Thinking of going with a portable truck mount......

[misterclean09]

Hello,

I am thinking of replacing my pto with a portable truck mount as a possible means to free my truck up to carry other equipment and frankly, I'm not seeing an end in sight of this almost 4 bucks for a gallon of gas. I haven't been able to see the current crop of what seem to be the most powerful portables ( approaching truck capability ) up close. Anyone out there that has gone portable from a pto and lived to tell about it? It appears that if you can stay within 100 feet of these new tech machines, you're in good shape. It does appear I'd need to sacrifice a good bit of heat. Any advice from practical experience would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Art Kelley]

I'm about to travel this road going electric when possible. Tonight the UPS guy just delivered my Mytee Air Hog Plus (from Superior Supply) which is a dual 3 stage auto pump-out vac unit. I intend to hook up my 360i to the custy's faucet for the water source and if that proves inadequate I will supplant the tap water psi with an electric pump to acheive the 200 to 300 psi which will probably be necessary.. I went this route because a powerful 3 stage porty just weighs too much for hoisting out of my van by myself four or five times a day. This Air Hog Plus weighs 80 pounds so it is a big fat pig by itself. Every hour I can keep my Pro 1200 shut off and continue to work will save 2 gallons of gas and extend the life of my nine y/o Express that already has 100K miles on it. I will keep you posted.
I will also try to keep the AH Plus in the van and TM it on some jobs.

 

[misterclean09]

Thanks! I'm looking forward to your experience!

 

[Lee Stockwell]

"Rude awakening" is the phrase coined for that experience.

 

[ACE]

The day my back and time are worth less than a gallan of gas Is the day I find a new profession.

 

[Art Kelley]

"Rude awakening" is the phrase coined for that experience.

I am optimistic Lee. The 360i requires less vacuum than a wand because it's always on the floor. I've successfully run it running half pace with my TM going at 1000 RPM at 10" of lift instead of the 16-17" I normally run and the carpets are left just barely damp so I think it will work.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I trust your perspective Art. Let us know. I do know that hooking to customer's inside hot tap via 3/8" hose and proper jets will deliver suprisingly adequate hot water and flow, I did it for years. You will need to prespray for best effect.

 

[Jimbo]

Art...remember to keep an eye on the faucet where you hook up...seems like more than a few of them have leaks when you have pressure in a hose connected to the faucet...but I like your idea.

 

[bob vawter]

HEY ART.....
so what's the word.......?

 

[Dolly Llama]

HEY ART.....
so what's the word.......?

gas went to $3.99 today

that's it..
I'm hooking a garden hose to Mrs Phiff's kitchen sink, the other end to my wand and adding another 10ft of hose to a shop vac

Oh, and buying a fOrd Fiesta to haul it all...


..L.T.A.

 

[bob vawter]

fOrd Fiesta

are ya SURE they still MAKE Those...........?

 

[Connor]

Errbody knows that the only way to porty is in a pinto!!

 

[Art Kelley]

HEY ART.....
so what's the word.......?

Tried it out today for the first time on my last job. A stairs and four bedrooms of dirty white saxony. A real hump job to finish a long Friday of work. Kept the Pro1200 off. It would normally take two hours to do with the TM. Took off a faucet aerator and put on my adaptor and hooked a 50' 3/8" water hose that was over thirty years old from my porty days. Snapped it to my HF and sprayed it all down. Plugged the two 50' electric cords to the Air Hog and it made a beep indicating I was on two seperate circuits. Pulled out 65' of hoses off my reel that have Cool Cuffs that fit right on the Mytee Cuffs on the machine. Kept the machine in the driveway and closed the garage door so I didn't have to hear the whine of the vacs. Excellent vac at the hose end, hooked to my 360i and cleaned two rooms. Went outside and drained the machine as it has a 6 gallon capacity. The pump worked fine (I hadn't tested it) and just left it on after that for auto dump onto the lawn. Kept cleaning the rest of the rooms and ran the 360i on the stairs to finish. Went back upstairs with a 1 1/2" whip hose and wand to finish up the trimming and remove the swirls. Everything looked great, custy said "you always do a great job Art". Wrapped up everything. Took two and a quarter hours. I'll go faster when I get the system down. The van was nice and cool even though it was 80 outside (it was off the whole time).
I liked it.

