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Help with choosing pole

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Hi Everyone, great forum.

I run a cleaning business and last year purchased a small wfp set up,ro-man ro system and trolley system with a 35ft fibreglass pole, The pole I have may extend to 35 ft but is useless at that height, it's all over the place, 25ft tops.

I am now hoping to expand the business and offer the service to some of my 3 and 4 storey business contacts.

For an office block this high what kind of pole would I need to invest in, I'm guessing Carbon but are there variations and if so what is a good model and what should I look out for so I don't get ripped off?? If I get a longer pole than needed will it be cumbersome or is it worth the added investment from the outset.

My pump is 80psi, would I need to upgrade this?

Absolutly any other advice you could offer would be fantastic.

Thank you

 
There are a few carbon pole brands that would be worth considering but gardiner poles seems very popular with wfp window cleaners. I'm sure @Alex Gardiner could give you the best advice on the type of pole that would be most suited to the job in hand.

 
i,ve been using the facelift 22 & clx 18 i find the clamps went quick with the facelift, clx was very good but I also got ionics

glyder 30ft

my mate uses the facelift which I find to bendy i,ve changed the brush to gardeners superlite see if it is better

but the glyder i use it all the time clamps great no bending even fully extended , yes its heavy but I,m really pleased with it

but yes it is heavy

 
Thank you so much for the quick replys guys, I had seen an ionics 45ft on ebay for £720 (swift 45) but the Glyder 40 looks great, why is it £240 dearer for the sake of 5ft ??

That reach it looks great, is it normal for the hose to be on the outside, mine is in the middle and can be a pain sometimes

 
Reach-It are too expensive for what they are, plus there's a few people been having problems with the poles AND the after sales care.

Wasn't Wagga's pole a freebie....no wonder he likes it so much.

 
The difference in price you mentioned is due to the type of carbon used.

Gardiner SLX39 for around £460 (extra £30 for a wider brush) is what you want.

 
Cheers all, Gardiner and ionics look great

With the slx39 I can see that you can buy extensions for around £60-£70, how much can you extend the slx39 if I chose to at a later date, to be honest though I think a working height of 44ft would be ample for now.

Now onto necks, it comes free with the quick lock resi neck, is this any good or worth upgrading?

Think I'll start a total new thread on all the brushes on offer /emoticons/smile.png

 
Cheers all, Gardiner and ionics look great
With the slx39 I can see that you can buy extensions for around £60-£70, how much can you extend the slx39 if I chose to at a later date, to be honest though I think a working height of 44ft would be ample for now.

Now onto necks, it comes free with the quick lock resi neck, is this any good or worth upgrading?

Think I'll start a total new thread on all the brushes on offer /emoticons/smile.png
You can extend the SLX39 up to a maximum of 47ft (actual pole length) - this would be using the SLX Extension#9 and the Gardiner #10 modular extension.

When choosing poles remember that some firms (like Reach-iT and Ionics) name their poles after the reach not the actual length. Worth bearing in mind when comparing.

The included Quick-LoQ gooseneck is a good place to start, but for reaching over ledges I personally really rate the 10" gooseneck and this is what's on all of my poles.

 
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Thank you, that is a great help.

So the actual pole length and working length take into account the operator using it??

How bendy is the slx39 at full length? Anything is better than my fibreglass one but is it ok at full stretch?

 
Thank you, that is a great help.
So the actual pole length and working length take into account the operator using it??

How bendy is the slx39 at full length? Anything is better than my fibreglass one but is it ok at full stretch?
The actual pole length of the SLX39 is 39ft its working reach is about 44ft maximum which puts it at a similar length to the Reach-iT Pro which is 39ft (actual) and the Ionics Swift45 which is 40.6ft (actual).

The SLX39 is quite useable at this height although it does have some flex. Personally I would not want to work regularly any higher than this with the SLX range. If wanting to work higher I would go for the more rigid Super-Max45 (actual 45ft) or the Xtreme47 (actual 47ft), with the latter being what I currently use.

