Kris Stevenson
Member
I bought Hoss's for both of my cleaning vans two months ago. We've been using them on almost every job we come across.
A little back ground: Before the Hoss we were pre-srcubbing with a CRB or Conquerer and extracting with a wand. We almost always have two people on a truck and one person pre-scrubbing and the other wanding. It was really efficient for us. I did however feel that some carpets should clean up better despite our pre-scrubbing. Also, since I can't be on every job I wanted to make sure that the results would be the same no matter who was cleaning the carpet.
Set Up: We're running them with no flow discs and the flat Teflon glides. Both of our vans have 47 blowers.
What I like about the Hoss is that it cleans really well. I have no doubt that the Hoss cleans better than pre-scrubbing and extracting with a wand. On some of our jobs we have felt that the carpets have looked noticeably cleaner than our previous attempts with the wand. With this said, a lot of the carpet we clean doesn't look dirty to begin with so I can't see a noticeable difference between the wand or the Hoss when we're done.
We don't spend as much time post spotting. We hardly have to go back over a spot that didn't come out and don't have to use nearly as much gel. Also for commercial, most gum spots come right out with the Hoss.
The machine seems really well built and I think it will hold up well over the long term.
What were struggling with: Our production times are seriously slower. Especially with a two person crew, one guy is standing around. If we're going to continue to use the Hoss on every job I will probably have to go to a one person crew to get my labor rate right. With that said one person can pre-scub and wand a house faster than they can with just running the Hoss over it.
I find it a pain to have to unhook the Hoss and hook up the wand to edge.
I dislike fighting the cord and hoses.
I was dissapointed that a $2,900 machine doesn't come with an electrical cord.
Our dry times are considerably longer with the Hoss. With a pre-scrub and wand, the carpets at my house usually dry in the 4-6 hour range. When I used the Hoss, my carpets dried in about 18-24 hours. Like I said earlier we're running without the flow disc. I'm going to put in a flow disc to try and improve our dry times.
You can tear seams with the Hoss when using the metal glide. On my fourth job of using the Hoss, I tore open a seam. I had to pay an installer to patch it back together. The carpet was old and I should have been more careful and we haven't had any issues since putting on the Teflon glides.
The Hoss sometimes leaves weird patterns in the carpet that don't rake out. I assume they go away with some foot traffic and none of my customers have called to complain about them, but the lines bother me. I guess I'm just used to seeing a nicely groomed carpet when I'm finished.
I've had issues with the spray bars clogging on one my machines. This problem only occurs on the Hoss in my older van with an older fresh water tank. I think the corrosion from the tank is making it past the filter screen and clogging the spray bars. The orifices on the spray bars are super fine and a pain to get cleaned out. I think I've fixed the problem by placing a mesh filter between my fresh water tank and pump.
Overall: We're going to continue to use the Hoss. We're just going to have to make adjustments to allow us to be more efficient and get better dry times.
I had been wanting a rotary extractor for many years and I think that I had only thought of the positives about rotary extraction and none of the drawbacks.
A little back ground: Before the Hoss we were pre-srcubbing with a CRB or Conquerer and extracting with a wand. We almost always have two people on a truck and one person pre-scrubbing and the other wanding. It was really efficient for us. I did however feel that some carpets should clean up better despite our pre-scrubbing. Also, since I can't be on every job I wanted to make sure that the results would be the same no matter who was cleaning the carpet.
Set Up: We're running them with no flow discs and the flat Teflon glides. Both of our vans have 47 blowers.
What I like about the Hoss is that it cleans really well. I have no doubt that the Hoss cleans better than pre-scrubbing and extracting with a wand. On some of our jobs we have felt that the carpets have looked noticeably cleaner than our previous attempts with the wand. With this said, a lot of the carpet we clean doesn't look dirty to begin with so I can't see a noticeable difference between the wand or the Hoss when we're done.
We don't spend as much time post spotting. We hardly have to go back over a spot that didn't come out and don't have to use nearly as much gel. Also for commercial, most gum spots come right out with the Hoss.
The machine seems really well built and I think it will hold up well over the long term.
What were struggling with: Our production times are seriously slower. Especially with a two person crew, one guy is standing around. If we're going to continue to use the Hoss on every job I will probably have to go to a one person crew to get my labor rate right. With that said one person can pre-scub and wand a house faster than they can with just running the Hoss over it.
I find it a pain to have to unhook the Hoss and hook up the wand to edge.
I dislike fighting the cord and hoses.
I was dissapointed that a $2,900 machine doesn't come with an electrical cord.
Our dry times are considerably longer with the Hoss. With a pre-scrub and wand, the carpets at my house usually dry in the 4-6 hour range. When I used the Hoss, my carpets dried in about 18-24 hours. Like I said earlier we're running without the flow disc. I'm going to put in a flow disc to try and improve our dry times.
You can tear seams with the Hoss when using the metal glide. On my fourth job of using the Hoss, I tore open a seam. I had to pay an installer to patch it back together. The carpet was old and I should have been more careful and we haven't had any issues since putting on the Teflon glides.
The Hoss sometimes leaves weird patterns in the carpet that don't rake out. I assume they go away with some foot traffic and none of my customers have called to complain about them, but the lines bother me. I guess I'm just used to seeing a nicely groomed carpet when I'm finished.
I've had issues with the spray bars clogging on one my machines. This problem only occurs on the Hoss in my older van with an older fresh water tank. I think the corrosion from the tank is making it past the filter screen and clogging the spray bars. The orifices on the spray bars are super fine and a pain to get cleaned out. I think I've fixed the problem by placing a mesh filter between my fresh water tank and pump.
Overall: We're going to continue to use the Hoss. We're just going to have to make adjustments to allow us to be more efficient and get better dry times.
I had been wanting a rotary extractor for many years and I think that I had only thought of the positives about rotary extraction and none of the drawbacks.
