Biting the bullet...

[Brandon]

your jumping in the deep end mate. ive had no jetwashing work for the past week. depends what area your in sappose. you need 3000 psi 21 lpm minimum. if your wanting to do softwashing you need the lpm. definately just have one of you sweeping up. good luck mate. the work is out there, we all just need to ram it down peoples necks so it gets big like america!

Where are you based?

Yeah agree the work is out there, we're really gonna push with the advertising and canvassing [emoji108]

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[jonjetting]

This specific gx200 package does have 15lpm with a turbo nozzle, no good?

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be carefull with the jetmac machines mate. so far mine has

-blown pump

-unloader seized and exploded

-the u-bend bypass fitting has completely rounded off

-exhaust stud snapped off (i had to drill a new thread)

all this is in two months

 

[jonjetting]

Where are you based?Yeah agree the work is out there, we're really gonna push with the advertising and canvassing [emoji108]

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scottish borders

 

[Brandon]

you need to take into account drainage and how much water their tap is kicking out. ive had loads where i had to keep stopping to let the water build up in my buffer tank. when you do a monoblock drive, the sand takes forever to clean away
also, all the walls and windows will need cleaned down

Yeah have thought about that, will make sure that when we give the customer the price that they're aware of all complications including making them aware that the windows and walls will get plastered and will need cleaning and things like that

so for jobs where the pressure is iffy....is it worth having two buffer tanks on the go and have them filling up why we set up?

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[jonjetting]

Yeah have thought about that, will make sure that when we give the customer the price that they're aware of all complications including making them aware that the windows and walls will get plastered and will need cleaning and things like that
so for jobs where the pressure is iffy....is it worth having two buffer tanks on the go and have them filling up why we set up?

you wont know untill your give it a go i sappose. maybe rent two machines for and see how you get on

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[peter rogers]

lol 2 buffer tanks u will wait around for the two to top up whilst cleaning

there is a reason people use 1 machine

unless u have loads of work and one person does one job the other goes does another job then go back pick other up

he was saying hel take one of you incASE u needs to sell lol

money to burn not enough experience example

what is your budget for advertising |??@??

I PRESSURE WASH but on top of a flat out window cleaning round

i compact the work to 1 day every 2 weeks like tomorrow 7 jobs lined up short radius go out smash it make good coin and windows gain wednesday

 

[Brandon]

lol 2 buffer tanks u will wait around for the two to top up whilst cleaningthere is a reason people use 1 machine

unless u have loads of work and one person does one job the other goes does another job then go back pick other up

he was saying hel take one of you incASE u needs to sell lol

money to burn not enough experience example

what is your budget for advertising |??@??

I PRESSURE WASH but on top of a flat out window cleaning round

i compact the work to 1 day every 2 weeks like tomorrow 7 jobs lined up short radius go out smash it make good coin and windows gain wednesday

Oh I see so 2 buffer tanks a no no /emoticons/biggrin.png

In my original post I said we hadn't bought any of the equipment yet!

No money to burn, we're budgeting for everything and only buying exactly what we need.

Advertising in papers but haven't got quotes yet, around £50 a month budget.

 

[jonjetting]

my local newspaper charge 200 for the month...i got one job

facebook advertising is about 20 quid a week ...no jobs

leaflets, 35 quid for 2500- 3 jobs

depends on your area but times are hard around by me.

definately go for it though, you never know!

 

[peter rogers]

50 a month get sucked up increase that if u really wanna make a go of it and but one washer and brand your business jetmac is just up the road from me theyr good gear but i do hear of problems

the interest needs to be there for u to get the business like how many milesdo u plan to cover \???

 

[Brandon]

my local newspaper charge 200 for the month...i got one jobfacebook advertising is about 20 quid a week ...no jobs

leaflets, 35 quid for 2500- 3 jobs

depends on your area but times are hard around by me.

definately go for it though, you never know!

Wow that's well expensive!! Is that front page [emoji23] found out its £12 a week here for local paper.

We're not gonna pay for Facebook advertising, I post on local buy and sell groups for my window cleaning and that works really well so we'll see what the interest is for pressure washing.

Not gonna bother leafleting, been there done that didn't work [emoji53]

anyone tried canvassing for pressure washing?

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[Brandon]

50 a month get sucked up increase that if u really wanna make a go of it and but one washer and brand your business jetmac is just up the road from me theyr good gear but i do hear of problems
the interest needs to be there for u to get the business like how many milesdo u plan to cover \???

Well considering the papers only £12 a week round here, how much you think is reasonable?

By brand the business do you mean logos and things?

