Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: pardu on January 05, 2009, 10:32:01 pm
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hay yall..can anybody tell me if you have made a DIY. trolly system or if anybody has photos of one thanks''
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There are loads on this site. Use the search facility and you will be able to find lots of posts with pictures.
I made one, but now use a backpack on a trolley.
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E.mail for a DIY WFP site
diywfplink@yahoo.co.uk
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The first picture shows the sack truck as I take it out the van.
The second shows the hook on pump box
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The battery sits in the box between the wheels.
The hose reel holds about 25 meters of micro bore, so no need to take trolley round the back.
This system has been used and abused for three and a half years with no problems.
The sack truck is a Clarke strong arm, I chose it because it's made of aluminium and is square in section.
Apart from bolt holes through the footplate, I did not drill any holes in the sacktruck, every thing is held on with clamps. The container carriers was part of an old ladder, the base plate was a piece of stainless steel work top from a pub kitchen, the pump box is half of what was someones overall locker.
The two pole carriers are made from some alloy tubing I scrounged, the original ones were made from plastic waste pipe. they are held on with exhaust U bolts.
The two tubes going into the barrels came from a pub cellar, stanless steel and have their own strainers built in.
I know it's a bit of a scrap yard challenge, but I am one of Matt's trolls, and he inspired me.
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Thats so cool, talk about improvisation, that should win a nobel prize, engineer of the year or what......
fantastic.
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;D ;D ;D There is something magical about that setup Dai. Well done mate.
I think it looks fabulous, wow, talk about improvisation!!
Has Ewan seen it ? ;D
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nice job dai
is it very heavy
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Very good Dai! Well done mate.
Didn't NASA send one of those things to Mars in the 1980's?
See, Ewan - it is Rocket Science! ;)
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nice job dai
is it very heavy
No mate, It's nearly all aluminium, even the hose reel is only held on with 2 wing nuts and could be taken off in seconds.
There's a lot of hills on my patch, but even an old sod like me can push it no problem.
The pump and Varistream are mounted on a plate inside the box, if I undo 2 nuts they lift out too. makes it easy to get to if something went wrong.
The 2 support struts that hold the container carriers are just 2 bits of alloy tube with threaded bar running through them.
If any one wants to know more, just email me.
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cheers dai
my next trolley will be diy 8)
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Ive said it before
a top notch trolley, the recycling of the ladders allways makes me smile ;)
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Brilliant Dai! Makes me wonder why people spend twenty to thirty thousand pounds just to clean windows. ???
People like you will ride out the credit crunch quite easily i would think. :)
I see the Harris pole, what's the shorter one?
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Ewan you really are such a plank! Who's earning 300,000 a year then?
Sometimes you really don't understand.
Why would Dai need to spend on an elaborate system? Will it earn him 300,000 a year?
Of course it won't.
Which planet did you do your business courses on? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Brilliant Dai! Makes me wonder why people spend twenty to thirty thousand pounds just to clean windows. ???
People like you will ride out the credit crunch quite easily i would think. :)
I see the Harris pole, what's the shorter one?
£20’000 - £30’000 per year to clean windows!
Probably because they are earning ten times that.
Or £20’000 - £30’000 set up cost and running cost of £5’000 a year.
Earning £40’000 – £60’000 a year.
Even if you used it then gave this set up away after five years, it would be difficult to make a loss. Risk over five years is reduced and the rewards increase.
Got to know what you are doing though with or without credit crunch.
so its all about profit then? why throw money away?
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here's the trolley i made
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I thought everyone here who window cleans aims to make money!
Are you throwing any money away if you are making money?
this speaks volumes of a man who has knowledge, but of a BOY with no expertience ???
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Because Dai has a system there, complete with van that possibly costs what? Couple of thousand? Not even that, and it's a pretty good system too. His costs are so low that he's earning money from the word go. His round is established, so how would he make more profit by spending ten to fifteen times more money?
Many guys on here use trolleys what's wrong with that? It does exactly the same job as any other wfp system.
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I made a simpler one than dai's without the varistream. Basic sack truck, with frame to hold 25 litre tubs. Battery booster for power and 80 psi diaphragm pump it does a great job and because the pump has low power consumption the battery booster lasts about a day and a half. I have a cut off valve next to the pump which also cuts the pump motor. It does the job and that's all i wanted. Cheap and cheerful
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You`ll never beat a vanmount on medium to large domestic and you`ll never beat it on commercial,it`s the first low cost step into WFP.
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You`ll never beat a vanmount on medium to large domestic and you`ll never beat it on commercial,it`s the first low cost step into WFP.
it depends on how many you are ;)
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You`ll never beat a vanmount on medium to large domestic and you`ll never beat it on commercial,it`s the first low cost step into WFP.
it depends on how many you are ;)
Come again.
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True, and i wouldn't want a trolley myself. But a trolley system will still do the job and not be too far behind.
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It would do the job true it would but as for it being not to far behind a vanmount i would disagree with that,it`s all been said before but IMO it is far far easier to just grab a hose and off you go no lifting heavy trolleys out of vehicles and they are heavy.Taking batterys in to charge etc is a hassel imagine if 1 time you forgot and had no backup you couldn`t work,they have there place but i wouldn`t ever compare them to vanmounts i`ve used backpacks in the past and would never use them over a vanmount system,endless water at the end of a hose with no worry of running out round the back of houses.The times i`ve heard customers say the last 1 used to turn up with a trolley thingy,not meaning to be snobby or knocking them to much but IMO i don`t think they look very pro.
