What kind of pressure washer do you have? Original Message May 20, 2011 1:30 am
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for a pressure washer to use out in the chicken yard. I want to spray my open air/raised coops (wire floors), inside walls of my chicken coops/houses (as needed to remove poop and dirt), knock down cob webs on the outside of my chicken and anything else that needs high powered cleaning.
Right now I am cleaning and scrubbing everything by hand with soap and water and my back is killing me.It's taking me all day long to do my chores on the weekend in the chicken yard.I need to reduce my cleaning time and the amount of torture that I am putting on my back.
Who has a pressure washer?What kind of pressure washer would you suggest me to purchase so that I can take care of this type of work in the chicken yard?
Re: What kind of pressure washer do you have? Reply #1 May 20, 2011 9:39 am
The weak link in a pressure washer is the pump. If you want a quality pressure washer that will last decades, get one that has a rebuildable pump - good pumps are made by CAT and Comet. If the mfr. won't tell you who made the pump on the pressure washer, you probably don't want it.
Home Depot's house brand, RIDGID, has some good pressure washers with CAT pumps, along with a lifetime warranty.
Re: What kind of pressure washer do you have? Reply #3 May 22, 2011 9:51 pm
I had a 2500 psi Troy-bilt with a Honda GC engine and it worked well. I gave it to my son-in-law and replaced it with a 3000 psi troy-bilt with a B&S Intek. The extra psi is very noticeable as I can now reach the top of my 2 story house when I power wash it. With the 2500 I could only reach the second story windows. What the others said about the pump quality is good advice. The pump is the weak link. My current power washer is on its fifth year and gets used about four hours a year so that's around 20 hours total. The pump just started to leak oil and isn't designed to be serviced or rebuilt.
Re: What kind of pressure washer do you have? Reply #4 Jun 26, 2011 9:58 am
Pessure washers are put together units from different manufacturers of components regardless of who's Brand appears on the label. I bought an off brand unit by American Turbo Pressure Washers over the net because it had the right components. Honda GX engine, Comet Pump (I called Comet and found out that the specific pump was rebuildable), a powder coated frame with inflatable tires, a 25' hose , and a trigger wand with four different spray nozzles. The unit also has a temperature bypass valve on the pump which allows fresh water to flow through the pump if you let the engine run while not spraying. If you do this since the pump is turning against the closed trigger valve the temp goes up. The temp reaches a certain level and the valve opens letting fresh water cool the pump.
The pumps are rated in hours and the Comet on mine is rated at 1000 hrs min. The tech at Comet said if you check the oil level in the pump crank case and fill the pump with anti freeze if stored in an unheated shed the pump will last 2 or 3 times the thousand hours before needing a rebuild. If you don't use the anti freeze in the unheated shed scenario and there is residual water in the pump it's toast the following spring.
I saved $200 off of similarly equipped national brands at the time. Blank carts are available on the net so you can buy components and "roll your own" but you won't save any money.
The quality of the components are what counts- For what it's worth my research found that Karcher was of lesser quality than most. PS- In addition to what Longboat said regarding Comet and Cat being quality pumps General is also in their class. Marc
Re: What kind of pressure washer do you have? Reply #6 Aug 6, 2012 4:17 pm
Since you will be more than likely indoors...i would use an electric pressure washer. However, if your chicken coups are outside i would look into buying a gas powered. They tend to last longer. 1200 to 2000 psi would be sufficient for what you are looking for.
Look at that valve body..now that's a pump!