Pressure washers

[joe2006]

Christmas coming up & quite unselfishly I'm thinking of presents for myself.

I reckon a pressure washer might be on the cards but I know sweet bugger all about them.

Without spending silly amounts of money, are there any suggestions as to what features I should I be looking for?

Alternatively I could always say I want a snorkel but apart from a hole in my front guard & couple in the A pillar, I don't think I would gain any benefit.

Wifie usually fills her reg grundy's when we go through a puddle.

Mind you last year when we went to Darwin, we went to Blyth Homestead & there were a couple of creek crossings. I know you are supposed to wade out & check the depth but there was a crocodile warning before a particularly deep looking crossing & there was no way I was going to wade through the muddy looking shite with 0% visibility.

We got through in the Pajero with only a bit of water in the car & when we got to the homestead there was an X-Trail there with an owner who said he had water over his bonnet & quite a bit of water in the car.

Can't understand why wifie gets nervous!

Maybe a snorkle would be a good idea

Anyway any advice on the pressure washer?

Ta

 

[Navvic]

I feel a poll coming on

 

[jjohn]

depending on Your needs.
My mate has a serious one for his business.
He say's, "water volume" Lt/min rather than pressure is the key.
I know a fella went for the repco petrol eng jobby and saw it in action, not good.
I have a Gerni classic 110.2 $200.
Good for the cars and driveway, bit slow on the d/way at 5.2 Lt/min but has a brass pump not plastic.

 

[joe2006]

Thanks John,

I fear that it might end up like my leaf blower and any number of other things, somewhere in the shed & lucky to be used half a dozen times. There will be a great clearing sale here when I am dead.

I just want an electric one, primarily to clean under the bonnet and .....

Makes me wonder why I actually want one but I am sure it will come in handy

 

[jjohn]

Maybe borrow the neighbours....Hehehe.

 

[rokster]

I've got one of the Karcher jobbies... one up from the base model.. comes with 2 nozzles, one with fixed pressure and one pulsating - nice for getting stuck grime off of anything ! Also have a widget to put in a container with soapy water to apply that... yes.. only gets used maybe 10 times a year, but for $100 it was money well spent..

 

[Dave]

I bought a Italian made one recently. Subaru Robin's engine.

Well worth the dollars.

 

[KraftyPg]

Those Robin's go forever. We've got a Robin 12HP which gets used as a fire pump on the farm and it's been a part of the farm stock lists since before the farm was purchased by our group in 03. It gets little maintenance and still starts first time every time, any pressure washer with such an engine on it would be well worth the dollars.

 

[Dave]

Got a mate who is a Rep and something to do with lawn mowers etc, he put me onto them and a Kubota ride on. Nearly had the ride on, but some other prick beat me by 10 minutes.

Twin cylinder water cooled diesel. Those Kubota engines are awesome.

 

[KraftyPg]

You want to try sitting on 85HP of Kubota with the post rammer on the back, it's not that awesome!

The one really good thing about those Robin's is that there is so much technical data on then net relating to them. As stated our motor is atleast 8 years old and the service manual and the technical datasheets took me about 3 mins to find and download when I wanted them. We've got a Briggs And Stratton pressure washer with a 24HP motor on it that is only 3 years old and I can't find the right manual for it on their own website, Robin was just no issue.

 

[bullwinkle]

Joe, I got a Gurni 100.2 a few months ago. About $130 I think. I use it for keeping the concrete clean under the verandah and pergola. First time I used it, it ran for 3 hours straight with no problems.

 

[bakes45]

I have a Kacher k2.360,Comes with detergent tank,dirt blaster nozzle,vario spray nozzle,It pumps out about 1600psi pressure.very good unit for $250.

 

[joe2006]

Thanks fellas,

Now I have some idea what to look for.

After I have compared specs (water rate, pressure & accessories, I believe) & decided, I will take the ol girl to Bunnings or wherever & look longingly at my chosen washer.

She is a bit thick so I might have to do another run a few weeks later, just to be sure the penny has dropped.

She is not really thick, true I promise dear! Ouch.

Bloody hell they can hit hard.

 

[Tryharder]

Karcher with a 5hp Honda motor on board. 4 different quick release nozzles, detergent hose and 2500psi.

Clean anything, real quick. Using any other cleaner after this is like going back to a garden hose.

Wait until Supercheap have their 25% off everything sale (Boxing Day I think) and grab one. Retail around $790 - heaps cheaper at that sale and when I bought mine.

May be overkill for what you need but I ride motocross so works a treat. Cleans driveways real quick!

 

[joe2006]

Ended up with a Gerni 130.2(1885 psi & 8.3lpm) & got bored after Christmas lunch & decided to clean the BBQ with my new toy. Glad I got changed first!

In this process I managed to learn model numbers etc which were completely foreign when I first posted the topic. It appears like anything, you get what you pay for but have to weigh price against the frequency of use, which can be hard if you have never owned one

I did hang out as long as possible to see if there were any specials before Christmas & when Supercheap put out their next catalogue commencing Boxing Day, it was likely they wern't going to have 20% off storewide as well. So wifie went running around like a Blue Arsed Fly on Christmas Eve to purchase.

 

[KraftyPg]

Glad you got what you wanted and you're right you have to weigh up price vs frequency for your own use and not other peoples. I've got a shitty little GMC that I paid $70 for at Bunnings, works fine for cleaning down the patio and bricks but is useless at the farm where we have one with a 24HP petrol motor. At the same time the farm one would be near useless around the house unless I wanted to pick up the patio tiles from next door each time I used it.

 

[robmacca]

Fellas.... I've got an old Kacher 570 model from when my Dad passed away. Apparently it's one of the good ones that was made in West Germany b4 they outsourced to China.... Anyways, being that old the hoses have become old and have sprung multiple leaks in it.... Does anyone where u can source replacement hoses for the Karcher in the Brisbane area and are all Karcher Hose fittings the same?

rob

 

[KraftyPg]

We found a Karcher in one of the old farm sheds we pulled down about 12 months ago, it had been there longer than the mate had owned the farm which was nearly 9 years, no idea of the model but it was a little smaller than what a Google search shows is the 570 you mention.

My old man got it working, refurbished it, added some wheels and got new hoses off ebay. I think he just measured up the internal and external diameters and matched what he could from ebay descriptions. When we got rid of the thing it was still working fine and no leaks so it can't be that hard to match the hoses and fittings.