Can I use a pressure washer with gravity fed water from a barrel?

[BruceWard]

I got one of these http://www.thegreatindoors.com/shc/s/p_10165_26151_07175221000P for $134 on closeout this evening.

I would like to wash my tractor using gravity fed water from a 55 gallon barrel. I am hoping that the pressure washers pump will be sufficient to handle the gravity flow water without the need for an additional pump.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[RandyT]

some pressure washers will work gravity feed, most won't. I work on pressure washers and a lot of the low end washers won't work if i hook it to my 400 gallon tank. Most washers require at least 20 psi input to work properly.

 

[BruceWard]

The manual says to provide a water supply with at least 20 PSI. 20 PSI is almost 50' of head. Guess I cant use gravity feed.

 

[HCJtractor]

I had the same problem. My pressure washer says a minimum flow. I did see some other pressure washers online that specifically say that they will "draw" from a tank. Next one I buy will do that. I used a small Honda pump to pump water from my cistern to my pressure washer. Big pain! So I tried hooking directly to the pressure washer from my tank and it does seem to work. So far, so good. I would try it and see what happens. Of course, elevating you tank may help and I use a 1" suction type hose as the intake. They sell these at Northern, or you can buy the reinforced hose at Home Depot and fittings at Northern and make your own. Of course, it is reduced to 3/4" where it enters the pressure washer, but that's what I did and it does work. You dont want a hose that will collapse.

 

[tawilson]

Shouldn't be too hard to plumb the barrel so you could some air pressure to it. Same difference as having a pump.

 

[mmurphy]

Get a pump that pressures the water system for a camper. Most are 12 volt and should make it portable enough for you.

 

[DMW]

I'd try it before giving up. Couldn't the 20psi rating be to ensure the pump has enough water supply from a hose? I know my manual says to run the pump a maximum of 3 minutes without using the spray wand as heat buildup may damage the pump. A portable washer is handy to have. The flow rate on mine was higher than my well output, so I used a 35 gallon tank to feed it. No problems.

 

[1950T]

seems to me if you were able to get the drum higher than the washer it would work. at the hunting cabin our water is gravity fed from a tank that is 15ft above off the ground. we have good presure.

 

[D7E]

When i worked in turkey and chicken units we used to mount pressure washers on the front of old 800 gal sprayers that had the booms removed and run multiple wands off them to wash sheds down , Seemed to feed ok !

 

[BruceWard]

Ill try it this weekend and see what happens. I think I will replace the .5" tap on the barrel with a 1" tap to increase the flow rate first.