Some people start their pressure washing business with a truck-mounted rig. But very few grow their business by adding trailer-mounted setups. When you look at the pros and cons, it’s clear that trailer-mounted equipment is the better option.
Truck Mounted Rig
More expensive to get started, but it’s usually a better investment if you don’t want to start from scratch. The truck also provides more flexibility in terms of what can be transported. Low-budget projects may not require anything too extravagant, but for a bigger project, chances are you’ll need equipment that can’t be transported by hand.
Good
- Lower upfront cost. If you already own the truck, then it’s just a matter of getting the equipment and having it installed.
- More convenient getting started. No hooking up hitch and dealing with backing up trailer.
Bad
- Less flexible. Does owning a truck make it difficult to use your vehicle for anything other than work?
- Less flexible. If you’re at the office or on a job site and need to take a quick break, be sure to pack up your belongings before heading out.
- Business risk. Your business relies on a truck to function properly. It’s much more risky than a trailer, which is only made of steel on wheels.
- Constrained space. I am running out of space in back of my car, so I had to buy a pressure washing machine.
- Theft. Theft of truck-mounted equipment is always a risk so it’s important to take steps that can help mitigate that risk.
- Worse option for expansion. Business expansion becomes more expensive than opening another location using the trailer route.
Trailer Mounted Rig
Costs more upfront but is more flexible (now and long-term), draws more business leads and provides better option for aggressive expansion.
Good
- More Mobile. Trailblazer can be left at the job site and returned to the shop to pick up more chemicals, which is helpful if you need to be mobile.
- Flexible. Trailer can be hooked to other truck if regular truck breaks down.
- Easier to secure & less risk of being stolen. Trailer is less attractive to thieves and easier to add security than a truck.
- Better for attracting customers. First of all, let’s not kid ourselves — people rarely look twice at a carpet cleaning truck. How often do you look twice at the van from a pest control company? Or that painters truck? What about a landscapers truck with all their power equipment in the back?
- Better for business expansion. There are many good reasons for starting a pressure washing business with trailers instead of truck mounted rigs, but the two most important are the lack of maintenance required (you buy a trailer and that’s that) and lower cost. The investment is much lower because you don’t have to purchase a vehicle, fuel, and maintenance, as well as other things like installation and insurance.
Bad
- More expensive up-front. This is not true if at the same time we consider the COST of the truck. The trailer is actually more affordable option. However if we assume truck is already OWED and speak only about the PRICE (installation cost) of the trailer then it might be more expensive than Truck-mounted setup.
- Highly specialized. A mobile pressure washer trailer is not for multi-purpose use. It can only be used for pressure washing, and you won’t be using it carrying fridges and mattresses on the weekends.
Trailer Essentials
I don’t know if this is true, but I heard that a mobile pressure washing trailer is only for pressure washing. I think the idea is that you won’t be unloading your water tank and heavy gear on the weekends to use the trailer hauling fridges and mattresses around.
The pressure washing equipment
Hot water capabilities
We use a hot water heater in our trailer. Time can be such a commodity when you work as a cleaner, and having access to hot water is a high time saver. As a cleaner, hot water can have more heat (energy) that can knock organic material loose or help get rid of it altogether.
Triplex plunger pump
The biggest direct drive tripple plunger pumps have a flow rate of 4.5 gallons per minute at 5,000 PSI. CAT Pumps makes a model at this flow rate with an internal gear reducer and requires a gas engine to provide up to 20 HP.
Hose reels
There’s 4 main types of hose reels found on pressure cleaning trailers:
- Hand crank – Use your own muscle to crank the hose up into the reel.
- Spring driven – You pull the hose out and give it a quick tug to activate the spring and it automatically reels hose in.
- Electric driven – Push button to activate electric motor that reels hose in.
- Pivoting combined with one of above retracting methods – The pivoting hose reel is a hose reel mounted to an arm to allow rotation of around 150-degrees.
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Fuel tanks
If you plan to use a large boiler (which most home models don’t) then you’ll need to have a substantial fuel tank onboard too. Commercial engines also use gasoline, so will need an on-board fuel tank. A lot of the setups out there that don’t already have large fuel tanks will require them before they can be used.
Water tank
The trailer pictured above has a 200 gallon water tank that can provide enough water for 50 minutes of pressure washing with a 4 GPM pump. If you have a larger 8 GPM pressure washer, you want to have an even bigger 480 gallon water tank.
Pressure Cleaner Trailers from Jetwave Group
Looking for a high quality and durable pressure cleaner trailer? Look no further than Jetwave Group. Our pressure cleaner trailers are made from the highest quality materials and are built to last. With a variety of models to choose from, we have a pressure cleaner trailer that will suit your needs.
