[mr D]

please advise me those of you who know which van i should go for.

before you all start surgesting things can i 1st add im on a shoe string budget because my 1st tax bill came in higher than i thought and i've got to pay some towards account??? dont really get that to be honest but hay ho.

ive got £2000 for van and i'm alowing £1000 for a WFP system. so i'm looking at either heeps of turd or ford escorts. now i like ford escorts but will i be able to carry enough H20 to work for the day.

option 1. buy a good condition ford escort and a trolley system which will probaly me i need to pop back from time to time for more H20?

option 2, get something slightly bigger like a berlingo, partner that has either done over 150,000mls or looking a bit shabby. fitting a van mount system with 400ltr tank?

option 3 buy a mid sized van with no history high miles and a few dents 650ltr van mount system and hope for the best?

option 4, spend £3000 in van and wait a few months till i can aford WFP?

how many guys work out of escorts and how do you get on? how many ltrs can you carry?

thanks for any advise. this is really starting to bother me now.

[alan andrewswestsi]

option3 you can get yourself a half decent peugeot boxer or similar for 2 large then get the 650l tank and diy the rest , regards alan

[Alex Wingrove]

or just save and wait til you can get a pretty decent van, and then build it yourself, there is no rush, dont put yourself it debt for it

[poleman]

Mr. D your getting a WFP OMG welcome to the dark side

[dd]

A very popular van is the Dispatch/Expert/Scudo, though personally I don't like Fiat. These will take upto 650l tank if you go for the hdi - 900kg payload and a lot smaller than a Boxer. Although that would take you to the top of the payload limit.

Probably a little beyond your budget at the moment. Decide what would suit your needs best and if need be save a bit more and take out a small loan.

[mr D]

cheers for the advice guys.

i dont borrow for anything other than my house so thats not an option.

the main problem i'm having is finding the vans you have mentioned. i think i'm just gonna have to make a desision myself as to whis is more important to me and my business. van or wfp.

oh and WC i never said i was going over to 'the dark side. just adding the tool to my arsanal.

[mark dew]

i used to use an escort van and could only carry 250 litre tank, a trolley and a 25 litre barrel + hosereel and pole.
I found a trolley was best with this setup even though i could use as a van mount. This was because when i cleaned using the van mount i would run out of water within 3 1/2 hours. Refilling the 25 litre barrel and using the trolley allowed me to stretch the water much further as i could keep an eye on it all of the time. I could then work 6 hour days before going home....

[windowwashers]

i used to use an escort van and could only carry 250 litre tank, a trolley and a 25 litre barrel + hosereel and pole.
I found a trolley was best with this setup even though i could use as a van mount. This was because when i cleaned using the van mount i would run out of water within 3 1/2 hours. Refilling the 25 litre barrel and using the trolley allowed me to stretch the water much further as i could keep an eye on it all of the time. I could then work 6 hour days before going home....

most of the day was changing 25 litre barrel it is a total pain in the back side, trust me I lost my van mount for a little while this is a royal pain in the bum (IMHO)

get a van mount and a van that takles the wwater or more than you need for a day, trolley, packpack is good for one off small amount of work only.

time saving this a van mount on most jobs is at least 50%.]

before anyone jumps on me I have now done it for far to long, and I stand by what I say.

And again I say I hold my hat up to guys doing this day in day out.

Ian

[jonah]

i used to use an escort van and could only carry 250 litre tank, a trolley and a 25 litre barrel + hosereel and pole.
I found a trolley was best with this setup even though i could use as a van mount. This was because when i cleaned using the van mount i would run out of water within 3 1/2 hours. Refilling the 25 litre barrel and using the trolley allowed me to stretch the water much further as i could keep an eye on it all of the time. I could then work 6 hour days before going home....

most of the day was changing 25 litre barrel it is a total pain in the back side, trust me I lost my van mount for a little while this is a royal pain in the bum (IMHO)

get a van mount and a van that takles the wwater or more than you need for a day, trolley, packpack is good for one off small amount of work only.

time saving this a van mount on most jobs is at least 50%.]

before anyone jumps on me I have now done it for far to long, and I stand by what I say.

And again I say I hold my hat up to guys doing this day in day out.

Ian

Stop being so nice Ian , and say what you really think !

