What do you look for in a Truck Mount?

« **on:** April 04, 2005, 05:38:36 pm »

As you know I do not operate a truck mounted system but a guy asked me today what he should look for on the spec when deciding on which system to buy.

One manufacturer told him the more HP the better.

Is the amount of HP that important,, shouldn't he be looking at the blowers,the amount of heat it generates the weight and size and what about air cooled or water cooled etc.

I recommended three to get a demo on Chemspec's Enegizer 310 which is used by a friend of mine and he loves it.
The Prochem Blazer'cause I saw one the other day and thought It was pretty impressive (don't know the cost though) and Alltecs Steamway 9100 which is the dearest of the three, at this level but comes highly recommended by users.

What else should he be taking in to consideration when looking to purchase a TM?

« **Reply #1 on:** April 04, 2005, 05:45:22 pm »

What does he want it form, dosmetic or commercial?
Small tm only operate one user, but you can get the twin operatored ones, excellent for huge comercial jobs.

« **Reply #2 on:** April 04, 2005, 05:48:19 pm »

woodman
tell him to contact john gotts at hydramaster and look very closley at the BOXXER its a fantastic machine or even the disel maxx.
phone 01209 710335 or www.hydramaster.co.uk

hope this helps

dave

« **Reply #3 on:** April 04, 2005, 06:08:38 pm »

From what i know, which isnt much, is that the HP of the motor needs to be in alignment with the size of the blower etc ie. motor too small then it will not turn the blower fast enough.

It seems the smaller units are not recommended by TM users as not enough vac and heat but rather the middle units such as the Boxer are better equiped for both residential and commercial and the big truckmounts for duel wanding large commercial.

Ideally you want a diesel but their very loud.

I seen Dave Parrys Boxer 321 last Thursday and its quite compared to the other TMs I heard and used.

Mark

PS. Dont buy a Bane

« **Reply #4 on:** April 04, 2005, 06:24:41 pm »

I think if I had the money I would go for a Diesel and find a supplier for Red Diesel, the way fuel is going up I wouldnt want to be paying £1 a litre for petrol.

The thing that puts me off is you can get a powerfull new TM for say £13k (which is ok) but then you have to add on Fresh water tank/Hose reel etc etc then add on VAT it then suddenly jumps up to £17K.

Phil

« **Reply #5 on:** April 04, 2005, 06:58:13 pm »

for every £1 you spend on petrol you'll earn £100

the cost of fuel should never be a concideration.

water cooled engines last longer than air cooled. the bigger the engine usually you'll get higher water temp' ( because more exhuast gasses to heat the water)

buy from the company which is closest to you, truckmounts do go wrong and no matter how good the company I'd still rather visit the supplier that let them give instructions down the phone on how to fix the problem.

Mike

« **Reply #6 on:** April 04, 2005, 08:15:36 pm »

Woodman

Dose his work warrant the capitol investment (time and motion = more money) only he can answer that, also will he need to buy a bigger van to fit some of the bigger TM’s in?

Mark

Also seen Dave P setup nice bit of kit and compact.

Len

« **Reply #7 on:** April 04, 2005, 08:23:18 pm »

Not quite Mike,
I filled up the TM fuel tank this morning, did two jobs today, finished mid afternoon, filled up again on way home. Cost of refill unleaded £6.00, I didnt take £600 today or even half that.
Dave.

« **Reply #8 on:** April 04, 2005, 08:42:16 pm »

you should'nt have such a gas guzzling monster

although i might be a bit over optimistic

My tank take £7.00 and it last betreen 2-3 days works

Bet you spend more on lunch than you'll spend on petrol ( unless your wife makes you a pack-up)

Mike

« **Reply #9 on:** April 04, 2005, 09:41:18 pm »

Mark,

I ran a HydraMaster Spitfire 3.2 for 2 years. This machine is the entry level machine that is still sold now 6 years on. I cleaned everything from small rugs to some of the LARGEST & DIRTIEST night clubs throughout the UK. The HydraMaster Spitfire 3.2 has enough vac power & heat to deal with 99% of jobs you could possibly throw at it. I ran most of the time between 200 & 300 feet of hose and on countless occasions 350 - 450 feet of hose. Upto 200 feet of hose will be MORE than enough hose on probably 85 -95% of any carpet cleaners work.

