Looking to buy a pressure washer

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My mom decided that she wants to buy a pressure washer since our landllors is the laziest person in the world, and is too broke to do anything. She wants to buy it from sears because of their protection plan, and so she can put it on her sears card. Anyway, these are the ones I'm considering, and I'd like your opinion. We want something halfway decent, and I want something with an OHV engine, whether Honda or Briggs.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07175253000P?prdNo=7&blockNo=7&blockType=G7

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07175291000P?prdNo=5&blockNo=5&blockType=G5

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07175287000P?prdNo=9&blockNo=9&blockType=G9
 
I wouldn't hold out high hopes for the pumps on any of those. I can't tell for sure, but they look like they were made by FNA Group/FAIP. If you can find something in the budget with a CAT, Comet, or General pump that would be ideal. With the protection plan though, you should be covered if you get a bad one.

Either of those engines should be great.
 
why does she want to spruce up somebody else's property? And go into debt over it? Be careful.

Id go to HD and buy one with a CAT pump, myself...
 
The protection plan from Sears is a rip. Big profit for the employee who sells it to you. Most of the pressure washers have cheap pumps and will not last as long as a quality pump. The last one on your list is Calif only because of emissions. The ones you suggest are all made by MTD which makes consumer grade stuff. They are not the worst but far from the best. However you would need to spend what you are suggesting for a good pump alone, much less an entire washer.

The better ones are horizontal engine, and even better are belt driven.

What are you looking to do? Second floor?

I am up to 4 pressure washers. One is a cheap Cambell Hausfeld electric that I bought used for $25 and its great for many things. The big one is a hot water one.

I am actually going to sell one or two used. You are not very far, I live in New Lebanon. One used one I bought to fix. The guy let it freeze. So I have a brand new high quality pump, not the cheap replacement. Have not even put the pump on yet.
 
Because she will eventually own a house, once my dad gets out of the navy, and it will be nice to already have the stuff. Also, because it might be his property, but we've lived here for 4 years, and will be for at least the next 2, probably 3 or 4 more.


Also they pay off their credit cards every month, 2 months at the most, so it's not a big deal on that front.

Originally Posted By: Donald
The protection plan from Sears is a rip. Big profit for the employee who sells it to you. Most of the pressure washers have cheap pumps and will not last as long as a quality pump. The last one on your list is Calif only because of emissions. The ones you suggest are all made by MTD which makes consumer grade stuff. They are not the worst but far from the best. However you would need to spend what you are suggesting for a good pump alone, much less an entire washer.

The better ones are horizontal engine, and even better are belt driven.

What are you looking to do? Second floor?

I am up to 4 pressure washers. One is a cheap Cambell Hausfeld electric that I bought used for $25 and its great for many things. The big one is a hot water one.

I am actually going to sell one or two used. You are not very far, I live in New Lebanon. One used one I bought to fix. The guy let it freeze. So I have a brand new high quality pump, not the cheap replacement. Have not even put the pump on yet.


Yes second floor. I doubt I could convince her to buy a used one from someone. I would myself, but not her. There is a horizontal one at sears with a briggs horizontal shaft OHV engine.
 
Yeah...steer clear of the protection plan. Even when someone competent works on it, he/she will be four states away and it can take weeks. People bring mowers to me that Sears "technicians" have worked on. We have a good laugh when I put the springs or linkage or belt on the correct way. Seriously, you will find a few very good, very competent techs at a Sears or Sears authorized repair shop, but it's a gamble. I think they hire a lot of cheap summer help.

Sears salesmen hate me. I'll go in to get a blade or something and talk two or three people into visiting the local Ace Hardware to buy a middle of the road Toro for a hundred dollars more. Sometimes while the salesman is "selling" them.

Yeah...I'm a d$%k.
 
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Sears are probably as good as the other MTD made ones at HD or Lowes. If you are careful with not letting it freeze and not letting it run for more than a few minutes with the trigger not pulled you should be OK.

I think the engine and pump are cheaply made, just that its harder to kill the engine than the pump.
 
If you buy anything with a Faip pump, you better run Synthetic oil in it if you want it to last any length of time.
 
I went to look today the pumps on all of them are made by annovi. should i be concerned ? Im debating between the two 3000psi units. One horizontal shaft with the 900 series briggs and the other with a 875 series vertical shaft unit. Price is similar. The 900 is a Chinesebuilt briggs and
the 875 is a US-made engine
 
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Annovi pumps are not the worst, but they aren't the greatest either. They are on the lower end of pumps, but for light residential use are okay.

I have a "Powerstroke" pressure washer with a Honda GC160 horizontal engine and an Annovi pump. I got it in 2010 as a "reconditioned" model. So far no issues, but it sees pretty light use.
 
