[pjulk]

For those of you who have a backpack and a trolley which would you say would be the quickest to use in most situations.

I have a trolley at the moment and use about 15 ltrs of water on most houses top and bottom.

Now a back pack holds just over this and was thinking i could probably get round quicker with one as i can fill it quicker than my trolley and just grab and go.

Mind you im not going to wear it on my back and ive now seen them for £175

Your views on this will be most helpfull

[AuRavelling79]

OK - I use both - I've had Peter Fogwill's trolley for just over a year and a shurflo backpack for a couple of weeks. (I also have a 125L tank and a 30m hose in the car).

For most of my domestic stuff the trolley is still tops (where I have more than one house to clean in a road). The backpack scores where I have the odd house to do or at a school or commercial where the hose won't reach and I want to quickly get to a couple of out of the way windows - or through garages and houses where rear access is awkward.

But - I have a cunning plan - with a hacksaw and a bit of grunt I think I can adapt the trolley so that I can choose whether to carry either 2 x 25L barrels or 1 x 25L barrel plus the backpack (which you can squeeze 18 litres into. Then I've got the best of both worlds - a bit of water capacity (45Litres, cuz you can get 27L in a nominal 25L barrel) and I can lift away the backpack where needed or just leave it in situ.

The backpack is too heavy for comfort for me to carry on my back with more than 10L in it and when full is a weight to carry with one hand and the pole/hose/brush in the other.

[pjulk]

Thanks malc.

Maybe my trolley would still be top then.
But i have some stuff which is awkward for the trolley which would be great for a back pack so i think it will be a worthwhile investment and that way i always have a backup if the trolley packed up.

Paul

[ronaldo]

Paul i have both trolley and backpack!

Since the backpack arrived 2 weeks ago i havent even used the trolley.
If only i had brought the backpack first, i would have saved myself a nice few quid.
But the trolley is there if i need it i suppose 

[AuRavelling79]

Funny old world - see my thread on "Different kinds of wfp kit"

[Stevie G]

This is my opinion


Backpack - this has many advantages over the Trolley.

1.  You can move around with relative ease........

Okay, there is a weight issue.  Filling the 18L tank up to capacity, and then putting it on your back does prove to be a wee bit on the heavy side and awkward especially if you keep moving about (the water is pushing and pulling you about counteracting your movements), but once you have cleaned about 5 houses you get into a rythym.

As long as you have secured the top and bottom straps so that it fits to your body and you stand chest out-ish, there shouldnt be many problems.  Yes if you have back or arthritis problems its not advisable to put it on your back.  I am 24, 6ft, and 9st 11 (slightly underweight), and at times my left shoulder starts to go, but you persevere.    Buying a sack trolley or similar is advisable, but we will have to look into its benefits.

For getting to awkward windows, where there might be plants, sheds, furniture, etc it is much easier to use a backpack because you only have to think about the pole and the microbore hose getting caught on something (but this comes with playing about with your set-up). 

When you find the correct set-up its a doddle.    Sourcing all the correct bits and finding the happy medium will take time.  Without a place like Cleanitup we wouldnt have been so positive about window cleaning. 

* WFP has a long way to go before becoming the standard way of cleaning windows.  There are many stupid human beings preventing this.  People have to be educated! *


Trolley

The only good thing about the trolley set-up (Freedom) is the fact that the water container is larger @ 25L, but as far as moving the bugger about its just a big performance........getting in and out of our van (Vauxhall Astravan) is a b'stard because it doesnt have barn doors. 

I just cant see past the aggro.   

[Andrew McCann]

Easy fix for upward opening rear doors.

The problem is caused because the ladders on the roof are overhanging at the rear so the door wont open fully. The fix is to use the screw down ladders securers and have little or no overhang at the rear. Problem fixed.


We used 2 estate cars and did this. Set up time no more than 30 secs max doing it this way. Nearer 15 secs when you get into the swing of it.

Cheers

Andrew

[dai]

I have both a trolley and a backpack, well two trolleys really as the backpack sits on one too. A shopping trolley frame is ideal for the backpack as it weighs next to nothing. I mainly use the big trolley with 40 or 50 litres on it. I find that with 30 metres of micro bore hose on the reel i can leave the trolley at the front and just pull out enough hose to do the backs. It's like having a van mount without the parking and van moving problems. I know you have to go back to the van to change the containers, but how many times would you need to move the van if the tank was mounted in it? My Mrs uses the backpack on a different trolley, that too has a hose reel fitted. Most of my work is on modern estates, these are so compact that if the wheelie bin is left at the side, you can barely sqeeze past it, let alone take your trolley. Dai

[Mick (UHPS)]

I have 2 30L trolleys and 2 Schurflo backpacks.

The trolleys are at the back of the garage

When you get used to the weight of the backpack they are so much quicker.

Mick

[AuRavelling79]

I've got Peter Fogwills trolley - by spreading the bars by half an inch each side the shurflo backpack fits where a 25L barrel sits so I have now started to put a 25L barrel and the shurflo (18L) on the trolley and use it where each fits the job - fronts and accessible backs - from the barrel on the trolley - inaccessible by trolley? lift off the backpack and go round the back with it.

