Thread: Best Portable Wand for Carpet Cleaning (and small truck mounts)

maybe the roto vac is better, i 'd not get it if i am starting in this biz. too much money, lets, say 3k for the portable, and 3k for the rotovac, 6k, i would get a TM

Tex;

Locko makes a good point.

But I would look at the total picture for allocating your budget.

If you are starting in this business,
marketing should be an important part of your budget in addition to equipment.

Marketing to your customer base will require capital to establish your name.

Good new portable equipment can be acquired for ~$3k.

Initial marketing costs will depend on the amount of time you devote to it,
but it should be roughly in the same range.

Larry

I would get the mytee 1003dx with the 0530 wand, a powermax pre spray, also the rinse from Cobb, a agitator koblenz or 13 inches 175, 2 bucket heaters, foil tab, and you are fine, less than 3k

Tex, I went through the very same thing just a few short months ago when I was choosing how to spend my $3500.

I went used for most of my equipment that way I could maximize my dollar. For the core of my cleaning system I chose a MasterBlend Truckforce 3500 w/o Heat and a Rotovac Powerwand. Both together cost me $1850. Not bad. You can do the same by careful and patient shopping online for used deals.

Larry is right to suggest focusing on marketing versus equipment. However equipment is what you need to keep up w/the competition, maintain positive customer perception and get the job done properly.

Trust me on this, you DON'T want to get a portable without auto fill and dump if using a Rotovac. It puts down and recovers so much water you'll be on the bucket brigade forever. It'll take you 2.5-3 hours to do a whole house (5-6 areas). Not fun, unless your getting paid well for the job. Which is entirely possible.

Autofill and dump will increase your productivity no matter what tool is at the end of the vac hose.

The way I see it is adhere to the standard cleaning equation when choosing equipment. TACH. Time, Agitation, Chemicals,Heat. I'm sure there another acronym but I can't remember it right now. TACH will get you there though.

If buying a porty w/o heat, you need to increase Chems, Time or Agitation. Since a Rotovac is on your radar, there you go, agitation increased problem solved.

If buying a porty with heat, you can do a bang up job with Good Chems, Time, Agitation (from Koblenz) and Heat. I would pickup a Koblenz, aforementioned wand and call it a day. You'll move through a job pretty quickly using the Koblenz followed by the wand.

With $3600, if I did it all over I would pickup the following:
1. Mytee M5 - $2050
2. Koblenz - $300
3. Westpak 0530 Wand - $200
4. High quality Green Chems if you can find some (I'm still looking) if not go with what works for everyone else. - >$200
5. SEO Heavy Website/Marketing Campaign - $500 (starter pack)
6. Misc Items, Water Claw, Upholstery tool, Carpet Rake, Booties, etc - $200
Total = $3550 with $50 to spare.
You can add a little giant 3ht propane heater in the future to provide all the heat you need.

Shop WWW.craigslistcrawler.com, WWW.crazedlist.org or com can't remember, for the best used deals.

That is just the way I would do it, others may advise different ways which may suit you better. Having multiple perspectives, and information will help you find what YOUR gameplan will be to start your business. Good luck and keep us posted

Rich the reason is the price, If you want to run it from the van i would use the m5 with a vacbooster, or a modified recoil, with a propane heater, the konblez cost around 190 bucks.

Originally Posted by locko-fabara

Rich the reason is the price, If you want to run it from the van i would use the m5 with a vacbooster, or a modified recoil, with a propane heater, the konblez cost around 190 bucks.

Jaime,
I checked out ebay for the Koblenz, their are several models. Are you referring to the dual head koblenz or the single 175 floor scrubber models? Which do you recommend? The models with the solution tank or without?

yep there is a link here on tmf somewhere, it was for a little less than 199 with the shipping included.

http://www.abcvacuumwarehouse.com/va...poo%2FPolisher

Originally Posted by nextlevel

Jaime,
I checked out ebay for the Koblenz, their are several models. Are you referring to the dual head koblenz or the single 175 floor scrubber models? Which do you recommend? The models with the solution tank or without?

I use the Koblenz (w/o tank) almost everyday. It is a great, small, cheap unit for agitation. I bought the Koblenz as a cheap alternative until I could a good deal on 175. This is the one that I use:
http://www.abcvacuumwarehouse.com/va....asp?DBID=1345

There is one for less than 130 bucks

Originally Posted by floorguy_724

I use the Koblenz (w/o tank) almost everyday. It is a great, small, cheap unit for agitation. I bought the Koblenz as a cheap alternative until I could a good deal on 175.

Yeah that's the direction I'm headed to.

i have a brand new 20 inches minuteman buffer, model fr-20115, it have never been used, i already have 4 others buffer machines.

Jaime and floorguy, the scrubber is only about 10lbs, does the low weight of the scrubber negatively affect the ability to scrub your prespray in? I guess I'm asking is it very effective and more importantly is it quick to use.

I don't know i have never tried, but Rickie F has one, you can see it on youtube when he is using.

Originally Posted by nextlevel

Jaime and floorguy, the scrubber is only about 10lbs, does the low weight of the scrubber negatively affect the ability to scrub your prespray in? I guess I'm asking is it very effective and more importantly is it quick to use.

Been using Koblenz scrubber for the past 10 months .Very light and will do an adequate job for agitating your pre-spray. THEN I found an older ($50) 13 inch Clarke FM 175 (70lbs) last month and so much faster and I believe an better job with the added weight. Using an carpet brush or fiber plus pads.
As you may know don't run the pads on the pads or brush 175 dry !!
So many other uses for an 175 . My best investment next to the Recoil.

Originally Posted by Jimsteam

Been using Koblenz scrubber for the past 10 months .Very light and will do an adequate job for agitating your pre-spray. THEN I found an older ($50) 13 inch Clarke FM 175 (70lbs) last month and so much faster and I believe an better job with the added weight. Using an carpet brush or fiber plus pads.
As you may know don't run the pads on the pads or brush 175 dry !!
So many other uses for an 175 . My best investment next to the Recoil.

Good info Jim, how much faster is the 175 compared to the Koblenz? Both are on my radar. Both will do the job, but the type of deal I can find on craigslist will probably determine which one I choose.