[Mike Halliday]

Steve, You did'nt just raise questions , you then proceded to answer them. You did'nt answer them with positive reasons to buy a truckmount but with  negative reasons.

T/M user don;t feel offended by these question but as they are outnumbered by portable user who will jump in with a supposbly good reason why a portable will give just as good a result as a T/M (Eg; Pauls comment that the Eclipse is slashing the differance betreen portables & T/M ) or how a bonnet system will do just as good a job on commercial cleaning.

also this topic has been covered so may times and it always follows the same path, it would be better to just have some pre-written answers that people could just cut & paste.

Eg;

 I work on the 15th floor
I can't park in city centres
I can't leave the van doors open
my hoses will get dirty
my portable will do just as good a job
its the operator, not the machine
etc..etc..etc

in some ways I feel these topics are subliminally insulting to T/M owners, its almost saying 'why have you been stupid and bought a 15K T/M when you could spend 3k and get the same results'

these are just my thoughts and not representative of all T/M owners

Mike

[Doug Holloway]

Mike,

If your happy with what you are using then you will not feel insulted

I know both Lee and Glynn have seen big business growth since going TM , have you found the same?

Cheers,

Doug

[David_Annable]

I would love to have a new van + TM set up on my drive, but I cant afford it.

The reason I cant afford it is that I cant get enough people to pay me proper money for CC.

Dave

[Mike Halliday]

Doug, no

the only thing that make a business grow is the attitude & gumption of the person who owns it

Mike

[Dave Ingram]

Don’t you just love constructive criticism; I think I’ll wait a little longer before I give my opinion?

[paul@ctcs]

Mike,

The Introduction of machines such as the Recoil and Eclipse has closed the performance gap between portables and TM's, that fact can not be disputed! For me a high power porty suits my work load, I'll be honest I would never go back to a machine with 135psi or similar, as your aware with your TM, the extra solution pressure makes achieveing great results far easier and quicker
 Too many of my jobs would not be practical for a TM with parking and security, for example, the snooker centres have to be cleaned through the night and are in a busy parts of town renowned for larger louts, etc. I wouldnt want to leave a van door open with this type of idiot hanging about.
There is no doubt a TM is ideal for alot of situations, a majority of commercials do benefit from Extracting at least once a year but can be effectively maintained with a good LM system.
Again as others have stated I'm not knocking TM's there is no doubt there performance is better than portables, and as I have discovered with the Eclipse the extra power does make getting results far easier therefore quicker hence more productive, At some point If ctcs continues to grow I wouldnt mind adding a TM to my arsenal

Paul

[Glynn]

If all this "access" to jobs etc is such a big concern, then how is it that all the guys I talked to who said they WAS going to keep at least one portable, for those  "hard to get to jobs" have now SOLD them ?
They are now only using TMs. This includes myself.
I initially kept two portables, then sold one, then after 15 months of not using it I sold it and I have only ever needed it once since for a single lounge that turned out I did anyway with 10 minutes of hose management.

One other point, A friend of mine who is hopefully coming into this indusrty is buying a TM, he came to the show with me. Now, he has been with me on jobs for over 20 years on and off using portables in fact he worked for me years ago, so he knows about portables. He started coming out on jobs with me again recently obviously with the TM, his initial opinion was one of complete suprise on the power, ease of setting up and more importantly the massive amount of time saved not filling and emptying and carrying water about.
This friend Mick, was involved in a serious motorcycle accident 18 month ago and has left him with reduced leg movement so a portable would be out of the question, but he finds through actual experience that he can handle a TM. So his only interest in entering into this proffession is to be truckmount.

I know a lot of the negative opinions stated on the forums re TMs are hinged on money.
But just like myself who openly shunned TMs , I eventually learned that I was wrong, and that I wish I have made the move many years ago, I could have made a lot more money.

In a nut shell a TM is a money making machine, with plenty appeal from both the public and operator alike.

It took people like Simon Gerrard, Dave Ingram, Lee Gundry, Gordon Williams,  Richie, etc etc ages to convince me, but I'm glad they did.
I hope to put another on the road asap.

Regards

Glynn

[Karl Wildey]

Horses for courses,
I use a tm and portable, A tm is not the one and only machine you need, but it will clean faster and better than any portable, and I hope no one will argue with that, but you can't clean a sissal carpet or belgian wilton with a truck mount, you can't clean a carpet up a tower block after so many floor, you can't clean a carpet in a house when you can't park near that house either cos you can't park on the house side of the road or it is too far away and is not worth the hassle. If you can't clean with a tm you use a porable instead.
You can use a tm to do a large commercail jobs,  large houses etc, quicker and better than a portable. As most tm owners will tell you the hourly rate you make is far highjer than with a portable. Argue this you may, but all you argueing don't have a tm, do you.

Do not buy a tm if you can't afford it, or do not have a large client base, cos they are expensive, but they don't break down as often as portables and you don't have to replace the pumps and vacs every year, so big outlay, cheap running costs.
As for all those negative thoughts over the last 3 pages, I had all thoses before I pruchased, ie. dirty hoses, someone stealing the van, people tripping over hoses etc, has anyone every read a post on this site were one of those negative thoughts has happened. No, then maybe cos they don't.