Seriously I'm looking at these two.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07175298000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07175253000P?prdNo=7&blockNo=7&blockType=G7


They are the exact same price, exact same pressure and flow. The only difference is that one is a horizontal shaft, 9.0Lb/ft chinese made Briggs, the other is a vertical shaft, 8.75lb/ft briggs with a big "Made in USA" sticker on it.

Which one would you pick?

Also in anticipation of getting either one, I picked up a bottle of Mobil 1 75W-90 gear oil for the pump.
 
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I've got last year's version of this one:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07175253000P?prdNo=7&blockNo=7&blockType=G7

IIRC it's 2700PSI with the Briggs OHV engine that's made in the USA. It is the same unit Briggs sells under their brand.

Only issue is that the selector wand won't stay on one of the settings (IIRC the lower pressure) which I'll get replaced under the 2 year warranty.

I've got no issues with the pump - it's powerwashed our house, gutters, and the driveway and sidewalk. I use pump saver after every use and it seems to be working fine.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Also in anticipation of getting either one, I picked up a bottle of Mobil 1 75W-90 gear oil for the pump.


From what I've read you don't use gear oil in the pump. You use a special lubricant that resists foaming and is made for the harsh environment. It's not a gearcase.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Seriously I'm looking at these two.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07175298000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07175253000P?prdNo=7&blockNo=7&blockType=G7


They are the exact same price, exact same pressure and flow. The only difference is that one is a horizontal shaft, 9.0Lb/ft chinese made Briggs, the other is a vertical shaft, 8.75lb/ft briggs with a big "Made in USA" sticker on it.

Which one would you pick?

Also in anticipation of getting either one, I picked up a bottle of Mobil 1 75W-90 gear oil for the pump.


Of those two, I would go with the top one. It will be very easy to change out the pump if it ever has a problem. You would have plenty of room to throw a CAT pump or something else on if you wanted to. That's a pretty good sized engine for a pressure washer too and could probably power a higher capacity pump just fine. The downside is that with the wheels oriented to the front of the frame, it will be a little awkward to roll around. Ones that tilt back and roll are a little easier to maneuver around.

I would get a can of Pump Saver for the pump. It's sold under a variety of brands, often Briggs & Stratton brand, and you can probably find it at any place that sells pressure washers.
 
Why not rent a pressure washer when you need it? $400-500 gets you a cheap PW that probably isn't going to last all that long, but should get the avg person years of rentals.
 
Well we went with the vertical shaft one with the 875 series OHV Briggs. Mostly because American made engine, and mom likes the craftsman brand (even though both were made by Briggs & Stratton). Took it home, put it together, filled the sump with Rotella T6 5W-40, started it up, and in the words of my mom after trying it out

"This thing's a BEAST!" The pump certainly loads the engine, and it gives a heck of a kick. It's certainly no slouch. The engine started on the 2nd pull, and ran strong. It's pretty quiet too, at least when not under load. And it's still pretty quiet even when under load, too.

The reason we didn't rent is because we are the kind of people that would prefer to buy our own, than rent repeatedly, for this kind of thing. My mom went with the 3 year protection agreement (We do this on most major purchases, and it's worked out well for us in the past). and beyond that, the pump looks easy to replace so no problems there either. It's a good thing, because pressure washing this house, the deck, and the garage floor is going to be a big job. Feels like it's up to the task.

I'll post pics tomorrow.
 
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Originally Posted By: Nick R
Well we went with the vertical shaft one with the 875 series OHV Briggs. Mostly because American made engine, and mom likes the craftsman brand (even though both were made by Briggs & Stratton). Took it home, put it together, filled the sump with Rotella T6 5W-40, started it up, and in the words of my mom after trying it out

"This thing's a BEAST!" The pump certainly loads the engine, and it gives a heck of a kick. It's certainly no slouch. The engine started on the 2nd pull, and ran strong. It's pretty quiet too, at least when not under load. And it's still pretty quiet even when under load, too.

The reason we didn't rent is because we are the kind of people that would prefer to buy our own, than rent repeatedly, for this kind of thing. My mom went with the 3 year protection agreement (We do this on most major purchases, and it's worked out well for us in the past). and beyond that, the pump looks easy to replace so no problems there either. It's a good thing, because pressure washing this house, the deck, and the garage floor is going to be a big job. Feels like it's up to the task.

I'll post pics tomorrow.


If you rent you will be pushed to work hard and get it done quickly so it can be returned. Wives/moms like that. If you buy one you can be a lazy a$$ and take the whole summer to finish. If you bought one with a broken pump for cheap, you could take all this summer installing a new CAT pump and then do the pressure washing next summer. Hmm, which option to choose.
 
If you have any type of driveway you will be doing then surface cleaner is a must. HD sells this one for $70.

5afb3965-dc15-427f-b172-717f5c1259be_100.jpg
 
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