Ive heard mixed responses about Jetmac so will do some research on that!

Yes completely agree with you, we're not gonna order any equipment until we've got jobs booked in!!

Anywhere within a 40-50 mile radius mate.

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[Ben23]

Like has been said before, its surprising how much time is saved on a job having one cleaning and one sweeping the sand/****/water away. even more so with the 21lpm machines as the sheer amount of water on the ground takes some managing unless your on a steep slope that ends directly into an unblocked drain. the hardest part really is getting the work and I can account for most of my work through existing customers in the (admittedly not very lucrative) garden maintenance trade, however facebook has thrown up the odd decent customer for me (among many hundreds of timewasters).

Im planning on running an ad in the local paper too as the season is on us and many people who would want/need the service arent what you would call computer literate (oldies sickies and not very quickies), these people also buy the paper on impulse as its part of thier weekly routine. I've so far refrained from door knocking for pressure washing as it is common practice among less scrupulous sectors of the population and I think it would put people on edge a bit from the get go

Van signage......this is another thing I need to get on as I get a lot of walk ups on my garden round with the written up van but with my washing van I assume if Im working around the back that people have no idea what im there for if seeing the van from the road and I think this is costing me work.

Long story short, definatley forget about running two machines, its a bad plan that will end in lost time, water where you dont want it and a whole lot of unmanaged scattered mess that needs cleaning up, theres work for two of you with just the one machine so get something that pumps out a decent amount and a large broom! do the gardens if you can commit to a round and schedule but remember that this is highly weather dependant and can screw you over (I've lost about 3 weeks to bad weather this season so far)

Good luck /emoticons/smile.png

 

[sllab]

Paper where I get all my work charges £300 for a full page which I take every time. It is a fortnightly property paper delivered to approx 23k homes in the area I cover.

I will say consistent advertising is much better than in and out every 2 mins. I advertised pressure washing all winter and got enough work to cover the ad and a bit more each fortnight. This year I have been flat out since the 5th of January with 80% coming from the paper and 20% from word of mouth from customers I did out of the paper.

I would say 1 machine is all you need/ should have.only get a fsc if going over 20lpm.

2x machines means 2x the time spent setting up and 3x the time waiting for water etc

 

[Brandon]

Like has been said before, its surprising how much time is saved on a job having one cleaning and one sweeping the sand/****/water away. even more so with the 21lpm machines as the sheer amount of water on the ground takes some managing unless your on a steep slope that ends directly into an unblocked drain. the hardest part really is getting the work and I can account for most of my work through existing customers in the (admittedly not very lucrative) garden maintenance trade, however facebook has thrown up the odd decent customer for me (among many hundreds of timewasters).
Im planning on running an ad in the local paper too as the season is on us and many people who would want/need the service arent what you would call computer literate (oldies sickies and not very quickies), these people also buy the paper on impulse as its part of thier weekly routine. I've so far refrained from door knocking for pressure washing as it is common practice among less scrupulous sectors of the population and I think it would put people on edge a bit from the get go

Van signage......this is another thing I need to get on as I get a lot of walk ups on my garden round with the written up van but with my washing van I assume if Im working around the back that people have no idea what im there for if seeing the van from the road and I think this is costing me work.

Long story short, definatley forget about running two machines, its a bad plan that will end in lost time, water where you dont want it and a whole lot of unmanaged scattered mess that needs cleaning up, theres work for two of you with just the one machine so get something that pumps out a decent amount and a large broom! do the gardens if you can commit to a round and schedule but remember that this is highly weather dependant and can screw you over (I've lost about 3 weeks to bad weather this season so far)

Good luck /emoticons/smile.png

Thanks mate some helpful points!

 

[Brandon]

Paper where I get all my work charges £300 for a full page which I take every time. It is a fortnightly property paper delivered to approx 23k homes in the area I cover.
I will say consistent advertising is much better than in and out every 2 mins. I advertised pressure washing all winter and got enough work to cover the ad and a bit more each fortnight. This year I have been flat out since the 5th of January with 80% coming from the paper and 20% from word of mouth from customers I did out of the paper.

I would say 1 machine is all you need/ should have.only get a fsc if going over 20lpm.

2x machines means 2x the time spent setting up and 3x the time waiting for water etc

Yeah agree consistency is key, weekly is the way. Any tips on the advert?

 

[Brandon]

So after much deliberation.....we've decided to go with buying one machine but a much more powerful one. We're going to see a van on Saturday. It's a 2002 Fiat Scudo 1.9 off a friend who says it's in really good nick so probably going to buy it off him, it's only £500.

