Have about 10 grand. As of now have a portable with no heater. I do not want to purchase something with thousands of hours not to mention someone elses problems.

I have seen the Panther line and Symphony line on the Steambrite.com and a third from  Carpet Cleaning Services Supply  that has one that uses propane. All of these use Kholer Engines 18Hp. They are all almost identicle. I am told these are simple and cheap as far as maintenance.

What does anyone think of these I plan on doing residential as welll as commercial. I am steering towards the propane but I am afraid of the possibility of it blowing up.

Can these do the job. Appreciate any input. Help!!

I am now thinking about a Cleanco since I have a dealer nearby and he is asking 15k installed for the Cleanco Charger 2 to go into a Chevy 2000 Astro V6.   I am looking for a used possible prior model Cleanco Charger to save money. Any feedback on Cleanco or a used one out there. Thanks for all your great feedback. This is a great site.

I HAVE A CLEANCO DEALER 5 MILES FROM WHERE I LIVE ! HE ALSO SERVICES STEAM GENIE AND HE IS TELLING ME THE STEAM GENIE SIZZLER IS A GOOD ONE KEEPING IN MIND IT IS 6 YEARS OLD WITH 1500 HOURS FOR 8500 IS THIS A GOOD DEAL. THANKS

If you look on my website at the http://www.kleenkuip.com/used_equipment/used_spitfireHydra.htm - Spitfire 3.2 in the blue van you could purchase this for approx. $5,500.00 U.S. dollars. Cost of freight would be approx. $500.00 or less. This unit works well and has only 1200 Hours.

To get full particulars on this type of unit call Hydramaster at 1-800-426-1301.

I was looking at thar particular model and it appears to look much smaller than the cleanco charger 2 and the steam genie and the dealer in my area which is approx 5 minutes away versus the hydramaster is 1 1/2 hours away not to mention my cleanco dealer shook his head on that model.  The thing is I see so many truckmounts but it is the service and parts accesibility that is the key. the Steam genie  sizzler looked old and it is getting at the point if it is a cleanco charger 2 it is 15000 installed.That is whole lotta carpet cleaning but with my portable with no heater which is the Galaxy Brand and bonnet cleaning is too much sweating I have never sweated so much in my life especially with stairs with my mini 1 horsepower portable. This is one of my reasins to go truckmount not to mention commercial and I do have a Rotovac .           ;           ;           ;         And something about if I purchase one of these truckmounts on the net to make sure you are getting all the parts to it and the shaft or something could be different due to the fact of what type of van it is going into as mine will be a V6 4.3 liter 2000 Chevy astro van. Thanks

Yeah come think of it you are absolutely right. Well something actually came through as far as a slide in Cleanco Charger 1 with 40 hours for 8500 comes with reel 200 ft hoses a Cleanco shelf my understanding all but autopumpout and a freshwater tank. Approx 1000 to install in my Chevy Astro 2000. As far as the weight do I install better shocks or lift blocks or what? I appreciate Doug and the Carpetologist for all your support  any anyone else who gave there valuable opinions on this as well respected. Thanks!

Ok, so as far as the rear you say larged coils and extra leaf springs as well as stronger shocks. What about the front keeping in mind I will not be using a fresh water tank. Secondly do you still recommend a water softner. What are the benefits of that. This is a Chevy Astro 2000 V6 4.3

Thanks!

Coil springs on this Van are in the front as well as the rear. You are recommending to change all 4 right. Because on each corner of this van there is a coil spring with a shock inside it.

Yes, the rear has coils and a shock inside as well as leaf springs. On the front just coils (spring) with a shock inside. it definitely is stock and i have some heavy stuff I am hauling around and it is sitting to low in the rear and with the truckmount it will defintely need to be made heavy duty.

That is exactly the game plan! Kinda dumb to have a 40 hour truckmount in the car repair shop installed when I have to wait one week for the cleanco charger to arrive. Therefore van is going to the shop now to get weight ready before installation including all tune ups and all fluids changed. I will do especially and use what advice I have recieved from Doug and Mr. Steamer Thank you gentelman for the valuable input. This is a very expensive project that will break me but I have lost jobs due to the fact I had no TM.

As I mentioned before dealing locally with the proper installer is generally the best advice. Now purchasing the Hydramaster Spitfire on my website is also good advice as long as you can feel comfortable with a service company in your area. Generally people who sell Fords shake their head at GM products. This is natural. But, I can assure you this Spitfire is in excellent condition at a woping savings. You should be able to get your investment back very quickly.

We are not by any means knocking the Charger as we also sell them and new is always the best way to go if you do not have a budget problem.

Yes the Spitfire is smaller but still an excellent entry level unit for starters. As far as your van goes it is generally the weight of the water you are carrying as opposed to the weight of the TM. But your van should be at least a 3/4 ton capacity or you will be having van problems down the road.

