[the red carpet]

hi all,
just wondered if i want to run my portable as a truckmount do i need anything other  than water tanks and hose reels?
once fitting water tanks how do i connect them to portable?
have i got enough room iv got a ford courier?

[Glynn]

ROFLMAO

[the red carpet]

that dont mean a thing to me glynn

[ollie]

I assume you are joking? as a learner in this career i would have thought a decent truckmount machine would cost at least 10,000 grand? (please correct me if im wrong) You could buy loads of hoses and leave your portable in your van and tell the customer its a truckmount! ps. I use a portable

[triumph cleaning]

I think Glynn was saying he finds your idea a tad amusing.  I have a Ford Courier and, to put it nicely, your idea is not very practical, sorry.

[the red carpet]

obviously i know its not gonna compare to a proper truckmount the idea i was thinking of was the portable left on the van, with hose reels and water tanks.
the point of this is just to save time and the agroo of unloading the van.
i have seen people using a rascall van with a truckmount before.
would  400 litre tanks not fit in my van?
i am not thinking of using a generater just a extension lead.

[ollie]

I had thought of that myself (hence my reply) but i dont think the pumps or vaccuums would be up to the job? I use 7 metres of hose usually and sometimes double or triple but i notice the difference when i double up (i use a ninja) Although ashbys state differently.
Ollie

[conallon]

Daniel, you want a power booster to give you 3rd vac and small tanks Solution supply both, probably need pump upgrade too
1 litre of water = 1 kilo

Conrad

[ollie]

conrad, are you saying you can boost a portable to be as powerful as a t/m?
Thanks
ollie

[the red carpet]

im using 75 foot of hoses at the minute with no problems so surely if i leave the port in the van and use 75 foot hoses il see no difference in performance.
75 foot would reach at least 50% of my jobs if not more.
and if i couldnt reach i could just take the portable of the van.
iv seen 400 litre tanks on ebay, im sure i could fit two of these in my van plus the portable with lots of room to spare.
based on this is there anything else i need to be aware of?

[mark_lane]

You would need a pump connected to your van battery to pump the water from your tank to the portable.
                                          cheers mark

[John Kelly]

2 x 400 litre tanks in a Ford Courier, not a chance!
I have 1 400 litre tank in a transit and that is a little hairy going round bends.
Its not the size of the van its the weight carrying capacity that is the problem. 2 tanks would give you nearly a tonne of water.
I think you would be restricted to 200 litres. That would be adequate if you are only running a portable. Tank that size less than 100 quid.
Why not bite the bullet and get a truckmount. Ask someone to spend a day with them using a truckmount or look at Marks diary on cleantalk. The difference is unbelievable.

[the red carpet]

thank you John that makes a lot of sense.
as for buying a truckmount thats out of the question at the minute.
would it be worth me using these smaller tanks or is it more grief than its worth?

if your saying i could have a 200 litre supply tank i use a extracta excell and i belive the supply on that is about 50 litres so this option would mean i could clean 4-5 times as much carpet without stopping and refilling, is that right?
what about heating the water?

[John Kelly]

It maybe worthwhile giving it a go and you may be able to carry out some of your jobs using this setup. Just use it as a porty when more practical. I think for the heat aspect you would need to invest in an inline heater.

[Fintan_Coll]

An Extracta XL is a very capable machine, three or even four hose lengths should be possible, however I cannot see much logic in leaving it on the van as it is no big deal to take it off and wheel it the short distance to the customers door. The only set up which might work from a courier van is the Scorpion with the additional tanks, although it would be cramped enough but might just about fit.

[the red carpet]

the logic to me fintan is no taking the xcell of the van no taking the hoses of the van no taking the buckets of the van no taking all the chemicalls etc of the van, and no loading all the previously mentioned back on to the van,
plus no lugging bucket after bucket of water from werever i get it from to werever i place my machine and no lugging endless buckets of dirty water to the nearest drain.
this in itself would have to save me a couple of hours on a busy day and i could either have a early day without the back ache or fit in a extra job earning myself a extra £50-£100 pound.
if this could work without to much investment it seems like a good idea to me.
bearing in mind i work 5 days a week if i save 2 hours a day thats 10hours a week and from what i read on this site we aim to earn around £30 a hour thats £300 pound a week.
so if this could work i would have either a extra 10 hours on my hands or a extra £300 pound in my pocket

are these in line heaters and pumps previously mentioned dear/large?

[conallon]

Ollie,
 no chance of boosting a two vac portable to t/m power, was just looking at the best way to boost exel as i know there is no possible way to fit another vac motor in it,so it would have to be external i.e. booster.
if i had to go back to a porty or had contract  wich required one, it would be a scorpion with out a doubt.

Conrad

[the red carpet]

conrad,
do you use your truckmount with a normal wand or do you use a powerbrush like the scrubba i got of you.
i use that scrubba on every job as i find the results brilliant compared to the wand.
i wouldnt use the extracta without the scrubba as i dont feel the results are good enough.
does the truck mount provide so much power that you dont need the power brush and the wand is enough?

ps. i know why you sold up and got a truckmount now, its hard work aint it!

[cleaning co]

hi, i hav been using my portables as truckmounts for over 5 years   u must hav a baffled water tank,i hav a 250 lt which fills my ninja about 12 times ,i hav auto fill on it ,and fill using a 12volt pump contected to my batt on van,i run over 100ft of hoses with no probs and my machine leads are 50ft , u need a least 250 psi pump,i myself use 400 psi pumps   and ideally a auto waste on machine as i hav but its not a prob cause when u machine is full u vacs cut out ,
i paid  £300 for my tank and pump from firm in ireland
gary
p.s get a flat tank not upright one

[cleaning co]

also i dont  use hose reels ,as my pipes are 1.5" they are light and easy to manage i just put them on top water tank ,i must say i couldnt go back to lumping a machine out van this has made my life so much easier i can clean as quick as my mate who has a tuckmount  but my running costs are alot less, and my van is great for getting close to jobs as i use a dihatsu extol
p.s i fill up at home with warm water all i hav to do when i get to a job is plug in and get hose, wand out