sstterry, if you had of posted this around last October I could have told you about all you would ever want to know about pressure washers. Brands, sizes, prices etc...,
Around that time I had a house that i was saleing with alot of concrete patios, side walks, block foundation that had really turned black. Not to mention other areas that needed to be pressure washed. Under the eves all kinds of places needed washed. I ended up renting one for the weekend. Depending on how often and how much you will use one. I don't know at what renting might be a good option.
I had used alot of big commerical type pressure washers on jobs that I had worked at over the years. Mobile units with like 500 gal units.
I am like you, I need one to use more for washing my hay balers, tractors, shop buildings than anything. One company I worked for would let employees use a small pressure washer that was designed more for pressure washing small shop buildings and lawn mowers etc..., that done a good job on washing stuff. But it didn't hold up for very long. And it wasn't by no means cheap. Cost around $ 800. Problem was it was designed for smaller jobs and was only good for so many hours before it wore out. Kind of like tires on an automobile. You can only get so many miles out of a set of new tires.
That's the same with pressure washers. I would highly recommend reading and researching all the different types of pressure washers before buying one. Read all the reviews you can find about the ones your interested in.
I got a brand new one that I just uncrated Sunday that I am going to the Honda dealership in the morning to buy the oil that is recommended for it. They ship them without oil.
There are some set ups I would recommend staying away from. One is the direct coupled pump to engine, another is the gear coupled. And the pumps themselfs and the engines. Even the hose itself.
I done alot of research on the things and ended up paying alot more than i wanted to ( around $ 2,800 and it on sale at that price) for an industrial grade pressure washer.
It is a North Star but before i bought it. I gave some very serious thought about just renting a pressure washer from a rental store.
The only reason i went a head and bought one was because it seems like whenever I need to rent a peace of equipment either it is already rented out or I have to get on a waiting list. Which wouldn't be that big of a deal if it wasn't for me working a full time job outside of trying to farm too.
But at $ 500 I don't think you will get the hours out of it that you might need over a period of a couple of years.
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