Pressure Washer shopping..where to start?

[chim]

Ever used a whirl away on concrete? Very fast and very uniform cleaning. Note: they can be GPM hogs, you can not run them on little pressure washers.
View attachment 615723
If buying a pressure washer new I would be looking at a Simpson with a CAT pump and a Honda GX engine.

I've seen them advertised, but never in real life. I can do our concrete bridge and sidewalks in a couple hours.

Biggest help for me so far was getting two extensions. The shorter one has a kick at one end.

 

[Jaylegger]

Ever used a whirl away on concrete? Very fast and very uniform cleaning. Note: they can be GPM hogs, you can not run them on little pressure washers.
View attachment 615723
If buying a pressure washer new I would be looking at a Simpson with a CAT pump and a Honda GX engine.

This type of device makes no sense to me. After using it you'll need to go over the area once again with the wand to push the dirt off the concrete. These devices may lift the dirt off the concrete but that serves little purpose if the crap is allowed to settle when it dries. You still need to direct the crud off the concrete using pressure and water flow using the wand and a nozzle. Those Turbo nozzles make no sense to me either, bought the Simpson turbo nozzle for my machine and I get better, more consistent, and faster results using the normal fan nozzles.

Your washer of choice is pretty much what I bought. A Dewalt 4240 which is made by Simpson, 4200 psi and 4.0 gpm of water with Honda GXI engine. Remarkably good and effective machine.

 

[goeduck]

This type of device makes no sense to me. After using it you'll need to go over the area once again with the wand to push the dirt off the concrete. These devices may lift the dirt off the concrete but that serves little purpose if the crap is allowed to settle when it dries. You still need to direct the crud off the concrete using pressure and water flow using the wand and a nozzle. Those Turbo nozzles make no sense to me either, bought the Simpson turbo nozzle for my machine and I get better, more consistent, and faster results using the normal fan nozzles.

Your washer of choice is pretty much what I bought. A Dewalt 4240 which is made by Simpson, 4200 psi and 4.0 gpm of water with Honda GXI engine. Remarkably good and effective machine.

Probably a regional thing. Our concrete walkways get a black mold to them, not so much dirt. It seems to take directed high pressure to dislodge. Yes, Simpson makes pressure washers for Dewalt. Simpson seem like good units on paper.

 

[the old grind]

... Those Turbo nozzles make no sense to me ... bought the Simpson turbo nozzle for my machine .. ('Serious, HD pressure washers' like yours gain precious litlte from them, but IMO <1800 and <1.5 gpm isn't squat without one.) Some difference in base level of performance, as in 3/4-1 hp submersible on a well vs a respectable 3/4 hp 30-50psi shallow well pump that's lucky to put out 1 1/2 gpm anywhere but in the basement laundry ... AKA SUX2BME, lol)

Your washer of choice is pretty much what I bought. A Dewalt 4240 which is made by Simpson, 4200 psi and 4.0 gpm of water with Honda GXI engine. Remarkably good and effective machine.

What amount of work you do in a year is what my cheapo might have done three times-worth in the 18 years it lasted. I hope ALL will take note of that! It matters.

What you have can't be too much for the job at hand. Decks are a lot of work with all the surfaces. Some of us have far less performance needs, and perhaps le$$ resources to work with. What you have is indeed :drool:-worthy. I like

 

[Jaylegger]

Probably a regional thing. Our concrete walkways get a black mold to them, not so much dirt. It seems to take directed high pressure to dislodge. Yes, Simpson makes pressure washers for Dewalt. Simpson seem like good units on paper.

Those units would likely be effective if the slope was such that all the water and sludge ran off the concrete without further persuasion. My exposed aggregate driveway is sloped but I get a build up gravel fines caked on it and this required a lot of sideways pressure to get off the concrete. My wood decks gets that black mold stuff on it at time though but still need directional flow to clear the crud off the deck and walkways.

 

[4570Man]

This type of device makes no sense to me. After using it you'll need to go over the area once again with the wand to push the dirt off the concrete. These devices may lift the dirt off the concrete but that serves little purpose if the crap is allowed to settle when it dries. You still need to direct the crud off the concrete using pressure and water flow using the wand and a nozzle. Those Turbo nozzles make no sense to me either, bought the Simpson turbo nozzle for my machine and I get better, more consistent, and faster results using the normal fan nozzles.

Your washer of choice is pretty much what I bought. A Dewalt 4240 which is made by Simpson, 4200 psi and 4.0 gpm of water with Honda GXI engine. Remarkably good and effective machine.

You’ve clearly never used one of them. They’re way faster and do a more uniform job. Another plus is they contain the overspray keeping you and the surrounding surfaces cleaner. It only takes a couple minutes to spray the surface off once you’re done vs hours of back and fourth 2” at a time.

 

[the old grind]

I wonder how often it'd be better to direct than to contain the over-spray. If one knocks gobs of dirt/crud loose and there's not much slope to run off, it can be a whole 'nother process to remove the detritus without it conveniently falling down a drain. (The junk a Balsam poplar drops is a sticky mess that leaves a residue. I'm sure there are plenty of other 'goos' that take a soak AND a pressure-wash process 'to open'.)

btw, I bet there's a lot of difference(s) from slab to driveway to patio to gazebo, to RV shelter, etc. It can be like plowing snow in a way. Different sized AND shaped areas, borders, grades, or places to push/flush yuck to. I've been almost campaigning for that no two of us have the same jobs to do, or time/energy to do them.

btw, bunk-house-cowboy in me says rain washes what needs it anyway. I need something 'completely different' for the birds leavin' me mulberry stains.

 

[tom3]

Have a big gas 3000psi washer and an electric for years. Son borrowed the electric and I told him to take it and keep it. Went to Lowes and bought a new Greenworks washer with a surface cleaner spray head device, all for under a hundred dollars with vet's discount. Little lunchbox size washer kicks some butt and uses way less water than my big washer. Kind of important with our $100 water and sewer bills in this area. Turbo nozzle is a neat device, and the round rotating cleaner is pretty darn good on concrete. Nice long electric cord too. I did get a 15 inch Briggs surface cleaner for the gas washer a while back, nothing but trouble with that one, too much pressure I guess. No long term use with the Lowes model but it does a surprising job so far.

 

[Industrial Toys]

You couldn't give me a gas power washer. But that's just me. I like the quiet of electric.

Got one of those whirly things from the RESTORE. Home Depot, Husky, return. I find it actually works quite well. Plus it has scrubbing bristles around the perimeter. I tried mounting it upside down on a dolly to clean the underside of my truck prior to undercoating, and it seemed to work, but the undercoating guy said he didn't notice any improved level of cleanlieness, so I gave that up.

 

[Jaylegger]

You’ve clearly never used one of them. They’re way faster and do a more uniform job. Another plus is they contain the overspray keeping you and the surrounding surfaces cleaner. It only takes a couple minutes to spray the surface off once you’re done vs hours of back and fourth 2” at a time.

Correct I've never used one before. If it matters I can see where controlling the over spray would be a great benefit. I was about to buy one for the driveway but after watching many videos decided it would definitely require an extra pressure washer step in my situation. In the spring my driveway gets covered with gravel dust/fines and this stuff when wet is heavy and it requires continued angle spraying to push all the stuff off the side of the driveway.