 
Price to you alex being no issue you would say you use Xtreme47
/emoticons/biggrin.png I am still using the very first original Xtreme25 prototype which is now well over 2.5 years old. I have upgraded the clamps twice - first set of prototype smart clamps and then just fitted a production set. The Xtreme47 I have had from first release (after the 48ft) so must be nearly 2 years old.

 
Cheers for such an open and honest reply, appreciate that.

So with the slx39 at what height would it be at it's optimum useage height and not much flex.

I watched a video on the 25ft slx and it was solid as.... Very impressed.

would love an extreme but cant justify that just yet haha

 
Cheers for such an open and honest reply, appreciate that.So with the slx39 at what height would it be at it's optimum useage height and not much flex.

I watched a video on the 25ft slx and it was solid as.... Very impressed.

would love an extreme but cant justify that just yet haha
Using this pole up to 39ft is fine and will be quite useable and light. If you add extensions to this pole it would benefit from extending the no.2, 3 & 4 sections by 1 ft less than their maximum length as this will help increase rigidity at greater heights - this is not essential as many use the SLX47 at full height, but it would make a difference.

 
Hi Everyone, great forum.
I run a cleaning business and last year purchased a small wfp set up,ro-man ro system and trolley system with a 35ft fibreglass pole, The pole I have may extend to 35 ft but is useless at that height, it's all over the place, 25ft tops.

I am now hoping to expand the business and offer the service to some of my 3 and 4 storey business contacts.

For an office block this high what kind of pole would I need to invest in, I'm guessing Carbon but are there variations and if so what is a good model and what should I look out for so I don't get ripped off?? If I get a longer pole than needed will it be cumbersome or is it worth the added investment from the outset.

My pump is 80psi, would I need to upgrade this?

Absolutly any other advice you could offer would be fantastic.

Thank you

Fibreglass Pole’s are less effective at any extended height; you want a pole that’s lets you get most, if not all, of the applied pressure to the brush head while cleaning. With fibreglass poles they bend & can keep bending, this does cost you time and energy = less money for more working hours. If you think that’s a good idea, keep doing.

The more rigid the pole is, means you can push out any little flex the pole may have when fully extended, and then it will be easier, more accurate & quicker to clean. When using a 25ft pole possible reach of 30ft you shouldn’t really be noticing any bending or flexing that causes any hindering when cleaning the windows. Cleaning at this height should be very quick and easy

Have a look at your round, how much of it consist of cleaning windows 30ft and below?

Richard

 
All of it at the moment lol, However I want to expand and break into other contracts which are higher.

Pretty sold on the slx-39 with scope to add on at a later date, any experience with this Richard??

 
If you do get a CF 40ft pole you might use it for everything, including 1st floor & ground floor work. The new pole should be more rigid but you don’t need to carry the extra weight of a 40ft pole day in day out for this work. It will slow you down and cause more wear & tear on your body – ultimately costing you money

Equipment is just tools of the trade; use the right one for the right job. Comparing the cost of any equipment to the extra benefits in both time and money, this should justify any cost, if it doesn’t, don’t buy it.

Just by stopping using your glass fibre pole & brush, replacing it for a far more suitable brush & pole, and then refine your cleaning method to suit this new equipment; I would say you should save at least a full day each week, but you know your own round & what that is worth to you over the year(s).

There is a huge difference in equipment and then the earnings if used correctly. Even using a low water flow rate can cost you a lot of money, simply tuning the flow rate up can make you more money. Lots of things you can do to increase you income/profit before you even start to look at prices or bigger accounts, is there much point in getting bigger accounts if you are working slower than you should be? Work out the margins on your small, medium and the larger accounts. That should reveal some surprising facts if you haven’t done this already.

Last week I turned down a window cleaning job for £300, because its **** money! And is the same week took on another customer for £50 because it’s very good money. The point is all jobs should pay. There are lots of window cleaners on here servicing small houses making good money. I heard of one window cleaner (not saying who) with staff & vans, the owner delivers take away meals in the evening for extra cash this person comes on the forums (not saying which) and brags occasionally about turnover.

Richard

 
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