Mike
I've got along for five years with cheaper options, on more than one occasion I have had to return to base, with two broken pressure washers and swap for two more.
My work is not like most on here, who can tinker in their garages and work locally or in a reasonable radius.
We earn really well from the work but for that the client expects end product & reliability. I can clean everything, on a supermarket, with a three man team in five days. Everything!
I have a great machine in the H & M and I also now have the support of an incredible machine in the Thor, most of you don't do drain jetting so would never need the flow rates I work with but to have 35LPM minimum on pressure washing speeds the process up massively, I don't blow away a little lichen, Algae & moss - it is as hard as pressure washing will ever be.
I went to a store in Pocklington - York on Friday to clean a small car park - 300m2 or thereabouts, pristine Tarmac that wanted a little dust cleaning off. They weren't ready for me.
Sunday when I went back to do it it looked like a farmers field because all of the landscaping had been worked on.
Just over six hours later it was back to as good as new but it took 12000 litres to get it done that quick, if I had a lesser machine it might not have been as clean and I would have still been there on Monday.
You get what you pay for and I pay for reliability. The cost is relative. The Thor is probably the best portable cold water pressure washer that you can buy in this country. If there was another I would buy it. For a single operator unit it would be expensive but it isn't and can still give each gun 20LPM.
If someone knows of another that will match its performance I would be interested to know but I haven't found it yet. having stood next to one and seen how it operates and the build quality I do know what I am talking about.
There will always be cheaper ways of doing things - I don't need to go down that route!
Rob