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Steve Gunn

  • Posts: 850
Home Made T/m
« on: December 14, 2010, 07:33:12 am »
Question for the likes of Mike Halliday can you post any pics or links to best way to do this?

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2010, 08:02:01 am »
just walking out the door so i'll answer more later with pictures.

i have the most simple, hottest, (powerfull??) truckmount in britain

I highlight simple becuase of everything this is the most important, and the key to simplicity is to make it moduler and buy each module ready made.

engine, direct coupled to a blower, thats all the engine does, turn the blower.

now the most contravercial bit.... use an electric pump & diesel hot box which meens you have to take a powercord from the house to the van, I have done this for 4years and it is no hassle at all i have never been stuck for power. or had a breakdown that could not be fixed on the job or i have not been able to finish the job

this is what makes it all so simple and controlable.

I have made totally independant T/m were the engine drives the blower, pump & creates the heat...... nothing but hassle

more later..
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

jsm

  • Posts: 558
John Malone
JSM. Window & General Cleaning
(  North Wales  )
Giving homes a shine sicne 1989

one of the early gang of wfp er's ---- remember , when you cant see out - give JSM a shout

Buckland

  • Posts: 414
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2010, 11:45:57 am »
Interesting idea - you'd  want it to be a watercooled motor with an oversized electric fan though - you could use Nissan petrol forklift truck components

Couldnt do better than this for a pump NEW and yours for 395 squid- 1 day left as of 14/12/10 (not mine btw) although thinking about it I've got a good 3cp if you want one and a good Sutorbilt 3LP blower spare! :


anyway someone is offering this new CAT pump; not extra high pressure but plenty for carpets
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260705130576&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Buckland Carpet & Fabric Care :: 01590 688938
www.SteamCleanCarpetService.co.uk

jasonl

  • Posts: 3183
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2010, 12:04:12 pm »
As a non TM user , but with a great interest in innovations and challenging the norm , there are a few requirements I would need to make me want to get a TM . ( I have dabbled in the past , and do not currently have the work in to justify one) .

 I would get one on the principle of ,,build it and they- customers , will come.

I thin most off the shelf TMs are way too expensive for what they are and they have changed little from when they first came out, I guess there is not the $$$$ for R and D .

A few years ago I saw Micks early home made TM , I dont remember the details , but it was impressive.

I would want .

1, A water cooled engine , preferably diesel , or lpg powered , for the reliabilty and in the case of petrol , quietness, also red diesel or lpg for lower operating costs.

2,  A blower configured so that a waste tank is not needed , in the style of a prowler.
Potentially , no tanks at all would then be needed so long as a water source was on site.

3, Portability some components such as pumps ,and hot box and control panel could be neatly boxed/fitted in the van  allowing it to be used for other purposes once the engine/blower was lifted out, and/or  there would be space to fit other equipment in the van , or a smaller van could be used.

4, The modular idea which Mick uses , making maintenance  simple.
I clean carpets
I dry Buildings

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2010, 03:24:45 pm »
I've bought all my bits off ebay.

 paid £40 for my pump & motor

£350 for my engine.

£100 for 3 blowers


this video show some components around my workshop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSpxFPkZUJo

Steve what specifically do you want to know?
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

M.Acorn

  • Posts: 7223
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2010, 03:55:17 pm »
Now that`s my kind of machinery !!
If only i had a workshop  :(
What goes around comes around

jasonl

  • Posts: 3183
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2010, 04:17:55 pm »
I've bought all my bits off ebay.

 paid £40 for my pump & motor

£350 for my engine.

£100 for 3 blowers


this video show some components around my workshop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSpxFPkZUJo

Steve what specifically do you want to know?
Scratch my above post , those prices change everything  it would even be worth getting a fancy frame fabbed up to make it look pretty , have you not thought about building thenm up for people ?
I clean carpets
I dry Buildings

Steve Gunn

  • Posts: 850
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #8 on: December 14, 2010, 04:25:00 pm »
I've bought all my bits off ebay.

 paid £40 for my pump & motor

£350 for my engine.

£100 for 3 blowers


this video show some components around my workshop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSpxFPkZUJo

Steve what specifically do you want to know?

Will you build me one ??? ;D ;)

Where's the best place to get the components?
Basic layout ?
Petrol or diesel?


jasonl

  • Posts: 3183
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #9 on: December 14, 2010, 04:26:55 pm »
Everyone who  has bought/sells TMs has just jumped under a bus ;D ;D
I clean carpets
I dry Buildings

jon barnes

  • Posts: 103
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #10 on: December 14, 2010, 04:27:09 pm »
the principle alomost reminds me of the el diablo (mainly cos i cant think of any other hotbox tm) .would it not be simpler to run the electric pump off the engines battery? also if the engine is not running a heat exchanger could it use a smaller than usual sized engine to run a 56 blower?