[mr D]

cheers i think i'll look at bumping my van budget up to £3000 and leaving the system for a bit. its a shame because i wanted to use this summer to gain pole work as 80% of my customas will never convert.

just gonna take me longer than i'd hope.

[mark dew]

i only used 1 25 litre barrel and a 12v sub pump. I would finish the job put the kit away. Turn on sub pump and refill barrel while i was writing out chit. Was done when i came back from putting in door. Put in back of van. Drive off.

I agree totally about the swapping barrels stuff. That way of working would only work if the contents of a barrel was exactly how much was needed for a job. Or several. It wasn't for me. Get a submersible pump if using a trolley system.

[poleman]

cheers for the advice guys.

i dont borrow for anything other than my house so thats not an option.

the main problem i'm having is finding the vans you have mentioned. i think i'm just gonna have to make a desision myself as to whis is more important to me and my business. van or wfp.

oh and WC i never said i was going over to 'the dark side. just adding the tool to my arsanal.

Dean, I have helped a lot of local window cleaner start up with WFP

My advice (if you wont to hear it) is spend the money you have on a very good van and save up for a WFP, you will need a RO (as we are in a hard water area) the cheapest one on the market is merlin ro which has come down in price a lot of the past year (200 pounds)

[macmac]

You should get a decsent berlingo/partner or kangoo for 2k. these have payloads of between 600 & 800kg. Auto trader for a private sale with no vat would be a good place to start.

What is the tds of your tap water?

Tony

[windowwashers]

i used to use an escort van and could only carry 250 litre tank, a trolley and a 25 litre barrel + hosereel and pole.
I found a trolley was best with this setup even though i could use as a van mount. This was because when i cleaned using the van mount i would run out of water within 3 1/2 hours. Refilling the 25 litre barrel and using the trolley allowed me to stretch the water much further as i could keep an eye on it all of the time. I could then work 6 hour days before going home....

most of the day was changing 25 litre barrel it is a total pain in the back side, trust me I lost my van mount for a little while this is a royal pain in the bum (IMHO)

get a van mount and a van that takles the wwater or more than you need for a day, trolley, packpack is good for one off small amount of work only.

time saving this a van mount on most jobs is at least 50%.]

before anyone jumps on me I have now done it for far to long, and I stand by what I say.

And again I say I hold my hat up to guys doing this day in day out.

Ian

Stop being so nice Ian , and say what you really think !

errm, I was being as nice as I could, it was not a dig at the guy at all, just have been there using this type of system and to say it done my head in and cost me more than a van mount in time would be an understatment, i am getting another van to sit there so this cannot happen again, barrels now way  .


IAN

[mark dew]

time saving this a van mount on most jobs is at least 50%.]

before anyone jumps on me I have now done it for far to long, and I stand by what I say.

Sorry to disagree ian but there is no way a van mount is twice as fast as a trolley. Quicker yes. 20% quicker, yes sometimes. But no way twice as fast.
I will always believe if you can only carry 250 litres or less then a trolley is the best tool for a good earning day.
You were slow with a trolley cos you didn't use it in the best way possible. And that means having a water tank, 1 barrel and submersible pump.
I earnt £202 with a trolley and 250 litre tank of water. It took me almost 8 hours but i used very little water at the time. That same day is done in 6 hours with a van mount but i clean much quicker cos i use a much higher flow. And use 400 litres of water.

[mr D]

WC

im not saying you aint helped lots of local guys start up wfp i personaly dislike your attertude to trad methods. thats if you are who i think you are.


macmac

whats what you would call a decent berlongo/partner/kangoo?? ive been searching autotrader, ebay, freeads and adtrader. not found any under 100000mls less than a S plate with service history. there are a few with no history but i bought a what i thought was nice festa one that only lasted 1 year then died. R.I.P. once bitten twice shy and all that.

[mr D]

time saving this a van mount on most jobs is at least 50%.]

before anyone jumps on me I have now done it for far to long, and I stand by what I say.

Sorry to disagree ian but there is no way a van mount is twice as fast as a trolley. Quicker yes. 20% quicker, yes sometimes. But no way twice as fast.
I will always believe if you can only carry 250 litres or less then a trolley is the best tool for a good earning day.
You were slow with a trolley cos you didn't use it in the best way possible. And that means having a water tank, 1 barrel and submersible pump.
I earnt £202 with a trolley and 250 litre tank of water. It took me almost 8 hours but i used very little water at the time. That same day is done in 6 hours with a van mount but i clean much quicker cos i use a much higher flow. And use 400 litres of water.

i dont think it is very smart saying what you earn a day but as you have is £202 per day for one man wfp good?