As far as the weight it has a unladen weight on the pink slip of 3768 whatever that means like i said it is a 2000 Chevy Astro Van V6 4.3 Liter and I will not carry freshwater my understanding is I still must beef it up as far as weight capability. Carpetologist if I had a Hydromaster dealer closeby which I checked and it is a drive I would have closed a deal with you nonetheless this cleanco guy is 5 minutes away. Thank you!!

Ok! Did change the shocks, coil and added leaf springs. Got the Cleanco Challenger installed weight problem is none and I am very happy. Dealer is less than 5 miles. Big cleaning difference compared to a portable with no heat. I am also using a Rotovac. Thanks to all in this great informative forum.

Also invested in a spotting kit red magic and all that in a tool box which is a good way to make extra money. With the truck mount came a Hydro force pre spray. We have not used it. Is this something to use on each call like a must because we have been getting excellent reults with formula 90, energizer and heat no compaints.

How about a 1995 Cleanco Classic PTO in a 1995 GMC Vandura 3/4 ton.  $15,000

Runs like new....

mailto:rbolton2@cogeco.ca - rbolton2@cogeco.ca

cleanex wrote: Buying a truckmount is like going to the casino, sometime you win and more than likely you will lose. Bought many a new unit over the years and some days I wish I had never seen a truckmount.  You certainly need to be mechanical to keep these things running. Best investment I ever made was a lift truck so we can pull our units out of the truck to work on them, as they are a pig to work on in the truck, got the lift truck for a $100.00 it has paid for itself many a time over.

Don,

You hit the nail right on the head. Truckmounts can be one big pain in the a**. But I would never go back into the cleaning business without one. More so now that they can marry up to tools for cleaning all types of hard surfaces.

Ron,

How did you land the 40K deal? Im asking because Im new! Also, talk to Ted about a new one? If you have 10 K, they will finance the rest. Pay for it over 5-10yrs, its cheaper than repairing them. He had a Cleanco with 400hrs on it 16K mounted in your truck. I saw a 04 chev van for 20k. I realize this is more than you 10K but with 10k, your asking for a headache

Food for thought! Thats all

...for $10,500 I will sell you a 95 GMC with a Cleanco Classic, plenty of hoses, stair tool, wand, upholstery tool, Hydro-Force injector pre-srayer.....ready to go!!!!

Bonus with package.....Hydra-Master RX-20 power wand (value $2,000)

hee hee

don't mean to compete Ron

think it may be sold today,you shouldn't throw in the RX at that price IMO

I remember starting out looking for a truck mount found a Cleanco Charger with 500 hours. Night and day versus portable units and dry bonnet cleaning. Steam cleaning is the real deal. Running great now have 155 hours on it. No problems at all. Cost 8,000 dollars which included reels & hoses, waste tank. Now the van bought a used Chevy ASTRO 2000. jUNK jUNK jUNK. Within two months transmission goes out. Third month Power Steering goes out. Fourth month ball jont pops and I am ice skating on the freeway. Put lots off money in it as far as shocks, brakes, and lifting it so it can take the load of a truckmount.

Cleaning with a truckmount costs lots of gas, repairs and remember truck mount also guzzles gas as well not to mention advertising and chemicals and tools. Got to have the gift of the gab cannot just do 59.95 for two rooms got to sell enzal, scotchguard deoderizer. Also get skills take a IRC class.

Interesting ! After what I went through I started to think about a Ford. If you are saying that a Chevy is still better then I must consider the options. The advantage was the van had a v-6 engine.

Thanks Doug!

I started with a Pro Chem 100. It is still working for the guy I sold it to back in 89 or 90 I can't remember for sure. I have had a few since and still use them. Steamer is a Pro Chem man also.

Rick I too have a legend... thats one hard slide-in unit to kill... no problems with it since I did my modifications....

if you ever have any problems maybe I can help you out...just ask

I couldn't agree more with Cleanex AND Ted H. on this issue.

And, for that very reason, that is why after a couple of failed ventures with machines, I had to start designing my own PORTABLE equipment that had the high-performance ,and could be run 100-200 feet as a TRUCKMOUNT -----------------without the headaches and heartaches.

Fortunately for me, it really worked and took me from the bottom of the barrel with about a nichol (5 cents) in my pocket to a few more dollars and a much larger wallet in mmy back pocket. A great learning lesson for me!

Good Fortune to all;

Ed Valentine

cross-american corp.

I don't agree with these guys... everything breaks down...

Techs just want to jump in the damn truck everyday and never service it.. same thing with a portable... samething with anything

service service service..

I have two truck mounts ... I have had very  very little problems with my pro-chem and well over 6000 hours on it..

SERVICE!