[jeff1]

Hi Guy's
As I am changing over to the dark side very soon I could do with a little help?

I have been studying wfp and its equipment for the past six months at least, I made a couple of changes to my decisions, first of all I was going to use a trolley mount and even built my self two trolleys, then I decided to go for the trailer mount,
But now I have to look at every thing as a potential buyer its a mine field and a difficult decision to make, we now have hundreds of guy's using backpacks and I do like this idea. but I still haven't made my mind up.

What made you guy's pick the method you use? and what advantage's or disadvantages do they have.

[jeff1]

Thanks Bear

The only thing is I can't justify the use of two vehicles and need my estate car for the family.

[cybersye]

jeff, I have a 250 ltr tank in a ford courier van,thats enough for the day for me, although if i was really busy I'd need to refill at home. You may be able to fit a 125 ltr in the back of your estate or maybe 2. If  running 2 vehicles is out of the question I'd say go with trailer mount. Ok so I dont know anything really about backpacks but I'd have thought a trailer with atleast 250 ltr  capacity is going to do you better in the long run plus I would'nt like the idea of lugging water around on my back and constantly re filling it.
Simon

[craig jwc]

I started with a Back-pack then decided on the Freedom Trolley so i could have the best of both worlds.
Thing is now i hardly ever take the trolley out of the van and just use it running the tank in the van.
I think i stopped using it as a trolley when i changed my hose to a 6mm microbore.
With the standard hose i was using i could only get 50m on the reel, but i have 100m of microbore on there now and can reach all my jobs now.
It all depends what suits you best for your round.

Craig

[drew86]

If a van mount is out of the question, go for the trailer with 100m of microbore 400ltr tank, shop around for the bits for best prices and put it together yourself and save money.
People may say that access is a problem but this has not been my experience, but I dont have any of those terraced type properties were side access to the rear is an issue, in this case a backpack will be in order, but i would have it as an add on as anywhere you can go you can take a hose and pole. It must be abit more tireing carrying a backpack around allday and haveing to keep refilling from barrels.
As for ro go for the biggest and best you can afford as this will reduce the amount of time you are producing pure water, at a minimum I would say 300gpd.
Drew.

[D.Salkeld_Ltd]

Jeff,

List what you already have?
I.e. traler, poles, batteries etc.
That may be of use to you WFP

David

[JohnL]

jeff, you have to buy kit that suits your round and customer base.

go thro the round in your head and work out if one or another system would fit or be in pain the backside etc

JohnL

[jeff1]

Thanks for all your input guy's

Maybe the backpack and the trailer to carry the water like Dave Salkeld does?

I have some big places were access all around the property would cause me problems, even with a 100m hose and the backpack would be ideal, I also know I have a few with dogs and the places are covered in shog dit 

[Sunshine Cleaning]

Thanks Bear

The only thing is I can't justify the use of two vehicles and need my estate car for the family.

I understand that, as i have been in the same position.

However, you will turn over an extra £100-200 per week after a couple of months, so it's worth considering long term.

[neil100]

The thing is if you have allways used a car for work. Your mind is allmost made up or programed to use wfp with a car, IE, Backpack or Trailer system.

I went through the mill last year trying to decide what to do. I spoke to as many people who had switched to wfp for their advice.

I found the overwhelming advice given to me was to go van mount. The only people who had not gone that route were those who could not afford to buy and set up wfp in a van. But given the choice everyone prefered the van tank route.

For me it was a cultural shock. I had allways used a car for over 25 yrs in Window cleaning. But I decided to set it up right from the word go. I bought a van. A really big van, 800ltr tank and set up for two people to work from.

A year on, I am so pleased I did it this way. I love haveing a van for work, In fact even if I was not wfp, I would allways have a van for work. Its the most important vehicle I own. Why? Because its the only vehicle I have that I make money from.

I make a lot more from wfp then trad w/c. The van is a gold mine and looks fantastic when I am working, The amount of new customers I have got from people looking in the van while I work is unreal.

If you are serious about wfp. Buy your self a van, put a van mount system in and do it right from the start. The amount of people who start on trolleys with wfp  and then invest in a van mount system instead shows you thats where you start in the first place. It might cost more to set up, but it will save you money in the long run.

All the best on whatever you decide.
Nel.

[stuart@skypole]

thats a very valid point neil

rgds

stuart

www.skypolesystems.com

[DaveBrown]

Thanks Bear

The only thing is I can't justify the use of two vehicles and need my estate car for the family.

Jeff, go big -  then with a bit of thought you will be earning enough extra to pay for two vehicles anyway!

Dave

[Jeff Brimble]

Its an old chestnut of a problem, that keeps re-ocurring. Do you think ythat its mostly down to the type of work you have ? If your doing 20ft sq windows all day long you need more water and bigger brushes. But if your only doing domestics you can get by with smaller brushes therefore less warter. Some do nothing but terraced houses but can use a  van mount and some do large but difficult houses with backpacks.
Jeff have you considered using the estate and buying a run a round for the family and shopping etc , until you find out exactly what you do need. You can still claim proportions tax on both.

[jeff1]

After nine years of trad and at 50 years old, its been a very difficult decision for me to change to wfp and I don't want to spend a fortune just for it to be the wrong decision for me.
I have read hundreds of comments from guy's on the forum saying its the best decision they have ever made, and I understand this, and the same will probably go for me,

But I think for at least the first year I would like to stay small enough not to regret it, to be able to do costings along with potential future earnings, to enable me to go for the van mount system.

[dai]

I went down the DIY trolley route. I use an escort van and trailor when I need it.
A van mount would not be suitable for me. I would only need to put a tank in the trailor if I wanted one. I have never been tempted. I can carry 50 ltrs on the trolley, I also have a backpack for those stand alone jobs. Dai

[Paul Coleman]

Hi Guy's
As I am changing over to the dark side very soon I could do with a little help?

I have been studying wfp and its equipment for the past six months at least, I made a couple of changes to my decisions, first of all I was going to use a trolley mount and even built my self two trolleys, then I decided to go for the trailer mount,
But now I have to look at every thing as a potential buyer its a mine field and a difficult decision to make, we now have hundreds of guy's using backpacks and I do like this idea. but I still haven't made my mind up.

What made you guy's pick the method you use? and what advantage's or disadvantages do they have.

I went in with a largish van mount pretty much from the off.  I'm glad I did too as it's more convenientr and I only have to refill it once every day or two.  A disadvantage is that it's not always possible to park where I need to but I have a trolley for situations like this.
If you do decide to start with a trolley, get one that has a hosereel or microbore reel attached is my suggestion.  If you are using a trolley as a mini van mount it won't matter but there are bound to be times when you need the trolley to be portable as well.  On those occasions, having a reel attached will save you the time returning to your vehicle for the hosereel.

[matt]

Jeff

i use the trolley and use a estate car, ive now got a smaller estate car (the passatt estate failed the MOT) so ive now got a Fiat marea estate

i can work all day out of it with 6 25 L barrels of water

so work out where you can put the barrels, 2 in the front passenger foot space, 2 in each of the rear passenger foot space and the trolley cart in the boot

job done, it works well for me, and you would be able to just use the 1 car

[tartan cleaning]

hi I use a pickup for work its got all the work gear in the rear snugtop on top to secure everything in the back and its a car as well so best of both worlds i used to have a car and van though could not justify the cost of running the two so this is a good compromise