Pressure Washers?

   / Pressure Washers? #1  

SimS

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2000
Messages
491
Location
Rutledge, GA
Tractor
Kubota L3710DT, Case 1845C, Takeuchi TB015
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
 
   / Pressure Washers? #2  
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
 
   / Pressure Washers? #3  
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...
 
   / Pressure Washers? #5  
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
 
   / Pressure Washers? #6  
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
 
   / Pressure Washers? #7  
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
 
   / Pressure Washers?
  • Thread Starter
#8  
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
 
   / Pressure Washers? #9  
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.


18-30461-BillSig.jpg
 
   / Pressure Washers? #10  
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...
 
 
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