Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: LWC on September 09, 2009, 07:13:34 pm

Title: Backpacks are superb
Post by: LWC on September 09, 2009, 07:13:34 pm
Ive said it before and ill say it again, ive used just my backpack the last 2 days and i have flew around work! Defiantly saved water to. I have been working out for those of you who might ask i can pretty much do £30 out of a full backpack, depending on work i suppose.

Well into it today  ;D The backpack is a fantastic tool and i recomend it to anyone. Newbie? Get a backpack, 8 + barrels, a pole, bobs your uncle. Cheap setup and go and earn loads!
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: ftp on September 09, 2009, 07:49:43 pm
Wish I'd had one today  :'(

Customers garden is laid out like the maze at Longleat except it's made from brickwork.
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: LWC on September 09, 2009, 07:53:09 pm
Get one, best £200 i ever spent in this job!
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: bobplum on September 09, 2009, 08:14:15 pm
were did you get it for £200.00
bob
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: LWC on September 09, 2009, 08:17:37 pm
Years ago from pure freedom

http://www.windowcleaningwarehouse.co.uk/shop/index.php/vmchk/Backpacks/SHURFLO-backpack-/Detailed-product-flyer.html

Widow cleaning warrehouse do it to.
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: BORBRYCE on September 09, 2009, 08:26:58 pm
Have to agree, once you get used to them they are just so quick and easy for almost every domestic job you can think off. Got mine on a wee sacktruck though, to hell with putting that weight on my back. The lack of miles of hose is the best part for me, no more snaggin or reeling in.
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: LWC on September 09, 2009, 08:39:15 pm
I wear it on my back like a real man. ;D Get used to it, and its not heavy all the time as its always going down.
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: davidpitts on September 09, 2009, 09:08:05 pm
I only use my backpack on certain jobs, I find if I use it all the time I get pain in my neck and shoulders and pins and needles in my hands, I would rather pull the hose out and take a bit longer. :)
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: TonyD on September 09, 2009, 09:11:41 pm
I'll be moving to wfp soon, and thinking about a backpack to start.  But how do you fill it during the day ? Do you have a tank in the van already filled with the filtered water ? and does anyone have recommendations for a filter/tank set up to go with a backpack ? .........that's enough questions  ::)
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: Sean Dyer on September 09, 2009, 09:21:15 pm
I did a few new cleans with backpack today finally taking the leap into wfp its ok but 25 litre barrells get heavy...believe it or not i did a whole high school with one last week and that wasnt easy lol, I pinched a sack truck to drop barrels round site but was a pain... Was handy in some spots though where you couldnt have got near with van
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: wizard on September 09, 2009, 09:21:41 pm
Did you get th sureflow and which pole did yu buy and from were. Thanks
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: mark dew on September 09, 2009, 11:48:38 pm
Not quite the same but i used a trolley with just 1 barrel. I had a 12v sub pumpin my tank and refilled as i ran out.
But like the backpack it is a very quick method of working.
I find a van mount the quickest if i have a straight run with the hose from the van and the job took more than 25 litres. But for jobs that used less water and had gardens where i had to thread the hose around flower beds etc, the trolley was quicker most times.
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: AuRavelling79 on September 10, 2009, 07:46:08 am
I've had a trolley (Peter Fogwills) a backpack (shurflo - still got but it kept die-ing with electrical problems) and now use a van and run my hose every where - through houses the lot.

But ... I do wonder on a couple of poor parking/access jobs whether to resurrect the backpack. I would prolly carry it pre-filled and also a 25L container to re-fill it. (or top up my main tank if I am on the dregs near the end of the day) This would raise my capacity from 400L to about 440 and so give me that "reserve" I sometimes wish I had.

My shurflo is three years old and gathering dust - are the latest ones better for electrical probs or was I unlucky?
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: Gleaming windows on September 10, 2009, 08:38:20 am
youve got me thinking, I might have to reassess this backpack malarky.

Thanks.

Matt
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: HIGH LEVEL WINDOW CLEANERS (scrimmy) on September 10, 2009, 08:47:54 am
the shurflo backpack is a great invention, i have 3 of them (always be prepared in case the pcb dies and you dont have the tools handy to bypass it) anyway i tried doing my work with the van mount but i always ended up just giving up and going back on the ladders as i found i was stressed out with the hose snagging.......with the back pack i still get a wee bit stressed now and then if the battery packs up or the hose gets caught but its no where near the hassle of the van mount.

i have said it before, van mount is king for commercial......backpack is king all the way for small to medium domestic houses.
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: Blue Frog Systems on September 10, 2009, 09:09:01 am
I started out 6 months ago by using a wcw backpack, 30 ft pole and 25L containers along with the RO and storage.

6 months from starting I've outgrown the backpack and have got a van and my system is on its way.

The backpack was not only a great tool for me just starting out, but extremely cost effective being new and not having much to spend when starting out.

If it wasn't for the backpack, I wouldn't be where I am today (I may not have even been a window cleaner).

My backpack will go part time once my van system is installed. It has a place in my business and I would always haveit to hand
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: Wickerman on September 10, 2009, 04:14:24 pm
Window cleaners warehosue do a packpack for £100
Title: Re: Backpacks are superb
Post by: John Walker on September 10, 2009, 07:19:11 pm
I totally agree with the freedom a backpack gives.  I tried using a long microbore hose on a reel but got stressed out with all the snagging.  Would have been ok for commercial jobs where there is less to get snagged on.

I've worked with a backpack and a 50 litre OmniTrolley for around 5 years on and off.

I'm now 62 and find the backpack is just starting to give me some twinges.  So........  I've fitted my backpack to a lightweight trolley which looks far more professional than I expected.  It's like a mini Freedom Trolley and is perfect for me.  I work with around 12ft of hose which is short enough not to get snagged and long enough to reach all windows on one side of a typical house.  As I'm not carrying the weight, I can brim the backpack with 20 litres and haven't found a house where this isn't enough for.

if i can't park near the property - no problem - I just fill up and wheel the trolley with one hand and carry my lightweight pole in the other - everything I need for a domestic.

For me, this is the best all round compromise and coupled with SLX poles and brushes, I'm much fresher at the end of the day - and no worrying aches and pains. 

The Freedom Trolley might the the longer term answer for me and I plan to look at one when I'm near their factory at the end of the month.