Newbie Question? Gearing up.

[cbowley]

Hello all:

My name is Chuck Bowley and I live in Great Falls, MT. I am in the planning stages of a part time business wich I hope to start next spring, I will be starting out doing flat work (drive ways, side walks, parking lots etc) I, like everyone else in this world am on a budget and money is always tight. I do have a full time job as an aviation mechanic but would like to venture out and explore new possibilitys for extra income. I would like some advice on the minimum equipment needed to start out slow, I already have a 4x8 trailer I will be using and I will be gathering the rest of my equipment over the winter months so I will hopefully be ready to hit it hard when spring time comes. I want to start off slow and easy and progress as money and experiance allows. Right now I just want to put it all together 1 piece at a time. Thanks

Chuck

[Mark Gallison]

Hey Chuck
I do a lot of flatwork and I started out with a 4000psi 4 gal hot machine that I still have today.. I wouldn’t work with anything less than that. Also you’ll need heat! Cant clean concrete well, especially remove gum without heat. A surface cleaner is a must in my book as well. It does such a nice job getting the surface evenly clean. You should be reclaiming you water as well and disposing of it correctly. In some situations where the water won’t run into storm drains you can be ok without reclaim. We presoak surface as needed with a degreaser, let dwell 10-15 mins, surface clean then follow with a good rinse while spot cleaning gum.

Good luck!