Walk Behind Sidewalk Cleaner

[Number1Copper]

I borrowed a friends walk behind sidewalk cleaner, i believe it is a jet ???.. In order to clean the sidewalk, i had to walk very very slow. Is this typical for a walk behind sprayer. If not, can you tell me a good one to look for. I was seriously thinking about buying it. It sucked and killed my back.
How much do you normally charge for sidewalk cleaning for businesses? What is the best way and fastest way to clean gum off sidewalks?
Thanks
Keith

 

[Christopher]

Hello, It sounds like the surface cleaner was a little bit too big for the pressure washer (gpm's not enough). I went through the same thing a while back. I have a 3000psi 5.6gpm hot water machine and tried using a 28" and a 30" surface cleaner and they worked but I was crawling slowly. I went to a 24" machine and went faster and now I have a Whisper Wash Classic 19" and I can really clean fast. It all depends on your machine. For a bigger surface cleaner you need more gallons per minute to clean faster. Hope this makes sense. For gum removal, Just hot water and a 25 or 15 degree tip. I can get gum off with 140 degree water but if there is a lot of spots I will crank it up to about 170 degrees and the gum melts off in a couple of seconds. Cold water can remove gum with concrete. You need to melt the gum off. A lot of times there will be a shadow behind. I have not found the miracle chemical for the gum shadows yet. Hope this helps.

 

[drivewaysonly]

I had used my SC for some time and it needed an over haul....my dealer went through it, put an inline filter just above the jets, put in new nozzles and now, after proper chemicals, I can walk at full clip and clean the cement like nobody's business.

The sc and my machine are well matched (gpms. psi etc) but the nozzles were worn out. They were also in the wrong angles.

 

[Number1Copper]

Thank you so much for the replies. Do you always use chemicals when cleaning sidewalks, if so what kind?
Are there times when you can not get the gum off the sidewalks?

 

[drivewaysonly]

I always use chemicals on everything I clean. I typically just clean cement though. I use a mixture of chlorine and a special soap I like...and water. I have done it both ways and found that with the right chemical, it gets cleaner faster and stays cleaner longer.