Home owner pressure washer

[Capemay Eagle]

Me and my wife are looking to buy a pressure washer and we are not sure which one to buy. We just need it for basic jobs around the house siding, gutters, wood furniture and power equip etc.. What is a decent machine. We were in Home Depot tonight and we saw a Honda excell 2800psi marked down from $499 to $429. Is this a good deal??. Or can I get away with just some thing smaller. Any help appreciated. Thanks

[capelawncare.com]

that should be plenty for what you need it for.

[Stillwater]

that excell is nice

[Capemay Eagle]

I looked at another in Wal Mart the other night 6.5 Briggs 2500psi I think it was a Brute. It was $258.00. looked like any other. I may only use this thing three or four times a year. I am just looking for the best model for a cheap price.

[roushjh]

I think the Wal-mart model will be just fine for you. People get all wrapped up in the PSI. What really makes your job go faster is the GPM. Most homeowners think the more PSI the better. The more psi, the more damage you can do. You're going to be using this very lightly around the house, so don't be concerned with what engine it has. Who cares if it last 2000 hours or 200 hours. You probably won't use it 200 hours within the next 20 years anyway. Save your dollars now!

I have a 2 $13K pressure washers that only put out 3000 psi, but they put out 9 gallons per minute. I mainly do wood and 1000 psi is usually enough. We only have 3000 psi for the concrete.

[Capemay Eagle]

Originally Posted by roushjh

I think the Wal-mart model will be just fine for you. People get all wrapped up in the PSI. What really makes your job go faster is the GPM. Most homeowners think the more PSI the better. The more psi, the more damage you can do. You're going to be using this very lightly around the house, so don't be concerned with what engine it has. Who cares if it last 2000 hours or 200 hours. You probably won't use it 200 hours within the next 20 years anyway. Save your dollars now!

I have a 2 $13K pressure washers that only put out 3000 psi, but they put out 9 gallons per minute. I mainly do wood and 1000 psi is usually enough. We only have 3000 psi for the concrete.

Thanks, I think It will be fine as well. This is really my wife's idea to buy a pressure washer. She has mentioned it a few times we should get one. It just sounds like more work around the house to me. This is really last on the list, but she insist we get it, so you know how that goes . But like you said I only plan on doing the siding and her outdoor wood furniture that I want to put in the trash, and maybe hit the hustler when it get a little cruddy. This machine will deffinalty do more siting that working.

[Capemay Eagle]

Well I went into my local BJ's today and on an Impulse I bought a pressure washer. I got a Karcher G 2401 OH. It is 2400psi and about 2.5 gallon pm and has a Honda 5 horse. I paid $199.90 for it, seemed like a great deal considering that I searched around and saw that some other stores sell it for $399.00. I researched some reviews and It got good and bad reviews. It seems like there is a problem with the uploader, apparently it was not greased very well at the factory when it was assembled. There is a diagram that shows how to fix this, seems very easy all you need is a #30 TORX and a screw driver and just follow the steps and use some white grease. Some of these reviews are 3-5 years old so this problem could be fixed and I got a good buy. Well I am just going to give it hell and see what happens, for the price if I have to grease the uploader then I will just do it. I kinda think that this model is better than the Wal-Mart model I looked at. So does anyone have any input on Karcher pressure washers??.

[Nosmo]

From what I have read Karcher is a respected name but any company can have a bad one now and then.

I just bought one myself yesterday (Karcher) it is an electric model. Model 3.86 1,800 PSI -- 1.5 GPM. Got it with a 10% discount because it was the last they had and no manual with it. No problem I've already downloaded the 16 page manual. They are stocked up on a Model 3.68
for 159.97 so they let me have this one at that price less 10%.

Used it on my Tank ZTR and the mower looked like something in the showroom. Cut the grease and oil loose and I used Ajax dishwashing orange soap in the tank.

Happy with this one as it is for use only for small projects around the house and shop.

Nosmo

[Az Gardener]

I too am in the marker for a pressure washer and I did a search and came across this recent thread, lucky me. I just want to add that a local rental store advised me to look for "Cat" and "General" brand pumps as you can get replacement parts. They advised against the "excel" brand as no parts are available.

They told me anything less than $$ 300-400 is a disposable unit. I know this first hand as I have had 3 cheapies that didn't last a month. I was able to return all 3 but it soured me on them.

We use it to clean our equipment and some bird crap on driveways and walls for clients. Thanks for the tip on GPM as opposed to PSI. Any other tips welcome.

[Capemay Eagle]

Well I can say that I am very impressed with the Karcher 2400psi. I used it the other day for about 4hrs. It has plenty of power, cleaned the concrete to its original fashion and it cleaned the gutters and the siding on the house perfectly. I figure for $199.90 I already got my moneys worth everything I get out of it now is a bonus..The only thing I don't like about the unit is the spray hose is very thin and tends to kink a bit, it is not that bad of a problem but it bugs me a bit. I think I can upgrade this, but no hurry..