Pressure Washer Recommendations

I think you will be fine with a pressure washer under $400. I bought a Yamaha from one of the big box stores a few years back and it has held up great. It can clean concrete and decks no problem. Have to be careful spraying the house because it can strip paint if you aren't paying attention. It won't strip paint like a $700 pressure washer, no way but it does what I need it to do. For the cars I use a cheap $150 electric, its won't harm anything on a car.

 

I’m on my 3rd power washer that use use for my summer painting business. Last one was a Generac, I liked it, but it was pretty heavy and difficult to move around.

My current one is a Simpson with Honda engine I like it and would buy it again. Only problem is I had a warranty issue with a hose that had a pine hole leak in it and Lowes was a PIA to work with.

belt driven are nice, but that will put you in another price range.

I’m curious about Stihl power washers, but I’ve never used one, and just seems like power washers are not really Stihl’s thing. I would assume they are rebranded.?.

 

I can relate to this.

A few years back I made the mistake of buying a cheap one from Harbor Fright.
It obviously had a cheap import pump that after a couple years of occasional use decided to retire.
I bought a CAT pump to replace it with and it was like night and day and still going strong.

Just a quick thought to be sure to either store it inside where it is warm or be sure to get all the water out so it doesn't freeze.

Northern tool sells a wide variety of washers if you want to browse there to get an idea of what's out there.
Not necessarily saying buy from them but you can get some ideas of both washers and different pumps.

 

Wow , I had no idea that Frigidaire made Ferrari's.
And I really thought I was a car guy. Boy do I have a lot to learn.

 

We hook up a hose and suck winter windshield washer fluid in them to winterize them.

 

+1 for Simpson. I bought mine used from a guy at least 5 years ago. It originally came from Costco. Honda not industrial motor. It has done everything that I have asked of it. Blasting mud off of the cars, cleaning the sidewalks, dirt off of root wads. The hose seems cheap and too short for some tasks, but long enough. The best upgrade I have done was to buy an adjustable angle nozzle. Makes cleaning undercarriages and inner fenders much easier.

 

This is the one I think we have. On sale now. Does a good job, it will run a buzz tip or floor cleaning disc.

 

Stopped at my local OPE dealer and checked out a Stihl unit. Lower end homeowner unit, gas powered for roughly $500 OTD. I asked and not made by Stihl. Have to check out what Lowe's has.

 

I'll give you a good heads up when it comes to the gas models, don't let them run for very long without having the trigger squeezed and water flowing through the pump. What happens when you close the trigger is that water circulates within the head of the pump, this heats it up and ruins the seals and packings in the head. You can fix the pumps like Cat but there are no repair kits for the cheap ones.

The PW that Jeff posted earlier for around 700 bucks will last you the rest of your life. One time buy, instead of buying 2 or 3 cheap ones.

 

yep!! One of the reasons why I like the belt driven models, as the pump turns slower. They all should have a thermal protection valve and it will open once the water hits a set temp, but still it's good practice to limit the time the pump stays in recirculation. One other thing, DO NOT run them without the water hooked up!

In addition to the one I -POSTED- above, I also picked up -THIS- one a few years ago for $50 just down the road from me. It did not want to idle and it did not make rated pressure. The guy went to show me how it runs and he went to start it without hooking up the hose. I stopped him and said you never want to do that. He seemed confused. I now know why it was not making rated pressure. I called AR pumps and they sent me a rebuild kit for NOTHING. I cleaned the carb, replaced the seals, packing and unloader valve and it was back to being like new. I just used it yesterday for the whole day and it ran like a champ.

 

how about a buzz saw?

 

Belt drives will do the same as a direct drive but the belt drive has no heat transfer from motor to the pump. You can set up a pump to dump out the unloaded instead of recirculating. Electric ones usually have a pressure switch that shuts the Electric motor off preventing this from happening.

 

Mine has different sized pulleys on the engine vs the pump....therefore slowing the pump down.

 

Different pumps run at different rpm, if your motor runs at 3600 rpm and your pump needs 1750 rpm you will have two different size pulleys, the pumps designed for the electric motors run slower.

 

My point being, those pressure washers which are not belt driven and have the pump bolted/connected right to the engine's crank are being spun at whatever the engine speed is. Belt driven models are spinning the pump much slower, thus creating less wear on the pump and less heat.

 

Yes that is true, but I have built units that take the same size pulleys on both motor and pump, but those were large 575V 3ph motors and SS pumps to be used with salt water.

The majority of the main bearing failures that I have seen was because of a seal failure mixing water with the casing oil, còoks the bearings everytime.

 

He would probably run if you spray him with it... buzz-saw

 

I saw one of the Stihl PW's they have a junk rotary pump on them, personally I would stay away from the rotary pumps. I have my neighbors rotary pump in my trash pile here for scrap weight

 

Here is a question for Captain Kirk , we're looking to upgrade our pressure washer at work, dealer is pushing us toward a gear drive model....$500 more...I assume that the gear drive is like the belt drive, just transfers less heat? Not sure we'll put enough hours on it to justify going away from the direct drive....pretty much same pump/engine otherwise...