Due to the fact that business nearly fell off the face of the earth out here in Hawaii i have decided to fall back and try to adapt to the market. It might not be what i necessarily want but trying to detail up to Detailing Bliss standards right now just isn't cutting it. People are holding onto their money very tightly right now, paint correction work is very far and few between, it's been almost two weeks since i last did a job and to top that off malls and places are starting to crack down with security making it harder to set a few business cards on vehicles. If you combine all of that together it = disastrous for business. So what i am thinking of doing is building my own Mobile Detail Skid. All i'm looking for right now is: Water Tank - approximately 60 gallons Pressure Washer - if i can find one that is similar to the ones used on the built skids where it's just the pump and motor without the bulky wheels and handles 50' Pressure Washer Hose/Reel maybe a generator but that isn't important. I'm looking to try and start focusing on some lower end stuff to cater to the people who really just want to keep their vehicles clean. Going to try and keep away from doing interiors . . . . maybe just some sort of: wash, spray wax, dress tires and maybe that will help setup more work in the future when the economy gets better out here. Going to try and do a little more on the volume side. Bills wait for nobody and i would rather be out doing some form of detail work and making a little money then sitting at home fiddling my fingers waiting for that $350 job to come in. Does anyone here have a skid or have any photo's that they could post up just so i can see their setup. I'm trying to price things out and see if i can get this done for about $800 or so and run it in the back of our truck or invest in a van. Thanks in advance.
yeah Ken was checking them out. Even talked to them about pricing but it was a pretty penny and im still waiting for a shipping quote. I'm trying to look for a pressure washer like they have on their skids but not sure where i could get those at.
Thats just a motor and pump on their skid. Any local pressure washer supplier should be able to help you with that.
sweet. that's what i figured it was. Do those generally run more then your traditional pressure washer with wheels etc . . . ? I mean i guess i could run a regular pressure washer if i had to. Main thing would be to make sure that i had a reel with the 50' of hose on it so i wouldn't need to unload the pressure washer and waste more time. Looking for the most cost effective build while not sacrificing to much as far as quality parts go. I found a water tank locally which was a chore to do. Still a little pricey but im trying to gather prices on stuff and where to get them from before i pull the trigger and start to purchase and build.
The motor and pump is just a pwasher without the frame and wheels. Hose reels are fairly inexpensive.
i did a quick search and the only place that showed one online i believe was home depot and it was about $70 I guess i need to go down to some places and see what they have available as the internet can differ a little.
Go to higherpowersupplies.com or watercannon.com and see what you can find. You can actually do something a good bit cheaper yourself than buying already assembled. Also go to northen tool site and just price some of there engine and pumps and see what's more beneficial to you. I hope this was helpful. BTW, when you look on the above sites do a search for 'skid' and see where what comes up. You should be able to just mount your engine and pump on a skid and bolt it down however you want.
thanks. looking into things more as we speak. I found a tank locally finally but haven't made the purchase yet. Trying to source out the rest of what i need before just jumping into things. Trying to make sure that i'm making the correct investment you know or making a smart investment that is. I would hate to do all this and find that business is still slow you know.
So i know Cat pumps are good as i've heard that name a lot but what about: Powerhorse Comet or Northstar pumps? trying to search and see what i find. Looks like the cat pumps are about $300 for a 2.5gpm @ 2750psi i would like to get something with a little less psi as i don't "NEED" that much but the smaller cat that i seen is 2gpm @ 1500psi for $400. Cost more for less LOL then i need to figure out how to hook all this stuff up. Any suggestions. I think around 2000 psi would be plenty depending on the gpm's
Comet is a good pump and so is general. The down side to cat pumps from my understanding, is that once they have a problem they are expensive to repair. Also 2.5gpm is plenty for washing vehicles. Look locally as well for whatever you can and see what kind of deal(s) you can come up with.
some folks that i talked to told me that cat is one of the only and easiest pump manufactures to get a replacement or rebuild kit rather. Most other manufacturers are a paint to get or they just simply don't make them. i was actually surprised when i went to home depot today though. I found a sweet pressure washer . . . . . it is a little big but while inspecting it i noticed that it came with a true CAT Pump on it and the pressure washer was made by RIGID and powered by SUBARU. It's 3,000 psi @ 2.6GPM though That is another route that i can go that might be a little less as the washer has a motor and a cat pump and it's local to me and about $600. Living in Hawaii shipping can get expensive and be a deal buster in hurry. I'm just not sure on the Subaru Motor. If anything like the cars sweet but not sure who works on those. I know the Honda motor is widely worked on over here as that is what most the machines use, so right now i'm a little stuck between the Honda motor & the subaru that is built already with a cat pump.
That would be a good choice. I would just make sure it could run off of a mobile tank with or without a water pump pushing water to it. Do a little research on the subaru motors as I think they will be a good investment.
how would i find out if i would need a external pump to feed the pressure washer? I have not heard of many people needing one from those that i have spok to nor have i seen any of the ones that they sell pre built that come with a water pump. I went down to HD over the weekend to take a closer look at the pressure washer, check out the pump, the gun etc . . . . . it's a nice unit and man is it beefy!
does anyone have any ideas as to how i can go about advertising some lower end bulk type services? Im still doing a little research and just taking a look at things. This and a water tank are big investments and i just want to make sure that i don't purchase the stuff and still wind up with 0 business you know?