As water gets low in the barrel or the backpack you can top each one up as necessary from the other.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

[D.Salkeld_Ltd]

I,ve only been WFP for a month.  But my opinion is - Backpack, unanimousley!!

The problem with the Backpack is filling it from the barrels?  Did my back in!!!
Carrying the backpack is a doddle!!

So I fitted out my trailer. 
The idea was to put a rack on the back to hold the backpack so as I can put it on at back hieght.
I bought a caravan 12v pump 12ltr/min wich fills the backpack in 1 1/2 mins.

The backpack lasts about 25 - 30 windows before running out.  I use the first slowest setting for normal cleans and the second setting for first cleans, plenty of water!

[windows_chepstow]

I don't think it's really a case of Backpack Verses Trolley,  more of a case of what your type of work is like and what vehicle you can afford.

I've a 50 litre system in my shed; unused; because much of my round has access issues.

The Backpack gives you complete freedom to go anywhere you want to.  I'm not 'hard' enough to carry it on my back, so a sack truck suits me, and when even a sack truck is too big, I carry the 'bugger' with a rope handle.

If I had a better quality round, with less access issues, and a small van, I think a 50 litre trolley and 30 meters of hose would be great; better than a backpack.

A van-mounted system would be even better!

[Jeff Brimble]

Just finished knocking up a grab and go that drops on an army pack frame and also on my eight wheeler trolley.  One prob with any trolley is how to clean where the trolley wont go, So a grab and go is the natural answer, but a problem with a pac used like this is the hose tangling and tripping you up when out fully extended,  so I have clamped a hoselock box on the top. The big handle with the hose box is used for carrying it about.
The container, pimp and battery all fit in a plastic pop crate and can also suck from a bigger container if needed. The lot fits inside a "cindico"/mclaren" folding pushchair which means that you can run with it if needed. I find it more civilised to stand upright and not have to be bent double pulling things behind you. Under neath it is the spare water containers and its easy to refill at waist height Its also got 3 pole holders screwed on the side. Oh and you can also stand on it to reach over and open gates.
It fits in the boot tray complete with the hose reel ready to go, so can be used as a van mount and as its all plastic is light.
So its an all purpose, "backpack/trolley/van mount/grab and go". Or whatever floats ya boat.

[brett walker]

My backpack comes in very handy got a few properties where theres no access to get to the back, just half fill it and carry it straight through the house.  Job done.
It gives you advantages to get awkward jobs done, great piece of kit but wouldnt be without my trolley either

Brett

[D.Salkeld_Ltd]

Tosh,

Suprised at you, ex army, I would of thought a 20kg backpack would be no prob to you!!

Sereously,  I realy can't see the problem with wearing the Shurflo Backpack

David

[Jeff Brimble]

David get the uprated and extra padding fitted on the 1985 mod issues, they have extra shoulder and rib padding. Any type of extra padding will do, paticulary over the shoulder blades. My pack weighs 16kg full.

[stuart webster]

I can't imagine not having a van mounted system. I have a backpack for difficult access, but, on Tosh's suggestion, have put it on a suitcase trolly to make it easier to carrry. (And like Tosh, i'm an average size of 5'7", not some freak over 5'10  )

That said we make work what we have. I'm looking to take on larger jobs and ditch small ones so van is the only way to go.

[D.Salkeld_Ltd]

Jeff,

I agree there mate.  The waist strap is way too narrow and that is where the weight should be taken.  I am about to canabalise an old large rucksack with a lovely waist belt.

Bear,

Each to his own, iff you'r happy then good.  Am I right in thinking you, as me, have just gone over to WFP?

David

[windows_chepstow]

Tosh,

Suprised at you, ex army, I would of thought a 20kg backpack would be no prob to you!!

Sereously,  I realy can't see the problem with wearing the Shurflo Backpack

David

David,

There's a saying in the army that goes like this, 'Any fool can be cold'.

It basically means that it's not 'hard' to be cold, but the smarter soldiers know how to stay warm in cold climates.

Anyway, I was a clerk in the army; a 'thinking man's soldier', aka 'shiny arse'.  I could carry heavy weights up hills and stuff, but I never really enjoyed it. 

And when I was promoted to Staff Sergeant and given a Warrant Officers post, it was great.  I didn't even have to get off my fat bottom to photocopy stuff.  I could delegate jobs like that!  Sometimes people mistook my rank and called me 'Sir'.  Then I could tell them off for it.

It was great!

But back to the post, I suggest that anyone that uses a backpack puts it on one of those collapsable sack trucks.

Why make life difficult?

[Andrew McCann]

Wearing a backpack for WFPing on your back unless you are directly under the window you are working on and standing well back so that you are in a good upright posture is asking for trouble.. period. Watch the Army guys "yomping". They are well instructed on posture. Notice that they are usually leaning slightly forwards.

As somone with a back problem I know how a slightly wrong posture,twist etc can lay you up for weeks in agony.

Remember that when WFPing you are normally looking upwards.. so the tendency is to bend your back towards the rear. Tosh is very correct...  put it on a trolley unless the usage conditions are ideal.

Cheers

Andrew