Help choosing a surface cleaner in the $300.00 range

Chuck Bergman

New member
I use a 20" Whisper Wash. I have a 20" Hammerhead for backup. The HH is ok, but the steel spray bars rust fairly often.
My son has a pressure washing business and I know quality on everything changes regularly.
The WW is too expensive for my son.
Which would you suggest and if you don't mind, why?
Or, would you suggest an all together different surface cleaner brand? Must be 20"

Thanks!
Chuck
 
Thanks Russ,
I will talk to my son about that. He fell off a ladder in 2014 at 36 years old with a wife and 2 kids and can only handle 2-3 days of work a week, because of the constant pain.
So, 1st I want to give him the total cost.
What would be the total cost, with any other charges, like shipping and maybe tax?
To 33981 Florida
 
I use a 20" Whisper Wash. I have a 20" Hammerhead for backup. The HH is ok, but the steel spray bars rust fairly often.
My son has a pressure washing business and I know quality on everything changes regularly.
The WW is too expensive for my son.
Which would you suggest and if you don't mind, why?
Or, would you suggest an all together different surface cleaner brand? Must be 20"

Thanks!
Chuck

Russ gave you some great insight. Also what GPM machine is your son running? If hes not running 8+ then he most likely will want smaller then 20". After using a whirl away and multiple whisper washes I can tell you him not finding a way to afford the ultra clean over the HH/Whirlway is going to cost him money each and every time he pulls out the surface cleanr.

Highly recommend the ultra clean as the best fit for your situation.
 
Thanks Russ,
I will talk to my son about that. He fell off a ladder in 2014 at 36 years old with a wife and 2 kids and can only handle 2-3 days of work a week, because of the constant pain.
So, 1st I want to give him the total cost.
What would be the total cost, with any other charges, like shipping and maybe tax?
To 33981 Florida
There is no tax. Shipping will be in the $25 - $35 range.
 
There is no tax. Shipping will be in the $25 - $35 range.

Last questions: Does the Ultra have the aluminum spray bar?
Does it have the same swivel / bearings as the original Whisper Wash?
Does it have to be a "wheels" model at that price, or can it come with a brush, like the original WW?
 
The link that Doug posted above is a great surface cleaner.

Instead of basing the surface cleaner on price you should be basing it on the gallons per minute of the pressure washer so that it performs well and is efficient. There is a rule of thumb of 4" of deck for every gallon per minute. You were asked how many gallons per minute the pressure washer was but I am sure you have more things to think about right now, especially the health of your son and the holidays and all. I would not go with a 20" deck unless you are running at least 5.5 gallons per minute or higher because if you are running less it will cause you to walk slow and it is aggravating, been there and done that.

We all want the larger surface cleaners so that we can do driveways faster but without the higher gallons per minute to drive the larger surface cleaners you are just throwing your money away. You will either keep them until you have a larger pressure washer (thousands and thousands of dollars and maybe a year or years later) or you will sell it for a discount to get a surface cleaner that is sized to your pressure washer. Many of us have done this as many dealers out there either don't know this or don't tell this because they want to make sales.

My first surface cleaner was a Steel Eagle 30" to go with my Hotsy 5.6gpm at 3000psi hot water skid. The surface cleaner worked but I was walking inch by inch and that is not a joke! after a few weeks of this I called the vendor and talked to him and he told me to bring it back and I could trade it for the smaller 24" steel eagle. It worked better than the 30" but still not the speed that I would like. Later on I saw the Whisper Wash Classic and then after reading lots of posts on the internet forums one of the smartest guys out there named Philip suggested the 4" of deck per gallon per minute rule of thumb for sizing the surface cleaner to the pressure washer and it made sense. When I got the classic the speed in cleaning driveways and other concrete surfaces went up. I got to try a smaller surface cleaner and it was even faster.

Size up the surface cleaner to the pressure washer and go a size smaller or two and you will be happy but if you can, stick with the whisper wash brand. They only use the aluminum spray bar which will never rust and now they have the stainless steel sleeves to protect the ends in case your son is washing a lot of pavers, they will literally sand blast the ends of the spray bar and erode them until the spray bar is useless, the sleeves help prevent a lot of that wear. If he does not do much pavers then I would not worry about it.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
 
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