The Spitfire 3.2 is a VERY good all round machine that in my opinion and in the opinion of most others that have used this machine is the best in its class and price range compared to ANY other brand of TM.

Richie

« **Reply #10 on:** April 04, 2005, 09:57:04 pm »

Dave with your prices you proberbly made £6000.00

regards Dave ADL

« **Reply #11 on:** April 04, 2005, 10:22:32 pm »

You are nearer the mark Dave.
Mike, I dont stop for lunch, time is money!
Dave.

« **Reply #12 on:** April 04, 2005, 10:38:46 pm »

Mike £7 for 3 days?

I use a tenner a day, I think you are doing too much pressure washing

Dave does your tank only hold a poorly fish (sick squid) mine holds £16 and I thought that was small!

Cashier in local petrol station knows me by my first name.

Shaun

« **Reply #13 on:** April 04, 2005, 11:35:57 pm »

Sorry Lads but got to butt i n on this one. Mikes right when he says that fuel costs should be lower down the list than other considerations. I run a Steamway 9100lx and filled with fuel on Friday. Holds 25ltrs . £140 job Friday, £156 hard floor job Saturday,£200 empty rental house Saturday,£375 clean and protect today. Total cost to refill tank-£13.00. That's £871 for £13 of unleaded. Fuel just does not come into it. Time savings do though. Just my thoughts

Martin

« **Reply #14 on:** April 05, 2005, 08:24:50 am »

Will there come a time when TM's can run on LPG

Just a thought

Obviously from what you chaps are saying fuel costs vary greatly between machines from £10 a day to £14 a week and I agree that if you go down the truck mount road then the work has to warrant the expense so consequently the cost of the fuel although factored in should not be a reason to not purchase.

Having said that if most TM do operate and perform roughly the same then purchasing the most economical one to run would seem make sense.

The Chemspec TM does not seem to generate as much noise as the others can anyone confirm this?

Hi Martin

I believe he is looking at a Steamway next week or the the week after I am not sure which.

« **Reply #15 on:** April 05, 2005, 05:50:02 pm »

Obviously the ratio of cost of fuel to takings depends entirely on the quality of the job (time spent) the number of jobs and how much you charge, so everyone will be different.
Shaun, read my post properly - I meant I started with a full tank (25 ltr) after the days work it cost £6 to refill, so thats what I had used in fuel costs that day. I probably use the same as you, £10 per day on average, but then you do do twice as many jobs.
Dave.

« **Reply #16 on:** April 05, 2005, 06:24:00 pm »

Martin I agree fuel cost is not a problem when you can earn £871.00 in 3 days.

But I am talking about the real world.

Phil

« **Reply #17 on:** April 05, 2005, 07:04:52 pm »

£870 in 3 days, is not a lot of turnover for a TM.

Hydramaster do make an LPG TM.

« **Reply #18 on:** April 05, 2005, 10:07:21 pm »