Every been and quoted a massive job and never got it? Maybe one of the other quoters told the enquirer about his tm and its benefits againist a portable.
Worth thinking about,
No actually its not, please carry on using your portables, and .....................................................

[GreenGlides]

Wow!
that was a good read.

I wonder, Do you have local No name TM builders in your area?

I would never buy a big name TM, (save maybe a used Vortex) as we had our 25/47 TM built for under $6K US and since currently 1 lb = $1.92 USD, that is already a sizeable chunk of dough.

I still think you could build a good basic machine with a mechanic friend.


How much would you pay for a 20-25hp motor?
a #4 blower?
2500 psi pump?
Silencer?
70 gal waste tank?
couplings, connectors and misc parts?
angle iron for frame?

[mark_roberts]

Greenie

You yanks have it easy as far as truckmount pricing goes.

Over here there are no 'no name' buiders apart from a Mr Halliday

A Hydramaster Boxer will run to £14k/$25 for all the bells and whistles.

Petrol is 80p/$1.45 a litre.

Now you can see why there are so many portable users.

Mark

PS. maybe theres a gap in the market for a yank to import no name truckmounts for less £££.  Quality mounts of course.

[Mike Halliday]

I've got a petrol  and a diesel which both cost around £1200 to make, the problem is finding a cheap manufacture of tanks & hose reels.

Mark if you have the bane tanks & hoses you should make one, its easy and you won't regret it

Mike

[GreenGlides]

I think I like Mike already. 

I've got pics of our mount, you are welcome to duplicate, if i can figure out how to post.  If I had a BANE I would most definitely be converting it to petro, you have all the basic componnets there, but i would add a Kunkle valve for the small 3.3 blower.

California Yank

[Len Gribble]

Time to turn it around Steve W why did you buy the Ninja when say steemeasy at half the cost would produce the same results?

Most of the cleaning is done by the pre vac, pre-spray and agitation. The main part of the extraction process is to simply rinse the carpet clean and leave it as dry as possible. In my view I have never had a problem using my portable alongwith other accessories.

Waiting with anticipation.

Len

[Steve Weatherley]

I got the Ninja as my first machine - my introduction into carpet cleaning if you like. I accept that at this time my knowledge was limited as it is now. It may well be the case that I could have spent less on another machine and got the same result though I have never used the Steameasy to compare it's results with the Ninja.  Indeed I am learning each day (I suppose that goes for you too - or do you know it all now?). This is why I have been asking the questions re T/M to expand my knowledge.
Len - when we spoke over the phone last month, I asked you questions re T/M you were going to come and demonstrate the T/M to me but when I PM'd you with directions you didn't show. A pity butI'm sure you had good reasons so maybe another time.

I understand from reading these posts that all you T/M users feel that you have benefitted by using a T/M and have managed to obtain better results with one as well as increase your client base. It's good to hear these views because I have got them from the professionals such as yourselves rather than the salesmen.

Finally if any T/M users within a 100 mile radius of Canterbury are interested in some free help for the day I would be more than interested. I'd like to see a T/Min action. Also hope I haven't offended anybody   

[CARPET KNIGHTS]

I love my truckmount i think it's great. but one of the things that is a bit annoying about it is the noise. i bet the neighbours get a little annoyed at times. but then it doesn't last long and maybe those neighbours will be intrigued rather than annoyed and call me in aswell.

[Glynn]

Steve
Why not come to our SDO ?, there will be plenty of TMs running on real carpet.

[Dave_Lee]

Well put Glynn. Karl Ive got a small TM and clean loads of Belgian Wilton without problems as I know Glynn and other TM users do as a matter of routine,
Greenie sorry to nit pick, but over here LBs are weight, and £s is currency.
I too got shut of my Cheyanne 3 and my Pro Plus eventually when It dawned on me I no longer needed them.
Dave.

[Dave Parry]

Been reading this thread with interest. I started out with a ninja. After 18 months I had saved enough to buy a t/m (a boxxer). Since then (12 months) I have used the ninja once to clean carpets (used 3 or 4 times to dry clean curtains). I would now rather stay at home and watch bargain hunt than use my porty. Why, Because its faster, leaves carpets dryer, and impresses customers more than my ninja. I also use it on upholstery, where it is only slightly faster if at all, but does leave them dryer. I would not get rid of my porty at the moment as a sort of life line, just in case, but there really is no comparison. But if my all work was in a city centre or at a height capable of giving nose bleeds then a portable would be the way to go. Personally I would move.
Oh I used my porty because I could not find any way of getting the t/m in and the customer gives me lots of work, so didn't want to let them down. This is the only case i've had in the year I've had my t/m when I was unable to use it.

[GreenGlides]

£  Found it!  Alt+0163

Thanks.

I'll do better not to sound like such a Yank.

[Ian Gourlay]

Dave,

Did i just read in 18 months f carpet cleaning you acheived enough profit to buy a truckmount outright

Congrats.

I better pull my finger out and get on with it .

Regrettably I do think whos got the best equipment , van etc makes a difference in getting some jobs.  Its not always lower price.

PaulCTS although your Eclipse is obviouisly a briiliant machine as far as customer is concerned its just a portable. True you have already sold her with your leaflet etc but you still another portable user. The pump sounds  massive

But Mike in past has said his Truckmount is no better than a good a portable, or was that before he did some mods