PW Hot Water Skids

Still haven't made my purchase yet. I'm going to try to finance/buy one with Hotsy on that Hydro-Tek (listed at $9,500)and the other from Water Cannon ($5,300).

Just wondering??? I don't know if ya'll heard about Nothern Tool/North Star before but they sell a PW rig with an 3000psi @ 8gpm unit with a dual tandem open trailer, 300 gallon water tank, two hose reels alnog with 2guns/2-50' hoses/and some nozzles/, and a 2500 watt generator for $10,200!!!!!!! I've been told that the unit that they sell on this rig is from Hydro-tek.

Is this TRUE????? Are these units really from Hydro-tek??? I'm going to call them myself and ask if their open today or just wait till Monday. If this is true I'm going to see if I can purchase one of those units (just the units by themselves) from them and see how much their listed at for sale. Probably going to take down a thorough description of the unit (burner,pump,motor,assembly,etc.) and compare it to the Hydro-tek Hotsy quoted me on.

If they match up almost identical, I'm going to ask the local dealer to lower the price of the unit.

Please help with some info. PLEASE!!
Thanks for all of ya'lls really good advice and sharing your experiance with different pressure washers with me! :) :)
 
Dannyboy, You remind me of the ol lady in front of me at Furr's last sunday. I like this quote from another board "Glad you finally got that fiquired out. You must have a hell of a time deciding what to eat for lunch".
Iam glad you're buying a real rig and not going to a big box store and getting some rinky dink homeowner unit.
 
Finding a distributor who is reliable and knowlegable and honest is the key to good
equipment. If you dont have the knowlege and know how to fix it yourself the your at the mercy of your distributor.

Ive done all of my maintinance for 15 yrears. It was a learn as you go process.
After awhile you will know what your equipment is telling you by the sound it makes.
As far as brand name goes. There all pretty much put together the same way except for a few variances.And they ALL break sooner or later.
So I suggest finding someone close to you that you feel comfortable with.
Once you gain some experience you can trouble shoot and repair yourself.

If you purchase something on line or have it shipped to you from one of the catalog places (Northern tool) for example- and it goes down. The local guy isnt going to go out of his way to fix it. I'tll sit, and down time is costly
 
Tim, you hit the mark right there with the box store products.

If you're down, you're not working which equals NO MONEY to pay for the broken thing! Buy a solid piece of equipment from a reputable (and I mean endorsed by multiple contractors on these bbs's). You will have no regrets.

Celeste
 
Tim, Ive done my own maintanance since the onset. I did buy my first couple machines from a local dealer. When I needed something fixed I took it to them, and they fixed it, sometimes they would even meet me on the job. Soon I was able to trouble shoot my own repairs. The local dealer is invaluable as a new contractor. Like Celeste said, down time is $$. Ive bought different tools from Northern, unless you have a local depot to drop them off at you are SOL. Down time could be weeks. Can you afford that?
 
Dannyboy- What are ya cleaning that you need 9GPM?
Im a hood cleaner so 9GPM to me is over kill big time!
Planning on running two guns of one rig? Or just feel the need for MORE POWER? :D
If you could elaberate on what exactly it is you wish to clean then I'm shure some Equipment Guru on here can tell you exactly what it is you seek.
 
The problem I have heard about larger gpm machines is that if you dont have a nice large tank sometimes city water cant keep up with 8 gpm.. I use 3500 psi at 4 gpm to clean hoods and to clean concrete with my surface cleaner. It does Fine.. I also trust my whitco .. My friends Whitco unit is about 2 years older than mine which is 3 years old and we sre both still running the same general pump with no problems.. The only thing I had to do to my machine was have the 2000 watt winco generator fixed at a cost of $ 50.00...
 

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Dannyboy, since you haven't put contact info in your sig, I can't call you. Mine's down there V Call me.
 
John, you should get them to do something about those shakes - they need attention!

Celeste
 
That whole building is nasty.. roof and all.. Char used to be an old shoneys.... I cleaned the concrete also on this job and it took about 3 hours .. I had to walk real slow .. I asked the manager if the concrete had been painted black , he said no it's just dirty.. And was it ever dirty .. When I got thru cleaning the whole underside of my surface cleaner was pitch black.
 

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I'm back from shopping again!! Just following up on the outcome of my experiance!!

I decided that going local with a distributor that services the PW machines was the way to go (even if its a few thousand more). Especially for a new business owner and someone rather new to servicing these machines. Ordering from some far away place wouldn't be a comfortable decision for me, maybe later on though (Praying I'm still in business).

We'll . . . . I was given a "last" quote from a Hotsy dealer with $18,000 for two Alkota HTW PW listed at 8gpm @ 3000psi. This price included installation for both units via air duct in the enclosed trailer. He listed installation of the units via air duct and positioning of the HT units would be $800 in parts and $600 in labor, so really I'm paying $16,500 on the units. Its funnny . . . . . . . . . . when he first quoted me on those same Alkota units he priced them at $13,800 a piece and for two would have been $26,000 (without installation). He said that they were specialized units and that that was the reason in price difference!! To me, theirs no way that a pressure wash unit like that was worth about the same of a new car!! So, since I knew that this HT PW unit was going to be my biggest purchase of the biz I decided to look into it.

Anyway, I found another distributor within the Texas region, thank god, that offered about the same services as far as maintenance on the units and overall customer service. This time around, I was fortunate to have the knowledge about most HT PW units upfront and how much a dealer pays for a specific pressure wash unit.
So he gave me a surprised look on his face and showed me a catalog of selectable units from different brand lines. In the end, I was able to get two Hydro-tek units (8gpm @ 3000psi w/general pump;115v/w2500gen.) plus installation for around $13,000. :) Just trying to cut cost!!

I'm fortunate enough to have this price financed even though it's a new business. But I am MOST FORTUNATE that their are message boards where fellow contractors like yourselves trade and give information and advice about different aspects of the pressure washing business!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys for being their when I was purchasing a huge investment for my business!!
 
You've made a good purchase with those Hydro Teks. That SC3008 is a bad boy. Get a huge tank and a high flow float valve (like Hudson), at 8 gpm, it's going through some water. Run both of them at once, and you'll need all you can get. City flow out the spigot is usually 8 - 10 gpm. Run it constantly and it'll outrun the tank.
 
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