High Wagtail Work with Carbon pole

[Mark Henderson]

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:

• 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.
  

 

[norm]

Nice one Mark Henderson and good share

 

[Smurf]

I remember seeing a vid on youtube that was a cross between wfp & trad method but for the life of me I can't find it now.

 

[Smurf]

Found it... not sure if it is feeding soap though

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[Smurf]

Just found this new wagtail high rise jetstream @Mark Henderson /emoticons/wink.png

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[Mark Henderson]

Thanks Smurf! Hadn't seen those videos. The first guy is a bit clueless with the Wagtail???!!!

But the Jetstream looks really interesting. Cutting edge stuff. I can see that taking off quick if it works as well as it looks. - I think on dirty windows you'd need to rinse more than that though. Problem I can see for Willie is that it looks really easy to make a DIY one !!

The Jetstream still works on a pure water basis so you are still having to drag around hoses, trolleys etc. due to the quantity of water - What I'm wanting to try is a squirt of soapy water up there every now and again without lowering the pole.

I've ordered a foot pump to try linking it to the bucket and I've also bought something similar to this to compare

gonna try attaching them to a pole hose for squirting trad high work and will report findings soon!

 

[Mark Henderson]

PS dont tell anyone.................. its a secret. /emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[Smurf]

Looking forward to your findings Mark

 

[Smurf]

Ps dodger posted on here somewhere using a pump up sprayer to spray pure up a pole but I'm sure would work just as well using soap. I’ve also made something similar for applying ubik to guttering etc which worked well. Alternative is maybe use a backpack or put together a chepo portable pump box.

Regarding the jetstream I'm going to have a play sometime this week as the jets he is using is just a bit of pole hose with small holes in it connected to and john guest Y fitting. The trick will be to have the jets pointing in the right direction which I take it on the jetstream is held in place by an ali channel.

 

[norm]

Good stuff guys keep us informed

 

[Smurf]

This 10 jet wash bar took me 10 mins to make

View attachment 2418

can either scrub & rinse at the same time using pure water or pump soap through the wash bar to the mop instead. Simples

 

[Smurf]

I could have cable tied my diy wash bar through the pad but could not be arsed as was just a test to see how it would work.

My grubby conservatory windows dried out spotless but after saying that I still prefer using a wfp brush to be honest as it gets in all the nooks & crannies of the frames etc.

 

[rugbywolf]

I had a similar system about three years ago using a trad squeegee with a wash pad attached. I used a garden pressure spray with my (soapy) water and took a tube up through the handle. I had the trigger handy so I could spray as I needed. The water came on to the glass just under the Squeegee channel. It worked very well, in fact too well, I carried only 3ltrs of water, as that was comfortable, but I only used about three and a half to four litres in a whole day! So I carried a spray bottle on a belt that I had made myself, because 1ltr will last two and a half to three hours.

 

[Smurf]

Yep it's not a new idea for sure for dispensing soap/chems up a pole