Pressure Washer

[SpaceBus]

I've never bought a pressure washer, so I'm all ears for suggestions. My goal is to wash my saw logs before trying to cut them. With all the clay and gravel in our area I'm dulling a lot of chains trying to cut off the bark slabs to make a cant. Seriously, yesterday I had to sharpen after every cut before I got the bark off the log. I have no idea what to look for in a washer and don't really know how to go about searching.

 

[Montanalocal]

I have owned several, and my first criteria would be the power source. If you have it available, I would recommend 220 V. electrical power. One less small engine to maintain.

 

[Bad LP]

Northern Tool. Honda power. Mine is over 20 years old, closer to 25 the more I think of it and it has been 100% flawless. 2500 PSI. Was 600.00 IIRC.

 

[SpaceBus]

Northern Tool. Honda power. Mine is over 20 years old, closer to 25 the more I think of it and it has been 100% flawless. 2500 PSI. Was 600.00 IIRC.

That's not too bad.

I have owned several, and my first criteria would be the power source. If you have it available, I would recommend 220 V. electrical power. One less small engine to maintain.

If I had an external 220 source I would consider it. The current log landing is maybe 100' or so from the house, so gas engine would be best. I've also considered PTO/Hydraulic powered units that I could mount to the tractor, but the prices are fairly high, higher than I want to pay right now.

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

The most PSI you can afford..

 

[SpaceBus]

Is pressure more important than volume? I'm mainly going to use this for cleaning logs, not cleaning concrete.

 

[DodgyNomad]

Is pressure more important than volume? I'm mainly going to use this for cleaning logs, not cleaning concrete.

GPM/volume does the work, and is harder to achieve than PSI. More GPM, the more work it will do for you. I'd recommend Karcher, anything with a Cat pump, etc.. Buy the biggest you can afford, you can always turn down the pressure, but you can't increase the volume and pressure on a little unit.

 

[WiscWoody]

IMO you don’t need a Cat pumped pressure washer if your going to just use the washer occasionally. Cat pumps are the gold standard but my 3700/4.0 has a General pump and it’s done well for me for years and I also have a 3100psi 3.1gpm with some pump, I don’t know who made it but for only $320 shipped it kicks it out. That washer has a Chonda engine and they ain’t too bad really.

 

[Woodspliter]

I like the simpsons, the are also marketed with dewalts name on them i have a 3800 psi and i 3.5 gals a minute it's a absolute beast

 

[SpaceBus]

I saw some Simpson washers on Amazon that were very affordable and shipped to my house.

 

[WiscWoody]

Yes Simpson washers are good.

 

[Woodspliter]

Tractor supply sells them as well, home depots carry the dewalts. I upgraded from a craftsman it's night and day difference. The higher GPM is much faster cleaning speed.

 

[maple1]

Will you be feeding it from a house supply? Or a tank? Some won't work without a pressurized feed, like house pressure pressure. I suspect the better ones would OK (aforementioned Cat or General pumps), but seems an increasing amount of box store models need pressure. Which you could always work around by using a small second feed pump in between, but something to possibly consider.

 

[SpaceBus]

Will you be feeding it from a house supply? Or a tank? Some won't work without a pressurized feed, like house pressure pressure. I suspect the better ones would OK (aforementioned Cat or General pumps), but seems an increasing amount of box store models need pressure. Which you could always work around by using a small second feed pump in between, but something to possibly consider.

I'll be feeding it from my house which is of course pressurized. We have a outside freeze proof hot and cold tap.

 

[Woodspliter]

You'd want to make sure the pump can handle hot water most cold water pressure washer don't recommend hot water through the pump because they can over heat

 

[SpaceBus]

You'd want to make sure the pump can handle hot water most cold water pressure washer don't recommend hot water through the pump because they can over heat

Thanks for the heads up, I wouldn't have thought of that!

 

[Bad LP]

Thanks for the heads up, I wouldn't have thought of that!

Yup. Pay attention to that tid bit. We used to de-ice with hot water after big snow storms.

 

[duramaxman05]

I have a yamaha pressure washer with the cat pump. All I can saw is you have to hang on to it when you pull the handle. Lol. I do mechanic work on the side at my house and it works awesome for washing equipment that's oily and greasy.

 

[WiscWoody]

I have a yamaha pressure washer with the cat pump. All I can saw is you have to hang on to it when you pull the handle. Lol. I do mechanic work on the side at my house and it works awesome for washing equipment that's oily and greasy.

You should make a TikTok video of you trying to hold onto the wand. a Laurel and Hardy type video lol.

 

[duramaxman05]

You should make a TikTok video of you trying to hold onto the wand. a Laurel and Hardy type video lol.

It's funny you say that. Years ago I was using a 3" trash pump necked down to 1 1/2" fire hose to wash mud off a couple excavator and a 6x6 haul truck. I could only run the pump about half throttle. That's all I could hang on to. Well the a-holes thought it would be funny to sneak up and crank the pump wide open. All I can say is if I was 10 pounds lighter it would have looked like the cartoons riding a water hose. Its was sliding me around. It was quite interesting and well its was pretty dang funny. After the fact anyways.