Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Bryan P · Approved Exterior Cleaner

enclosed or open trailer?

Aqua Boy · Veteran Member

Bryan,

There is good and bad in both open and closed trailers. Unfortunalty, this is in my "opinion"
the run down. i have been in the business approx 8 years give or take.

Open Trailer (pros)
(1) quick and easy to pop out and get to work
(2) obvious excellent ventillations for equipment and SH etc..
(3) Less expensive then closed trailer

Open Trailer (cons)
(1) cant really advertise on the side that well
(2) No SH fumes -- rust etc..
(3) Zero security - some people like to shop your stuff when your in a customers yard
(4) Overall appearance so -so

Closed Trailer (pros)
(1) Advertising looks sharp
(2) Security you can lock your equipment up
(3) Out of the weather
(4) a place to hide when the weather kicks up or if you really need a bathroom emergency break

Closed Trailer (cons)
(1) Sh fumes can hurt equipment
(2) Gets hot - needs ventilations regarding power washing motors etc
(3) More expensive overall

Hope this helps!

Liberty SoftWash · PWS Vender

I would say open.We are going back to a box truck for our hood cleaning side of it.

Andy Hinson · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Sounds like your only option is a trailer. Nothing wrong with that. Double axle would be nice but if your PW is 5 GPM or less you should not need to haul water. Do what you got to do to get started.

Fred W · Guru

Ditto on all the above.

Bryan P · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Andy Hinson wrote:
Sounds like your only option is a trailer. Nothing wrong with that. Double axle would be nice but if your PW is 5 GPM or less you should not need to haul water. Do what you got to do to get started.

Yep...you can surely overthink this stuff. I'll have 100 gallons max of water, plus a bleach tank and soap.

njacobson · Veteran Member

I am going open for the time being. I have an enclosed, and was worried about rinsing the equipment on the plywood floors and walls. It has been suggested on here, to rhinoline the inside to protect the wood. I am sure that is a great solution. but, then you still have ventilation, and cooling of chems to worry about. So, I decided against using the enclosed I already possess. Instead I have purchased a 5x10 open to use for now. Until I buy a dedicated work truck that I can mount my skid into. I thought about getting rid of my Jeep, to get a truck. I just can't bring myself to do it. I'll just pull the trailer for now. When money starts coming in, and I've replenished my equipment, Insurance and all the start up costs, I will start putting toward a truck to use(with a wrap for advertising, of course)

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

An enclosed trailer can be coated and reinforced in corners with marine epoxy (reinforce corners with fiberglass mesh) to make it waterproof for rinsing inside trailer. I use a lot of West Marine epoxy for wood restoration and waterproofing (Like boat hulls)

Dave · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I have had an open trailer and an enclosed trailer. I love the enclosed trailer. everything is inside, out of the weather. You also have the ability to have shelving to store stuff. Also gives you the ability to have a porta potty inside the trailer, so you don't have to worry about employees using the customers yard.

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

+1 on the enclosed trailer. I have had open trailers as well and I like them becuase you don't have to vent anything ( hot water pressure washers). Also the fact that everything is accessible. But like others have pointed out the enclosed allows for great advertising and the ability to store and keep equipment out of the elements.

I would treat the floors with an epoxy of rhino line. If you rhino line then make sure you use a heavy grit sand paper to scratch the wood to allow the liner to soak in and stick. I made the mistake of not doing that and it didn't hold up to well.

Dan Dykstra · Approved Exterior Cleaner

We run both open and enclosed, the open trailer is what we use for our residential market (roof & house washing) the enclosed is used on the commercial side (hood & fleet washing)
Make sure the single axle trailer your looking at can handle the weight you will putting on it.

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Dan your not using the skid in your truck anymore?

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I started out with a 5x10 open trailer I already had. I out grew it quickly and then moved to the first E350 14' box truck that work well for us for two years. I then moved up to an Isuzu NPR 16' box. There are a number of reasons why I will never go back to a trailer unless it was committed to commercial only.

I live in an area with 5 small cities I service that date back to the 1700's. There are so many places where the trailer was a real problem due to parking, streets & driveways. I learned early on that the trailer was a problem more than once a week. Now we only have a problem with low branches and steep driveways that the tailgate hits.

I solved the problem with venting the pressure washer engine and diesel exhaust with black stove pipe out the back door.

Advantages of enclosed: (some repetitive)

A lot of room for storage
Everything is secure
Hiding during that sudden storm
A place to easily get rid of the morning coffee
Equipment is out of weather
Three sided billboard

Disadvantages:

High maintenance to keep all metal from rusting
Oil wheels on door frequently
Watching for low tree limbs
Steep driveways (trailers hit these as well)

Bryan P · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Good info, guys! Thanks so much.

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

The way I vent my box truck if I run PW off the back is open up rear door and put a $15 box fan at the cab side hooked up to a jumper pak with built-in inverter blowing g out. Simple cheap and modular. Just the way I like it😊

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Maverick Contracting wrote:
The way I vent my box truck if I run PW off the back is open up rear door and put a $15 box fan at the cab side hooked up to a jumper pak with built-in inverter blowing g out. Simple cheap and modular. Just the way I like it😊

Some six inch pipe with one elbow and three inch with an elbow with a permanently installed fan wire into the PW generator. All the fumes go outside at a cost of about 50.00. Turn on the PW and don't touch anything.

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Brett, I see the fan in the back. Is that hardwired in? That's the position I setup my vent fan plugged into the battery pak. Provides all the ventilation I need esp. when guys need a break from the sun and heat at lunch during summer.hell some days we keep a 5gal pail filled with ice water to dunk their hea da in lol.

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Maverick Contracting wrote:
Brett, I see the fan in the back. Is that hardwired in? That's the position I setup my vent fan plugged into the battery pak. Provides all the ventilation I need esp. when guys need a break from the sun and heat at lunch during summer.hell some days we keep a 5gal pail filled with ice water to dunk their hea da in lol.

"a permanently installed fan wire into the PW generator"

Dave O · Retired Member

I purchased a small open trailer when I first started out and that is what I still use. I pulled it with an SUV. Next month I am purchasing a larger open trailer and will be pulling it with a pick-up truck. What I really like about an open trailer is the ease of access to everything. Signage is no problem. I have a large sign across the lift gate and signs on both side of the vehicle. If I really wanted to, I can easily install two large signs along both sides of the ladder rack. I haven't had an issue with theft while stopping somewhere. If it happens to rain while we're out, so what - everything is water proof.

Aselton · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Open aluminum trailer, then move to NPR aluminum flatbed in future.