formula, but basically, it is the Number of GPM times the psi, divided by 1000. So, 6(3000/1000)= 18 or 5.5 GPM at 3500 PSI is ~19.25 hp.

As for the surface cleaners, the Landas have a lot of nice features, but I have gone to the 24 inch steel eagle with the aluminum deck. Dollar for Dollar, it is the best value.
 
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