[Steven Biggs]

Ay up lads . A bit of advice from those that work 2 in a van . I'm gunna set someone on  to work alongside me from my van . He's only 16  so I will be showing him the ropes . Now  I have a 650 litre tank and work with 100 metres of hose . A lot of my work is compact  so I regular park up pull the hose out and move the van every few houses with the hose out . I'm thinking backpack ( which I don't own but had 2 in the past and thought they were crap , are they any better now ) for him and sending him round a few tricky backs . Or  hose reel and sending him in the opposite direction to me . Any thoughts . Cheers.  Barry 

[Stoots]

i reckon backpack would give you more options, with two hoses your both tethered to the van so would still have to be within 100m of both jobs.

you could move van whilst hes on another house or before hes finished instead of waiting for you bothe to finish before moving, he could go ahead to the next house and get going whilst your finishing off, reeling hose in and moving van etc. seems more flexible imo having the two options

[robert mitchell]

why not do both so you have the best of both worlds ?

[Smudger]

Van mount every time, if your going to take some1 on and expect them to learn the job properly and to your standard then supply them with the correct equipment, why should he struggle with a backpack that you feel is not suitable for the job.

Darran

[Steven Biggs]

Backpack is easier to set up  , pole and brush
 And he's away . How much can you do with 18 litres  . Sharing. A tank with me  is it an easy set up  , like you say smudger  he may struggle with a backpack . Some of you lads put em troll lies . That dosent sound too bad .

[Matt.]

Set him a hose reel up in the van mate.
Am not a fan of back packs or trolleys for doing work with great pieces of equipment for applying chemical
but
 he's guna be back the van messing about filling it up .......

Each to there own but hose reel mounted to inside roof of van everytime

[M & C Window Cleaning]

Hi Steven.  You know your round best mate.
For me a van mount would be almost impossible to operate from a lot of the time due to the layout of my round, parking etc. For me a trolley is by far the best option and it works well. So it could work. However, I have two friends who both work with their wives from van mounted systems and that works well for them. Both of them however, also have backpacks on board their vans as well for those awkward to access jobs. I have another friend who works with his son from a van and who both started with trollies, went over to van mounted and back to trollies again due to the nature of their work, parking probs and so forth.
I think, look at your round, see what you think will work and go for it. If it doesn't, learn from it and try something else. You'll get it down to a fine art in the end.

[Smudger]

Good advice from m&c, however if your already running a van mount for yourself, then it'll work just as we'll for staff as 2 man set up

I'm with matt - backpacks have their place, but really best suited for chem delivery. ( I say that from a position where one way or another I can get to 99.95 % of cleans from the van )

Darran

[Steven Biggs]

Thanks for some good advice . I think I'm swaying for the van mount . I forgot to mention I have twin sliding doors . I have my reel fixed on top of the tank and pull the hose out using the drivers side . I suppose I could set another reel up on the other side just the same and he works one side and I work the other . The hoses will never cross . Sounds easy enough . Thanks again barry . Will need a list of gear I need . Is it 2 of everything . Or 1 pump , controller . ?

[CleanClear]

I'd go for the backpack, that way he can have a smoke and a sip of tea whilst he waits for it to refill.

[Steven Biggs]

  ha ha . He dosent smoke or drink tea . But no doubt his phone would be out. But I think I know what you mean . Hose

[supernova77]

Backpack is easier to set up  , pole and brush
 And he's away .

It's a false economy doing it that way.

Van mount all the way!

[Shane sharples]

A couple of hoes in the back of your van and you'll be right, if the battery dies on his backpack halfway through the day then it's half a day wasted   

[Tom White]

Hose definitely.  We never use a backpack these days; there's too much fannying about.  If a job requires a backpack, and it's just a small regular job, drop it, it's not worth the bother, but I find I can run hoses over walls, through hedges; anywhere just about.

We've worked together for 12 years now, we pull up, I lift the hose reels out and point them in their directions; Wor Lass grabs her pole and hose and goes one way, I grab mine and go the other.

We meet up in the middle.  One winds in and sorts out the van, the other knocks or chits.  We both aim to finish at the same time; there should never be a period where someone is just hanging about waiting for the other.

We're like clockwork.  Usually.  Unless it's mad-week. 

[simonr]

i use a hose reel & my son uses a backpack, i do the furthest away stuff eg backs & he does rest, works great, he's faster than me so has usually filled backpack & put it away,carded house & ready to start winding reel in by the time i'm done - keeps me on my toes
gardiner backpack 2/3 houses using fan jets,  battery never dies

[simonr]

I'd go for the backpack, that way he can have a smoke and a sip of tea whilst he waits for it to refill.

if you have a 1" outlet in your tank for the backpack it fills in seconds

[Walter Mitty]

Definitely van mount.  Those backpacks can be heavy to lug around and could lead to him being unreliable.

Think of it this way:  If you were starting up as an employee and your boss worked from a reel while you had to be a beast of burden, how would you feel about the job?
Yes, I know you have boss's privilege but it coud lead to resentment.  A resentful worker will not be a good worker.

[Spruce]

Van mount as well.

My concern is the word 'employee'.  It could end up with him turning the tables on you and suing you for compensation for an imaginary bad back caused by lifting and carrying that weight. His personal injury claim would be that you, his employer, forced him to work with this equipment day in and day out when there is a better way.

[Spruce]

Definitely van mount.  Those backpacks can be heavy to lug around and could lead to him being unreliable.

Think of it this way:  If you were starting up as an employee and your boss worked from a reel while you had to be a beast of burden, how would you feel about the job?
Yes, I know you have boss's privilege but it could lead to resentment.  A resentful worker will not be a good worker.

 ^^^^^^ I couldn't agree more ^^^^^^^^^^

[CleanClear]

I'd go for the backpack, that way he can have a smoke and a sip of tea whilst he waits for it to refill.

if you have a 1" outlet in your tank for the backpack it fills in seconds

Yeah you're right mate. I have a 100 meter 1" hose too and just reel it out with me to fill mine up with. Saves going back to the van too.