[Andy@w.c.s]

As the weather was so bad today I decided to go and use my gutter cleaner on just two little jobs total price £45 for about 30 mtrs front and back of terrace and just a back of a neighbour’s barn which is in the same back garden of the terrace

Lesson 1    I now know it was under priced
Lesson 2    didn’t allow for double forked pine needles so had to do the front by hand and the little ladder we had only just reached  ( see pic )

Lesson 3    have a brush on the van to clean up the mess we make
Lesson 4    always have some eye protection handy as several  times the thing got blocked and I was shaking it like a mad man and the muck was flying all over the place ( mainly on me ) 
Lesson 5    take every tool you have ie trowel spare buckets, water proof gloves 

There is definitely a knack to this line of work and I won’t be beaten
Things like getting the angle of the suction end in the guttering right 
Using the right size tubing , when 3 pieces are to long and 2 are not long enough   
I have a spare bit that i will be cutting down for the next time
loads of small tweeks 

Anyone got any other tips i could use

Andy

[JSMC]

this pine needle malarky concerns me

[Andy@w.c.s]

yea got caught out a bit today

I think if they were smaller it might have been ok
these are over 3 inches long

[JSMC]

why cant it pick them up? gotta admit ye would feel aplank with all the kit then having to do it froma ladder

[Dave Willis]

What diameter pipe are you using? I get problems with pine needles but I use 38mm hose. Couple of Omnivac fan boys claim pine needles are no problem at all, I thought this was because they used the larger hose.

[the bfg]

I never have a problem with pine needles with the Omni-vac,   I think it may be down to the suction power

[Dave Willis]

Which one are you using - 4200w?

[Andy@w.c.s]

vac is the eastern trading 3000 watts lots of suction on the normal guttering we did today and the hose size is 50mm

And yes all the kit and working of a ladder was not a good look  :

[Dave Willis]

  All the gear and no idea!

Don't worry, it happens. Wait 'till you get the ones where there is no way to get a nozzle in there,
or the ones chogged full of small trees and entwined roots. Knocking an end cap off the guttering or bringing an 's' bend crashing to earth are always fun.
Vacs have a place but they can't cope with everything - keep your ladders handy. 

[Andy@w.c.s]

thanks tip number one 

[Dave Willis]

Andy, I believe you bought the gutter cleaning package from Eastern Trading?

What i'm interested in is the inlet inside the drum. On the standard 38mm inlet there is a deflector to stop the crud firing all over the motor - this is one point where it tends to clog. I have tried to open mine up a bit in anticipation. Have Eastern trading modified this at all on the larger inlet - do they omit it alltogether or have they got an angled bit of pipe to fire the dirt around the bin walls?

[Andy@w.c.s]

Hi it is just a straight through inlet no deflector at all if you look on their web site i think the show it