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You`ll never beat a vanmount on medium to large domestic and you`ll never beat it on commercial,it`s the first low cost step into WFP.
it depends on how many you are ;)
Come again.
k
i do fronts with van mount... lad does back with back pack....and he has 2, so while hes working other back is filling!... on larger properties we both work off van mount! (this wasnt a dig, it works fdor me ) ;D
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The best thing a bloke said to me was if you aim to clean windows WFP get a vanmount and don`t waste your money on a trolley unless your strapped for cash,once you realise this is for you and you will you`ll be wishing you had gone straight for a vanmount.At the time the cheapest trolley option was 1k and to be honest that is a lot of money for what it does,my advise would be make your mind up before and speak to an experienced WFPoler nearly all will say vanmount unless they have awkard work where access is a real problem.For the amount a trolley will cost you a vanmount can be setup for the same.
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You`ll never beat a vanmount on medium to large domestic and you`ll never beat it on commercial,it`s the first low cost step into WFP.
it depends on how many you are ;)
Come again.
k
i do fronts with van mount... lad does back with back pack....and he has 2, so while hes working other back is filling!... on larger properties we both work off van mount! (this wasnt a dig, it works fdor me ) ;D
I was just going to say that what your saying is the only way i could see it working with a backpack or trolley,for the amount of water they hold doing the front or back of a property it would work well but not soley on it`s own IMO.
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The best thing a bloke said to me was if you aim to clean windows WFP get a vanmount and don`t waste your money on a trolley unless your strapped for cash,once you realise this is for you and you will you`ll be wishing you had gone straight for a vanmount.At the time the cheapest trolley option was 1k and to be honest that is a lot of money for what it does,my advise would be make your mind up before and speak to an experienced WFPoler nearly all will say vanmount unless they have awkard work where access is a real problem.For the amount a trolley will cost you a vanmount can be setup for the same.
i agree... but use the fastest tool for the job ;D
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A lad with a backpack round the back of houses i would say would be silly quick in some cases and make your day easy just doing fronts,i know how quickly you can work WFP and that as a combination would be hard to beat IMO especially if the custies are out lol. ;D
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your right ;D the speed is silly... i let him reel mine in while i collect or put a bill through....
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Does he work fulltime for you working using that method.
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part time at the moment, but i also pay him to canvass ;D
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I did not choose a trolley system on cost, I chose and designed it to suit my own round.
I do Conwy marina, there is no access for a van on the seaward side, I would have to have at least 200 meters of hose to use with a van mount.
The greatest part of my round is highly compact, on some jobs I don't to move the van all day.
Parking is another issue, modern estates utilise every square inch of space, you have a job to find a place to park without being in someones way.
where there are major parking problems, you can drop a couple of containers off at strategic points.
Does changing two containers take up more time than winding in a hose and moving the van?
I really doubt it.
The only difference between my system and a van mount is the amount of water at my disposal at any given time, I can put in an eight hour day and use less than ten containers, and that's on compact work, no driving time involved, the Varistream on number 2 setting is adequate for me, Jeff Brimble uses even less.
It takes 90 seconds to set up the system, for the odd stand alone job that I do, I use a backpack on a small trolley.
If I had a lot of stand alone jobs or large office blocks, I would invest in a van mount, but for my round I wouldn't change one for my system, it's horses for courses.
I spent £600 to get into WFP, that was with poles and everything, with TDS in the 50's I don't use an RO, using the two vessels in line system I keep my water costs under £1 a day.
I could have bought a ready made trolley system, but I needed one I could stand on to unlock gates, and one that could carry 50 litres and never get rusty.
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Brilliant Dai! Makes me wonder why people spend twenty to thirty thousand pounds just to clean windows. ???
People like you will ride out the credit crunch quite easily i would think. :)
I see the Harris pole, what's the shorter one?
FTP The shorter one is a little telescopic mop handle, I'm sure you have seen them, they have a fluted sponge pad thing and you pull a lever down to wring them out.
Just take out the bolts that hold the lever assembly and the head on, you are left with just the pole.
And guess what? the plastic threaded bit off a metal brush handle fits perfectly in the end of the mop pole,
just use a centre punch to make a few dents to hold the threaded bit in place. That little pole is great when your doing cons that are close to a fence or wall, they close down to about 2 ft in length.
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Brilliant. :)
I was looking for a Harris pole today in B&Q. Our local store doesn't do them, i must pick one up next time i'm near a larger store they are such a bargain.
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ive got my trolley as people know
ive also now got the 400 L tank for the van, so a van mount
ive said it before, i honestly cannot see how i can get a van mount to work better than a trolley, i park up at the start of the day, i do 2 houses, pull trolley back to van, change barrel and do the next 2 houses, then my day continues, as my round is very compact, the van stays parked in the same place all day, if i used a van mount i would have to move the van down he road as i wouldnt want 100 M of hoses trailing down the road
i will have the both options and honestly cannot see how i can beat the trolley
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Brilliant. :)
I was looking for a Harris pole today in B&Q. Our local store doesn't do them, i must pick one up next time i'm near a larger store they are such a bargain.
longwell green B&Q has them in stock
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Ta Matt, how about Chippenham?
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Brilliant. :)
I was looking for a Harris pole today in B&Q. Our local store doesn't do them, i must pick one up next time i'm near a larger store they are such a bargain.
They never keep them with the window cleaning stuff, they are in the decorating dept.
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Ta Matt, how about Chippenham?
not seen them in chippenham
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Hi, mates.
We have done our own trolley with the RF flow controller.
regards,
Vadim
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now that does look like something nasa sent into space. very impressive lookin!!
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Thank you. We, really, do one's best.
Vadim / MoemGorod™