Pressure Washers

[l_bilyk]

Not exactly a tool, but

What do you have? What do you recomment? How big? What features?

 

[eschoendorff]

Not exactly a tool, but

What do you have? What do you recomment? How big? What features?

My parents bought one at Sam's club about 15+ years ago, 1500 psi, IIRC. It has a triple plunger pump and a 5hp Briggs engine. In 15 years, I don't remember the oil ever being changed in either the pump or the engine! And for many summers (with the lawncare business) it was run to clean equipment, cars, etc. sometimes daily.

That thing is still going. Be careful with the psi... too much and you might be stripping the paint off your car (use the right gun and some common sense ). Too little, and you won't get much benefit. I guess it all depends on what you want to do with it. But for our purposes, my parent's pressure washer did just fine.

 

[kartracer55]

My dad has got a karcher electric one. No complaints, its just a basic electric pressure washer for doing random stuff around the house. Nothing fancy, its held up pretty well, something liek 10 years old and still goin

Jim

 

[gerry]

Had one with a Briggs 10 hp engine. Biggest piece of junk I ever saw. Could not get it to run two days in a row without piddling with it. Replaced it with a 2500PSI/ Honda engined washer from Home Depot and have never been so happy in my life. Bought two more for work the very next year and they get almost daily use. Cranks on first pull every time, regardless of weather

Had a Kracher electric and I could not run it for two minutes without the built-in breaker shutting it down. Trashed it because it would cost more to fix that it was worth and I was opposed to removing safety devices on a water/electricty device

 

[330Scott]

I bought a Craftsman 2000 PSI, 2.0 GPM with a 4.5 Honda engine a few years back. I really thought I would use it more than I have because I primarily just use it for washing vehicles and cleaning up the oil drips in the driveway after my Harley riding friends stop by.

I wish that I had more control over the pressure that it puts out because it only has high and low settings. An adjustable pressure valve would be nice. I did choose a unit with pneumatic tires instead of the solid tires, but I can't remember why I did that now. And if I remember correctly, the Honda engine ran quieter than the other engine that the Craftsman power washer use - maybe it was a Briggs & Stratton.

I would have liked to have purchased one of the Hotsy brand units because of the hot water feature, but just couldn't justify it.

 

[Fast Orange]

At work,I've got a Northern Tool with a 11 HP Honda-adjustable pressure,4 different nozzles,detergent injector and a telescoping pole.We use it for cleaning just about everything.Some of the guys borrow it to do their decks,siding,etc.I've used it with a rotary nozle and cranked up to strip paint from equipment and other guys use it to wash second floor windows-it's a very versitile machine.I think max pressure is about 3500 PSI.IIRC, it's about 8 years old and cost around $1200.

George

 

[MXtras]

I use the **** out of mine washing a small army of YZs.

I bought a Landa about 6 yrs ago and have been happy. It is a 5HP Honda motor with a General pump. It goes to the track with us along with a 30 gallon drum for washing stuff in between practice and motos.

I have re-built the compensator about 8 times - this is a common issue with these pumps. It takes about 5-10 minutes to fix and requires no parts most of the time, but it's still a bit annoying. From what I have seen, it is a problem with a lot of P/Ws - not just those that use General pumps like this particular, lower-end Landa.

I can't recall the specs - I think it is 2.8GPM at 3000PSI??? It will blow the skin off your thumbs in a heartbeat if the pressure is cranked up. It does a nice job of blowing every sticker off the bikes if you're not careful - except for the stickers on the brand new bikes that tell you how much air to put in your tires - those things must be molded into the fender....

I learned when I was detailing cars in Denver (Havana Auto Detail, Eastern Detail and Auto Specialty Center) - it's the GPM that does the majority of the work - not the pressure. I also learned that Landa is a pretty good brand.

Scott

 

[Canadian Charlie]

I have an Italian made one that runs off of electricity, bought it second hand off of my brother-inlaw. Used it to clean the engine bay of my 89 Silverado. It now shines like gold

 

[JayB]

I have the model before this one. http://www.kodiakpower.ca/retail/cg2600h.html With a Honda 5.5hp engine I figured it was pretty good? Have yet to use it though, still frozen here!! Rona had it on sale boxing day for $289!!

 

[Da Bull]

I have the Simoniz S2600 Gas pressure washer from Canadian Tire for a couple years now and no problems. It has 5.5hp Honda GC engine, 2.3 gallons per minute and 2600 psi. I added a quick change coupler to the wand so I could use the colour coded quick change nozzles and a rotomax rotating 0 degree nozzle.

 

[krooser]

I've got a unknown brand, USA made 2000 PSI I bought from Sam's maybe eight or nine years ago. 3 1/2 HP Briggs. the only trouble I've had is forgetting to drain it before it freezes in the winter..I've had to replace a couple cracked fittings 'cuz they froze.

Other than that, it's been bulletproof.

 

[l_bilyk]

I have the Simoniz S2600 Gas pressure washer from Canadian Tire for a couple years now and no problems. It has 5.5hp Honda GC engine, 2.3 gallons per minute and 2600 psi. I added a quick change coupler to the wand so I could use the colour coded quick change nozzles and a rotomax rotating 0 degree nozzle.

who makes those simoniz pressure washers?

 

[Stuart in MN]

I have one of those little Karcher electric pressure washers as well, I got it at Home Depot on sale a couple years ago. It's certainly not as powerful as the bigger gas powered ones, but for my purposes it works well. I only use it a few times a year so I couldn't justify anything bigger or more expensive.