[drive surgeon]

hey guys hope your ok, been cleaning a block paved drive sloping to the road,  i used whirlaway all over it which took an hour, 200 sq metres,  then i went round with the turbo nozzle to remove the tough weeds, but should i have used the fan spray first to clear all the sludge out the way first? so the i had a clear view of what was left in joints?  i seem to take 3 stages, stage 1 is whirlaway, the stage 2 is turbo nozzle, then stage 3 is fan spray to push all the sludge away to bottom . then i brush all sludge together to let water run out and then shovel it all into bit builders bucket and take away,  ball ache!!   then i go round all thw job spraying any splashes off etc,   just wondered if there is an easier way of doing things?  when cleaning on a sloped drive do you guys start from top or bottom?  i hate it all going in the road as i spend 30 mins trying to clean the road after so no one complains,  im jiggered today, need sleep!!!

[rob fryer]

I bought a few decorators sheets then roll them up long ways then wet them use them as a dam or helps to keep sludge in the place you want it to be
Hope that helps ,Also have ajustable nozzel from fan to gentle spray helps when washing down and you get in aspot where you no your going to spray s--t every where you can just turn it down

[drive surgeon]

cheers yes i have an adjustable fan spray for washing down .

[drive surgeon]

isnt this fiddly tho?  i have enough equipment in my small van already? and the vacuum would be dead heave when full?

[dandandan]

I always head for grass or soil border,if there is none i use fsc then use turbo nozzle but work down toward road in straight line from side to side stopping when sludge builds up and shovelling it into big bucket .by the time your at the end of the drive theres not much mud left.I then clean it off with the turbo nozzle or fan,sometimes drop the pressure a bit.I have found if i keep turbo nozzle at tight angle to floor the mud doesn`t fly too far ahead of you so you can get a nice neat pile.I had a nightmare job today,garden had balastrade right along it that was covered in white flakey paint,every time i went near it flakes of paint were blowing everywere.

[steve_doyle]

I just use fsc, top to bottom in lines down the drive, that way most of the muck stays on the drive (as apposed to going accross the drive) in long lines at the edge of where the fsc was.

then i just get the brush if there is lots of muck and sweep it to one side at the bottom to drain, after that rinse and spot with adjustable lance.

I dont really suffer from the prob your talking about, but i find a quick brush at the bottom of the road and rinse is usually enough.

I do believe in general its faster to use the brush and rinse than just the lance to rinse down.

steve

[drive surgeon]

been using the shovel method for years!

[mav]

I just use the turbo nozzle top to bottom ( don't bother with fsc no more ) when I get about two feet from bottom I shovel all the sludge up then finish cleaning the drive after this I sweep the road then swill everything down and upto now custy has always been happy ( I did a job today and custy asked if he could have some cards to hand out to people he knew he was that impressed ).

Oh and by the way I usually use the garden waste bin( collected in my small builders bucket ) for the rubbish as nobody has objected yet.

[karygate]

was was the block paving like because i did 100sq metres takes me a couple of hours. finish is always excellent though.

[drive surgeon]

karygate did you use a fsc or just turbo all over?, the turbo takes it all out where fsc doesnt so you have to go all over taking bits out afterwards.

[dandandan]

your right mav,i did block paved entry and patio with turbo nozzle only and am thinking of just using fsc for flags in future,although i do reckon you get a more even clean with fsc over top of block,ihad to go over a few green stripes when block had dried,these wouldn`t have been left if i had swooped over it with fsc,i might just fligh across it with fsc then blitz it with turbo,i have just had another turbo delivered as i`d hate to lose the one i have,brilliant.dan

[karygate]

i used a turbo nozzle. only use fsc on flags now but turbo nozzle still seems faster

[drive surgeon]

i did a tennis court today which was coloured tarmac, green and red, tried the fsc but had to switch to turbo nozzle as it was not shifting the moss, took me 10 hours to do whole court, im nearly dead, and i under charged.  it was a killer.

[rob fryer]

I dont understand my fsc ripps it ,Its that powerfull the back wheels are always of the floor with the force of the water.
turbo is good but not as quick or as easy,  Me thinks that there is some wrong nozzels or somthing ,flow rate to pressure .

[Andy Foster]

I agree Rob.

If your fsc isn't getting everything out, then there must be some  mismatch between pump and nozzles or some blockage somewhere.
Also, I can't understand why so many people use turbo nozzle so much, dirt must fly everywhere!
I only ever use turbo nozzle on tarmac, use fsc and adjustable lance on block and paved areas.  Cuts down on clean up time and seems to me to be a little less barbaric then going hell for leather with the turbo.

Just my opinion and not meant in any way to be a criticism of those who do use the turbo.

Andy

[mav]

I think I need to have my set-up looked at,make sure my fsc is set up right

[drive surgeon]

same here mate,   i have a powertech 250 machine form tech clean which is 13hp combined with a whirlaway 20inch stainless steel, its ok on flags but not on blockpaving or tennis court, maybe i need to lower the spraybar or something?  just would not clean the tennis court at all.

[dandandan]

I got my whole kit off merrill fox and i`ve had it checked by Pirtec,no way is fsc anywere near as powerful as a turbo nozzle in my opinion,i`ve added  better nozzles to fsc and it stiil leaves grass and moss behind,i only make a real mess when i`m jammed in corners  or against walls with turbo,i`ve mastered mud direction in 3 months,ha ha

[drive surgeon]

where is pertec dandandan? might need mine checking.

[dandandan]

Pirtec,there a national franchise who deal in jcb and high pressure machinery,hydrolics repairs etc,they have vans everywere ,mostly sky blue mercedes with pictures all over them,great company