[geefree]

Hi,

I think we pay through the nose for a good working pole, which has to stand the vigours of continuous work , day in day out.

I do understand that tools in any trade need to be replaced, but i feel the poles we use should not wear out as quick as they do... ( spin happens within a week or two with  some main supplier poles)

how long does your pole last before it needs attention?and should we be demanding more for the money we pay ?

[roundbuilder]

favourite afordable pole of the forum is prob the famous 25ft slx which is roughly £250 off top of my head and lasts 2-4 years if looked after reasonably well.
Not a bad price considering it pays for itself in a days work.
if it only lasted 6 months it would still be a good buy.

[Dave Willis]

Don't have much choice really. How can the manufacturers suddenly reduce the price of a pole because it wears too fast?
Carbon fibre isn't particularly cheap and Gardiners High Modulous Extreme poles are probably cheaper than the carbon poles of seven and eight years ago. These days there is much more choice, you can have dirt cheap Harris poles very tough and cheap Brodex Aluminium poles, pretty cheap Hybrid poles right up to top of the range stuff.
I do agree that poles in general are a poor design - too much friction, but how can you stop pole wear?

[home6442]

My last pole lasted 4 years and is still going strong I only replaced it for a better and lighter model.
To be honest I wouldn't be over fussy when it comes to looking after poles just give the hose a rub
when putting it back in the van.
I adjust the clamps so that they never fully close and press the clamp until it feels tight so I never get
spin and this seems to make them last longer.

[ben M]

favourite afordable pole of the forum is prob the famous 25ft slx which is roughly £250 off top of my head and lasts 2-4 years if looked after reasonably well.
Not a bad price considering it pays for itself in a days work.
if it only lasted 6 months it would still be a good buy.

+1
even last 2 years,it's £10 month, i think we can all afford that

[Frankybadboy]

look at the same type of fishing poles and see if you still say the same

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

I use a 25ft SLX every day, it covers 99% of my entire work, so it gets used a lot. I'm on my second one since the day they were released which must be what, 5, 6 years ago?

 I reckon that's one hell of a bargain!!

[bobplum]

clx18 is my all day pole, i have had it 12 months and reckon i will get another 12 months cost just over £100.........i dont see that as being over priced, i do approximately 90 houses a week

[8weekly]

clx18 is my all day pole, i have had it 12 months and reckon i will get another 12 months cost just over £100.........i dont see that as being over priced, i do approximately 90 houses a week

Does that get over most conny roofs?

[Stephen Fox]

Hi,

I think we pay through the nose for a good working pole, which has to stand the vigours of continuous work , day in day out.

I do understand that tools in any trade need to be replaced, but i feel the poles we use should not wear out as quick as they do... ( spin happens within a week or two with  some main supplier poles)

how long does your pole last before it needs attention?and should we be demanding more for the money we pay ?

We've got some customers using the same Facelift poles for nearly 10 years and still used on a weekly if not daily basis. A lot of the issues with poles stem from clamp design (far to much friction) and carbon content (thinner walls aiming for lighter pole weights = more wear, less pole life). There is always a pay off

[richard jagger]

The question on fishing pole cost does make a good case.
1+

[PoleKing]

The question on fishing pole cost does make a good case.
1+

How much is a fishing pole?
Surely you can't get a 60/70/80ft fishing pole?

[bobplum]

clx18 is my all day pole, i have had it 12 months and reckon i will get another 12 months cost just over £100.........i dont see that as being over priced, i do approximately 90 houses a week

Does that get over most conny roofs?

yes, with a goose neck as well.
Most connys are 3mts deep, i appreciate no 2 are a like
Next one will be a clx22 as sometimes its a bit of a stretch

[Spruce]

The question on fishing pole cost does make a good case.
1+

Years back a few of us got involved with fishing pole conversions started by our Tosh. They were light, about 18' long and reasonably rigid. They were a vast improvement over our Unger Teleplus poles. With a Ron Thomson pole at £13.99, a brush at £2.99, you could make a pole for under £25.00.

We needed a light brush and the only decent one around was the Bentley brush which we converted. Some brushes worked well, others didn't.

The downside with the fishing poles was that they were modular. The ones we converted had 6 sections. My van was long enough to store them in sections of 2. For an average house we needed all 6 sections which meant the first walk from the van was to carry the poles to the furthest window. Then we went back to the van to pull the hose out.

Once we had done the tops, we needed to discard sections to do the lower windows, throwing them far enough out of the way so nobody stood on them. When completed, the first trip back to the van was with the remaining sections and the hose and the second was to retrieve the discarded sections. If you got interrupted and forgot them behind, then that meant a wasted trip back to the last house to find them.

In comparison to an old fiber glass telescopic pole they were no match for speed. I worked with a fellow window cleaner off my van for a few days when his van was broken, and the speed setup difference between him and me was embarrassing. I wasted so much time I calculated that would easily pay for SLX's with the increased productivity.

The price of carbon fiber poles has come down over the years despite the costs of raw materials going up. My wife was very upset when I purchased an SLX40. It was a similar cost to a return ticket to Australia plus a bit of spending money. 4 years on, make the same comparison.

In the early days, Facelift were the best poles, but price wise, they were out of reach for us. It was Gardiners that bought carbon fiber technology to the proverbial masses at an affordable price.

[Spruce]

The question on fishing pole cost does make a good case.
1+

How much is a fishing pole?
Surely you can't get a 60/70/80ft fishing pole?

Jeff Brimble has cleaned to 88' with a modular setup.

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=49014.0

[dazmond]

ive spent over £1800 on 3 poles,aqua-daptors and brushes this year!

are they worth it?in my day to day working life id say yes as working with mega light poles and brushes makes my day very easy.

im hoping to get 3 years out of my main pole(extreme 25) and 5 or 6 years out of extreme 47 and 22 slx poles.time will tell though.

regards


dazmond

[PoleKing]

ive spent over £1800 on 3 poles,aqua-daptors and brushes this year!

are they worth it?in my day to day working life id say yes as working with mega light poles and brushes makes my day very easy.

im hoping to get 3 years out of my main pole(extreme 25) and 5 or 6 years out of extreme 47 and 22 slx poles.time will tell though.

regards


dazmond

Have you Daz?
You never mentioned...

[MWC]

ive spent over £1800 on 3 poles,aqua-daptors and brushes this year!

are they worth it?in my day to day working life id say yes as working with mega light poles and brushes makes my day very easy.

im hoping to get 3 years out of my main pole(extreme 25) and 5 or 6 years out of extreme 47 and 22 slx poles.time will tell though.

regards


dazmond

Have you Daz?
You never mentioned...

I've spent £1801 on 3 poles and a pen

[gary999]

I didn't spend £1800 on poles....I went to crete instead far more
interesting

[Ian101]

When u look at other businesses our only real expense apart from van is pure water and a pole so I think prices are ok only pennies a day over the 3 year pole life.