[mark dew]

time saving this a van mount on most jobs is at least 50%.]

before anyone jumps on me I have now done it for far to long, and I stand by what I say.

Sorry to disagree ian but there is no way a van mount is twice as fast as a trolley. Quicker yes. 20% quicker, yes sometimes. But no way twice as fast.
I will always believe if you can only carry 250 litres or less then a trolley is the best tool for a good earning day.
You were slow with a trolley cos you didn't use it in the best way possible. And that means having a water tank, 1 barrel and submersible pump.
I earnt £202 with a trolley and 250 litre tank of water. It took me almost 8 hours but i used very little water at the time. That same day is done in 6 hours with a van mount but i clean much quicker cos i use a much higher flow. And use 400 litres of water.

i dont think it is very smart saying what you earn a day but as you have is £202 per day for one man wfp good?

am not really worried about how smart it is. I'm just trying to get the point across about how quick a trolley can be compared to a van mount.

[poleman]

WC

im not saying you aint helped lots of local guys start up wfp i personaly dislike your attertude to trad methods. thats if you are who i think you are.

OK lets get this out in the open!

First of! your mate Ricky Bedding phone me and threat me     this goes right back some years when he went on cleaning pros forum and told everyone they are all tosser for using WFP SO I have been told you and Ricky are to pees in a pod, which I can see from you myspace profile! and also looking at the photos! you say on your window cleaning website site you complied to the working at height regulations WTF are you on  : see photo your why we have high insurance in this industry and give are indusrty a bad name  

Dean I have been a trad window cleaner for over 15 years and have a great understanding of using ladders and also I have been using a WFP system for the past 5 years (one of the first in Dorset) and WFP is the future of window cleaning, most window cleaners on here will tell you, its much safer, you work twice as fast, not so tier at the end of the day, its a total change to the way you work and its total peace of mind for your family as they know you will come home safe and a lot more money in your pocket for hoildays, as life is not all about work

So yes I am more than happy to help but dont have a dig at me, I bite back and will wipe the floor with you 

[mr D]

time saving this a van mount on most jobs is at least 50%.]

before anyone jumps on me I have now done it for far to long, and I stand by what I say.

Sorry to disagree ian but there is no way a van mount is twice as fast as a trolley. Quicker yes. 20% quicker, yes sometimes. But no way twice as fast.
I will always believe if you can only carry 250 litres or less then a trolley is the best tool for a good earning day.
You were slow with a trolley cos you didn't use it in the best way possible. And that means having a water tank, 1 barrel and submersible pump.
I earnt £202 with a trolley and 250 litre tank of water. It took me almost 8 hours but i used very little water at the time. That same day is done in 6 hours with a van mount but i clean much quicker cos i use a much higher flow. And use 400 litres of water.

i dont think it is very smart saying what you earn a day but as you have is £202 per day for one man wfp good?

am not really worried about how smart it is. I'm just trying to get the point across about how quick a trolley can be compared to a van mount.

mark i think you miss judged what i ment. i wasnt getting at you i was truely asking is £200 per day for one man in 8 hours pretty much standard earnings for wfp? i ask coz ive never used wfp for my self only when i worked for my old man and back then i didnt have a clue as to how much was being earnt.

andy. i would delete that pic if i was you. not being funny but if you notice i'm whearing me dads shirt. not a good idea to upset him. frendly advice, honest.

that pic was taken a long time ago and i'd not do that now so point taken. but ricky is a good bloke he is just not very clued up when i comes to work. he dont ned to be he lives a simple life and dont like change. if you met him you would probaly see that but to go around preaching to others aint the nicest thing to do. when i worked for my dad we had quite a few lads come and try out with us after working for you. i'm not saying there right but every one said you were a toss pot. i'm not agreeing with them at all coz to be honest they were all muppets and couldnt clean windows for love nor money but they said you didnt know your head from your elbow. i guess that and the conversasion i had with you in canford clifs is where i base my oppinion of you. you know the one where you told me the law was going to change at the end of the year banning ladder use and you advise the hse as to what hights wc should work at.

i do agree you have given nothing but helpfull advise to me and others ive notice in the short time ive used this website so maybe i got it wrong???