Re: Pressure Washers

Posted by fixerupper on February 16, 2020 at 10:17:00 from (100.42.82.185):

In Reply to: Pressure Washers posted by Jim in N.M. on February 16, 2020 at 08:54:43:

Gas or electric? I do not confess to be a pressure washer expert, I have done a little pressure washer repair but not enough to be able to call myself an expert. A pressure washer with a Cat pump seems to be rated high for reliability. I have two pressure washers, a gas powered and an electric. Both are 4 GPM @4000 PSI. The gasser is 6 years old, has a Honda GX390 engine that has 13 HP and a Cat pump. Through the years it has given zero problems washing semis and farm machinery. It starts on the first pull when cold but tends to kick back when started hot. I have been around several GX 390's and they all are kickers when started hot. The kicking is the one and only drawback to it.

If you find a used pressure washer be careful not to pay too much because a new pump will be in the $500 range. The electric pump I have is a used one I got for free a few weeks ago. The brand of the piston pump is called 'general' and it was shot, the unloader was shot too. I have a hunch this pump was thrown together by a machinery jockey and sold on an auction. A new pump set me back $470 from Amazon and the unloader was $100. It pumps like crazy now. A new pump like this one is in the $2500-$2800 range. just a reminder, an electric pump this size takes a lot of juice to run it. This pump I have has a 7 1/2 horse motor that pulls 38 amps so 50 amp service is about right for it to keep the motor from over heating and tripping out if it is used for long periods of time.

In my area we have tons of hog buildings that need to be washed so there are more tired used electric pressure washers to be had. A lot of the guys who do hog building washing for a living are switching to gas powered pumps because so many hog buildings don't have big enough electric service to handle several electric pumps at one time. We do not have trouble running well water through our pumps though it wouldn't hurt to put a filter in the supply hose. A piece of debris can get under one of the check valves in the pump and render the pressure washer nearly useless until it is cleaned out. Unless you are blowing dried baked on grease off an old tractor you do not need a pressure washer this size though. When I use the gas powered pump I don't often run it wide open because I do not need 4000 PSI to wash oil off a tractor or road grime off the pickup. What helps more than pressure is hot water. You can get a stand alone water heater you can plug your pressure washer pressure hose into and get by with a smaller pressure washer. I don't know what a new heater costs. I picked up a used fuel oil fired heater for $100 but they are hard to find used.

Replies:

Add a Reply Name: E-Mail: Subject: Comments: Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: Optional Video Title: Optional Video URL: Email Notification: If you check this box, email will be sent to you whenever someone replies to this message. Your email address must be entered above to receive notification. This notification will be cancelled automatically after 2 weeks.   Advanced Posting Tools   Select Gallery Photo  Attach Serial # List  Return to Post  Upload Photos/Videos Press to select files to upload Upload one or more videos to your post. Photo and video filesizes should be less than 8MB. Formats allowed are gif, jpg, png, ogg, mp4, mov, and avi. Be sure to use filenames without spaces or special characters, and filetypes of 3 digits lower case.

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]