 

[misterclean09]

Thanks Art! Why........ it seems like it just might be a possibility to use a powerful portable for cleaning! I think the auto fill and dump might just be the key that could keep it feasible. The bucket brigade is the total bummer of the portable scenario. I'm hoping I can rent something to see how things will go.

Thanks for the thoughtful input and constructive comments. Have a great weekend!

 

[Art Kelley]

So Saturday morning I used the Air Hog again, whole house and furniture:
Before:

After:

[imgurl=:unzr9rxy]

[/imgurl:unzr9rxy]

Before:

After:

Just find two seperate plugs, hook to a faucet connect to the Air Hog:

Prespray and run your 360i

And getter done

 

[misterclean09]

Looks kinda promising! I think a portable might just lend itself to quite a few job scenarios. Great to see useful feedback from a fellow cleaner! Thanks again!

 

[carpetcleaner]

I have been thinking about doing something like this, but I was planning on adding a propane heater and hook up to a water source outside. I didn't know about the Mytee Air Hog Plus, I was looking at the Rotovac CFX.

 

[Nate The Great]

I have been thinking about doing something like this, but I was planning on adding a propane heater and hook up to a water source outside. I didn't know about the Mytee Air Hog Plus, I was looking at the Rotovac CFX.

If you get the rotovac CFX, get the dual 3stage motors... I have the dual 2stage i got in a deal with equipment... I'll just say that i won't attempt to clean carpet with it... upholstery maybe, but not carpet... I grew up and learned with portable and #3 little giant heaters...

 

[Jimbo]

You wear a shirt while cleaning?

 

[Art Kelley]

Went to my first job today, a big job, and after I shut off the van and checked things out in the house I go out and there's a big puddle of antifreeze under the van: something leaking somewhere. I decided to go for it because the custy had picked up EVERYTHING and all I had to do was blast through. I ran the TM knowing I had a backup ready if the truck wouldn't work for the two hours it had to run. As it was, it didn't leak too bad and I was able to do the job. The Air Hog saved the job without even using it.
The van is still at the repair shop and I did a couple jobs with just the Air Hog system using my pickup truck. This is a very inexpensive backup for my TM compared to having another van and TM that only needs to be used once or twice a year while my main unit is down.

 

[Connor]

But, but, but, what about water softeners and four to the door?? Don't you prescrub, post dob and some other ppp word?


Naw, I'm just kidding.

What's the brand on the pressure pump?

 

[Art Kelley]

What's the brand on the pressure pump?

Either Kohler or Delta.

 

[Connor]

Oh, so you're just using the house water pressure? What's the CFM on the Air Hog ?

 

[Ross Buettner]

Art...remember to keep an eye on the faucet where you hook up...seems like more than a few of them have leaks when you have pressure in a hose connected to the faucet...but I like your idea.

Oh... Amen!

I can't tell you how many times someone kicked the hose and I come back to a kitchen where there's water dripping off the ceiling.

Talk about taking a 45 min job into 2 hours :shock:

 

[Art Kelley]

Oh, so you're just using the house water pressure? What's the CFM on the Air Hog ?

It has 230 CFM, the same as their Escape electric TM or any of their most powerful portys. It really has excellent vac when you put it on the custy's front porch and only use 50-75 feet of hose. On EBay, kleenpro sells a 150 psi flojet pump that I could put into a small plastic tool box that I'm pretty sure would would really bring this system up to kick ass levels. As it is I'm struggling with the prespray part hooking the HF to a custy faucet and the wand really lacks the adequate psi but the 360i performs perfectly with just tap water flow because you don't use high pressure with the scrubbing heads. It flows about five gallons of water in six minutes which provides great flushing.

 

[Connor]

It has 230 CFM, the same as their Escape electric TM or any of their most powerful portys. It really has excellent vac when you put it on the custy's front porch and only use 50-75 feet of hose. On EBay, kleenpro sells a 150 psi flojet pump that I could put into a small plastic tool box that I'm pretty sure would would really bring this system up to kick ass levels. As it is I'm struggling with the prespray part hooking the HF to a custy faucet and the wand really lacks the adequate psi but the 360i performs perfectly with just tap water flow because you don't use high pressure with the scrubbing heads. It flows about five gallons of water in six minutes which provides great flushing.

Wow. That's very cool. Gives you a lot of flexibility. Do you think you'll go to this electric set up full time?

 

[Art Kelley]

[Gives you a lot of flexibility. Do you think you'll go to this electric set up full time?

No, the TM is still faster and easier to use but I will use it as much as practical.