Hi Phil, hope I haven't upset you. I'm not joking with these figures and can back them up. The total figures since I got back from Milton Keynes are Friday-£150 3 pc suite, £140 Lounge +Dining room, £95 Lounge+Bathroom(Portable, access problems). Saturday-£156 Hard floor, £200 Whole house,Rental. Monday- £375 Most of House clean +protect, £269 Lounge, Diner, Hall, Bathroom+ Kitchen clean + protect. Tuesday-£116 HSL +Diner, £235 3 armchairs, Lounge, Hall and Bedroom, Protect Lounge and hall. Traffic lane clean lounge, dining room, Hall Stairs and Cloakroom £0 (maintenance plan, already paid monthly) £60 Dining room clean and protect (mistake, sent newsletter with wrong offer and got stung by this customer)
Total £1796 in 4 days. Also refilled the truckmount today and cost me £11. I don't want to sound blunt but some of you guys need to aim a lot higher if you want more than you're getting. Staying in your comfort zone is not going to i ncrease your business. I am not going to pretend for one minute that it's easy but I work darned hard and also market darned hard as well, that is the price you must pay if you want success in this business. I will offer one other thing to help you, if any of you want you can come out with me for the day and see how I operate. Try to be a positive battery charger not a negative battery drainer , you will be amazed at the difference after a short while. Hope this helps some of you.

« **Reply #19 on:** April 05, 2005, 10:28:55 pm »

out of a full tank I usually get £750-850 of work completed.

Shaun

« **Reply #20 on:** April 05, 2005, 11:21:47 pm »

You havn't upset me, but if I was earning nearly £1800 in 4 days fuel cost would be the least of my worrys.
But I am not!

I would like to know your marketing structure cause at the moment I am having my worst period in 4 years and not for the want of trying.

Glyn, £870 is not huge amount in 3 days, often done it in the Summer up to Xmas, but it is in March early April, however £1800 in 4 days is a huge amount for a single operator or is it just me?

I would go and purchase a new TM tommorow if I could guarantee that kind of turnover for this time of year.

Phil

« **Reply #21 on:** April 06, 2005, 02:36:01 pm »

I must admit, when I was giving my gas consumption I was guessing, so today i measured it exactly I filled it up this morning home & back again 5hrs work @ £210 and when I filled it up again just now I'd used £4.76p so my fual cost are about 2.3% of turn over

Mike

« **Reply #22 on:** April 06, 2005, 02:54:35 pm »

Phil,
What do you call a bad march or feb or jan ?

£1800 in 4 days is still not anywhere near the full potential for a Tm
Ive done a K in a day.

« **Reply #23 on:** April 06, 2005, 07:51:12 pm »

Phil, although I will admit that it's a bit slow at the moment I am still getting enquiries. I currently have about £3000 of work booked in not inc maintenance plans. If you include the Fastrack fee then our marketing budget for the year is about £12000. This includes 2500 fliers a week with Royal Mail a half page YP ad, commercial letters( when I get round to doing them) a couple of Parish Mags. I also am charging more than some of you so this helps as well. I convert about 7/10 quotes and have an average job ticket of about £200. This includes commercial jobs and VAT. Hope this helps you.
Martin

« **Reply #24 on:** April 06, 2005, 08:46:06 pm »

It does help alot if you charge top end prices to get your monthly total up, you just have to be brave!

And with respect to anyone charging at the 'lower than average??' prices I HAVE BEEN THERE !

I could have done with a TM then to help me clean a suite and a carpet for £45, but I was always full I was a busy fool don't you fall into the same trap.

Shaun

« **Reply #25 on:** April 06, 2005, 10:03:34 pm »

Glynn, I know that its possible to earn £1k in a day, I have done it myself a few times, but they are few & far between. I dont want to say what a bad Jan/Feb/March is for fear of some ripping the p**s out of me.

I dont want to get into a big discussion but my prices are ok, not top end but its the 1st quite period I have had for 4 years, I guess Im not used to it and I panic easily.

I want a a powerfull Tm but still not confident the phone will ring enough to pay for it and all the general costs of running a business, the thought of £17K worth of equipment sitting on the drive would have me reaching for the razor blades

Martin, I now see how you reach those figures, £12K on marketing inc. fastrack and you use the word our, so I assume you employ.

Anyway roll on Summer.

Phil

« **Reply #26 on:** April 07, 2005, 09:38:07 pm »

Phil,
The "our " is my lovely wife Diane who answers the phone and deals with all my admin work. This business is definetely easier with a husband /wife team working together IMO.
Martin