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Markus,

Let me start by saying that I don’t think there is such a thing as the wrong type of rig; open or closed trailer, single or double axle, pickup or box truck. The type should be based on what your budget looks like to for starters and if roof washing is going to be your full-time gig or just a supplement of a current business. A dedicated roof washing truck would be great if that’s all we were looking at using it for like the ones I’ve seen Chris from Apple post pics of, but this would limit us on being able to use it for other types of jobs. I like the idea of a pallet rig that could be slid in the back of a pickup for someone who’s looking at only doing a few roof a week or so, then upgrading as the number of roofs starts increasing.

We’ve found that trailers are lot more versatile and have worked out well for us in other areas. I prefer a double axle over a single any day. Single axle trailers are usually very limited in their weight capacities and I can’t stand the way they have a mind of their own when you’re trying to back them into a specific spot; they always dart to the side. A double axle trailer is always more superior; with usually double the weight capacity, a much broader load center (where you can place the heaviest part of your load on the trailer), and the second axle gives you just enough drag when backing up so that it acts like it knows just where you want it to go. You can put 500 lbs on a 6000 lb trailer but you’ll cause some real damage trying to haul 6000 lbs on a 500 lb trailer.

I’ve looked at too many different pumps, from the 1.8 GPM to the 15 GPM, gas,electric even the air pumps. The options can start getting confusing. Comparing flow rates and PSI to costs and warranties, you almost need a darn spread sheet to determine which ones to rule out and which ones to still consider. I really enjoy building something that I can tell people I built myself, so I could easily over engineer a rig with electronic valves, gauges, warning lights, etc… But I have to remind myself that this isn’t rocket science. K.I.S.S. is the one thing that always pops in my head, after I’ve indulged in a bit of day dreaming, and it is all over this site! The chemicals that I’ve been reading about here are not very friendly to most things and that’s probably why they do such a good job. I think that for the money and their performance the 12v pumps like the 5850 and the FATBOY are well worth starting out with as long as we keep them rinsed.

I’ve spoke with Lori from PWP and she got me a quote together on a bare bones setup that has a 12v 5850 pump, 5/8 hose, quick connect and tips, and some Hang-Tite that seems to be at a very competitive price. This should be enough to build a starter rig, and it can always be incorporated into a larger setup once we figure out how the market in our area is going to be.

As far as the other stuff like; ladders, ropes, tools, buckets, respirator and so on. We already have most of this stuff, but I’ve already started a check list of items to make sure we have every thing together before we start the first few roofs.

Thanks for the questions and reminders. I hope that someday someone will read this and it will help them with their decisions. This is a great place to do research with a touch of humor to keep things interesting.

OSM – Jo Foster