M.Acorn

  • Posts: 7223
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #11 on: December 14, 2010, 04:49:37 pm »
Same sort of thing as the Bane clean job,well that`s the closest match i have seen so far,really impressed.
Can`t take on any more projects until the roc is finished
What goes around comes around

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #12 on: December 14, 2010, 05:04:02 pm »
its oK buying off ebay but it has taken me 6yrs to collect all the parts. you can get engines every week, if I was building one now and had plenty of cash I'd start with this engine plenty of power :)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kubota-1-9-litre-diesel-engine-41-hp-31-0-kW-c-w-pump-/230563124075?pt=UK_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL&hash=item35aea2136b

or build a monster with this :D :D

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Diesel-Engine-2-5-BMC-Commander-Stationary-Engine-/260707025460?pt=UK_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL&hash=item3cb3598234

pumps can be built from anywhere, but you can buy from any pressure washer company , they will also supply a hot box.

buy an engine, get a blower then go to an engineering company and get Them to mount both parts on a steel frame coupled with the fenner coupler I've shown on my video.

finding a blower will be hard
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Dave_Lee

  • Posts: 1728
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #13 on: December 14, 2010, 08:00:03 pm »
Question for the likes of Mike Halliday can you post any pics or links to best way to do this?

Whats up with the Prowler Steve?
Dave.
Dave Lee, Owner of Deepclean Services
Chorley Lancs. Est 1980.
"Pay Cheap -You get Cheap - Pay a little more and get something Better."

jasonl

  • Posts: 3183
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #14 on: December 14, 2010, 08:07:24 pm »
finding a blower will be hard


...Surely a TM supplier will carry them?
I clean carpets
I dry Buildings

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #15 on: December 14, 2010, 08:20:37 pm »
you can buy them new from root dresser in Heuddersfield I was talking about second hand, they are very expensive new

i bought a new 45 from Woodbridge 5yrs ago for £900
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

nevil

  • Posts: 478
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #16 on: December 14, 2010, 08:28:28 pm »
I have a blower going spare.  ;D Really I do. Sutorbuilt 3006 same as roots 36. Richie on the TMers forum has some too.

I don't have too much too contribute on this except when I built a TM the biggest problem I had was controlling the heat. I made a couple of heat exchangers that captured plenty of heat from the engine/blower. But the way we clean doesn't demand a steady flow of water so the machine produced spikes of heat.

It requires a pretty complexed control system to keep the heat stable throughout all water demand scenarios. I would think that with Mikes hot box, the TM wouldn't need this type of control system. As I am guessing the hot box would do that.  Although I don't know too much about them. In the end I got an old Spitfire 4.0 from HM. The idea was to strip the control gear from it and put it on my TM. That old 4.0 has been in my van ever since. I put the Kohler engine from the home made machine in. I enjoyed building it but what a waste of time and money.

peter maybury

  • Posts: 916
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #17 on: December 14, 2010, 10:04:24 pm »
I love tinkering and modifying things but at the end of the day you have to be realistic about things. A truck mount can earn a brilliant hourly return. Even if it took a year to build you could have earnt a lot of money in that time. I would love to have the time to make my own spec machine but quite simply I am too busy to even contemplate doing it. Saying that truckmounters are going to be pig sick that you can spend years building a truckmount for next to nothing is a bit of a silly thought.
We all want bigger and better machines in order to do better work quicker, but we will have to pay the money they cost because we can make more money as carpet cleaners than we could being engineers.
If I blow a head gasket or anything then I am equipped and capable of sorting it out myself just because of the cost of the work that I could lose or the cost of letting my customers down. I could not spend months trawling for parts or building a machine, as much as I would like to.

Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

 

nevil

  • Posts: 478
Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #18 on: December 14, 2010, 10:35:29 pm »
Yeah Peter that's a nail on the head post. When I did it I was fairly new at this with lots of time on my hands. Although I'm still very much in business building mode, there is no way I could find the time to do that now. So naturaly it follows that the more established you become the harder it is to devote time to such a project.

Having said that, my background is in the workshop and still find something very therapeutic about getting my hands dirty. 

Rob_Mac

Re: Home Made T/m
« Reply #19 on: December 15, 2010, 08:33:21 am »
Mike

I have been lazily looking into putting together a pressure washer with variable output that can be split to two operators.

Preferably diesel engined and I would like an output of up to 10000psi. Is this something that could be done and if so are you interested in it as a paying project??. Weight and size are certainly going to be the most important issues.

Rob ;D