Can anyone advise me on which of these pressure washers (if any) are worth going for?

Loncin 14hp Tornado Package - 21lpm 3000psi £1400.00

Petrol, it comes with an 18" FSC with front jets, 10m hose, turbo nozzle, 5 quick release nozzles.

Loncin 14 Horse power Tornado package - huge output 21 Litres minute

Loncin 10hp - 21lpm 3000psi £1495.00




Diesel so will last longer, 30m hose, electric key start, no mention of nozzles.


10 HP DIESEL PRESSURE POWER JET WASHER NEW 2015 LONCIN DIESEL ENGINE WITH HOSE REEL AND 30 METERS HOSE




Leaning more towards the petrol one but the fact that the other one is diesel is quite appealing....is key start a bit of a gimmick or a useful feature?

 

[sllab]

Yeah agree consistency is key, weekly is the way. Any tips on the advert?

I take a full page which from experience gets more than 2x the response than a half page etc.

The paper I advertise in is a Property lead paper.

As far as the ad goes:

• You should have a local phone number on the ad - you want people to know you are local and not just a "traveler/group of travelers" door knocking / leafleting. They want to know if something goes wrong that you are still going to be around and contactable.
  
• I put on my ad that I can move pots etc. - A lot of the older customers I deal with can not do this themselves. This works really well with a OAP or seniors discount which may or may not be moving the pots for free provided there are not loads of them or only charging £40 for the PITA factor instead of the usual £70.
  
• Try and include a striking before and after photo
  
• The headline of the ad needs to be "Pressure washing" or "Driveway Cleaning" or something similar. Nobody gives a :turd: what your business name is they want to know what you do.
  
• I have a guarantee on my ad that I will communicate with the customer and I give Quotes and not Estimates and make a point to point this out when I go and quote the customer.
  

The most important thing about advertising is not wasting the responses once you get them. It may sound really stupid and obvious but I have dealt with a number of businesses that advertise and don't answer the phone during the day while they are working. I pay £120-£150 a month for an answering service to make sure the phone is answered at all times even if it just means a message is taken. This has made me seem more professional to the customer and I believe has meant they expect and are willing to pay a higher price.

Hopefully this helps a bit.

 

[peter rogers]

Honda Gx 390 21 litre 18 Inch dual tech Rotary package

that

 

[sllab]

So after much deliberation.....we've decided to go with buying one machine but a much more powerful one. We're going to see a van on Saturday. It's a 2002 Fiat Scudo 1.9 off a friend who says it's in really good nick so probably going to buy it off him, it's only £500.
Can anyone advise me on which of these pressure washers (if any) are worth going for?

Loncin 14hp Tornado Package - 21lpm 3000psi £1400.00

Petrol, it comes with an 18" FSC with front jets, 10m hose, turbo nozzle, 5 quick release nozzles.

Loncin 14 Horse power Tornado package - huge output 21 Litres minute

Loncin 10hp - 21lpm 3000psi £1495.00




Diesel so will last longer, 30m hose, electric key start, no mention of nozzles.


10 HP DIESEL PRESSURE POWER JET WASHER NEW 2015 LONCIN DIESEL ENGINE WITH HOSE REEL AND 30 METERS HOSE




Leaning more towards the petrol one but the fact that the other one is diesel is quite appealing....is key start a bit of a gimmick or a useful feature?

Key start is nice. Mine is a petrol key start only and I love it. My previous washer was a diesel pull/ key start - They use far less fuel by cost and volume especially if you can get red diesel.

I think the front jets are a bit of a gimmick and are a waste of time. If you really need that sort of functionality at a later time then a water broom is not too expensive.

If I was starting out again I would go for

Loncin Petrol cool drive 3000 Psi 21 Litres a minute Jetwasher

Or equivilent from Rutland pumps for much better after sales care and services (which is worth paying for I can assure you)

Evolution 1 20200 Petrol Pressure Washer E1T20200PHR - If they do this in a loncin that is a bit cheaper then got for that.

The Original #85.403.003 16" Whirlaway Rotary Surface Cleaner - ThePowerSite.co.uk

and 2x20m of hose.

A turbo nozzle is also a must regardless of what you get.

 

[peter rogers]

would stick with honda

 

[jonjetting]

i use a 20" with my 21ltr 3000psi, does a good job but its struggles with weeds. dont bother with all that gimmick **** attached to the fsc. definately get a diesel if you can afford it, i spend a fortune on petrol.

i would strongly recommend steering clear of jetmac, if anything goes wrong with that machine its an uphill battle getting it sorted!

rutland pumps are spot on with better quality gear