Mark Henderson
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Yesterday I had some problems with my WFP system but I needed to finish a job with the windows at around 10 metres high.
Decided to have a go at it with the Wagtail - but obviously at that height it wasn't straight forward.
I use the Wagtail day in, day out but never used it at that height before.
After some experimenting, frustration and perseverance I found that IT IS possible to get good results and work with precision using the Wagtail even at 3 or 4 storeys high!
At 10 metres high you are using a pole around 13 m extended. Traditional poles wouldn't reach that height and even if they did they are too heavy and too bendy. (The Unger Teleplus (5 sections x 2m) fully extended is 10m but you wouldn't be able to reach them because you need the the angle to work at.)
I stripped down my Gardiners SL Xtreme 47, taking out the brush and pole hose.
What I learned:
Decided to have a go at it with the Wagtail - but obviously at that height it wasn't straight forward.
I use the Wagtail day in, day out but never used it at that height before.
After some experimenting, frustration and perseverance I found that IT IS possible to get good results and work with precision using the Wagtail even at 3 or 4 storeys high!
At 10 metres high you are using a pole around 13 m extended. Traditional poles wouldn't reach that height and even if they did they are too heavy and too bendy. (The Unger Teleplus (5 sections x 2m) fully extended is 10m but you wouldn't be able to reach them because you need the the angle to work at.)
I stripped down my Gardiners SL Xtreme 47, taking out the brush and pole hose.
What I learned:
- A black pulex cone (The normal Unger cone is pretty much the same.) fits in snug where the goose neck would fit in.
- Although the wagtail whirlwind is pretty light its still a fair weight when wet on the end of a long pole. For extra rigidity I closed the first section and half closed the second section - It made a BIG difference.
- Lightweight and rigidity is key to have accurate control. I don't think I could have managed without a carbon fibre pole. The flipping action was much easier when I increased the rigidity - (with the first couple of sections fully open the wagtail bounced on the window when doing the flipping action making life difficult.)
- If there was a way of wetting the mop without lowering and raising the pole it would be quicker and less tiring than WFP in my opinion (OK the frames don't get cleaned but on jobs where that's not an issue I reckon its quicker)
- The Wagtail pads don't hold a great deal of water, a DIY microstrip pad might be an idea but you would still need to be lowering and raising the pole every five minutes - Where there is a lot of high work together it would be good to have a foot pump taking solution from the bucket or a container and shoot it up there. Something along the lines of this.