Pressure Clean, which has been supplying, servicing and repairing pressure washers and other cleaning equipment across the South East for more than 50 years, has teamed up with top manufacturer Karcher to offer an impressive range of short-term equipment for hire.
“It means farmers and growers who carry out a yearly or six-monthly cleaning project, perhaps deep-cleaning a barn or shed, can now use the best possible equipment without buying something they wouldn’t use regularly enough to justify the investment,” said Gary Fielding, who runs the well-respected business with wife Donna.
“Grain stores are another example. They are much easier to clean using a large, ride-on sweeper, but it’s not something a farmer would need every day. Now they can hire the right machine for a fraction of the cost of buying it. There are also farmers who have bought cold water pressure washers for daily use but would occasionally find a hot water machine useful for a particular task.”
The high quality Karcher equipment on offer ranges from a small vacuum cleaner to a ride-on sweeper scrubber and goes right across the manufacturer’s comprehensive range, while the hire rates negotiated for Pressure Clean customers are very competitive.
One piece of equipment that is proving popular for hire is Karcher’s B 60 W, a walk-behind scrubber dryer which offers a range of configurations, including roller or disc brush heads, and is ideal for deep cleaning polished concrete floors.
Karcher’s KM 105/110 R is a ride-on sweeper that is well suited to cleaning yards, barns and storage areas where dust and large debris is a problem, while the HDS 801 D is a diesel-powered hot water pressure cleaner built on a corrosion-resistant tubular steel frame and ideal for yards and buildings where there is no power supply.
The hire option also allows potential buyers to try out one of Karcher’s products over a longer period. “We always give buyers a full demonstration of the equipment they are thinking of buying, but if they wanted to give themselves a full week to check it out, that’s now completely feasible,” explained Donna.
Hire machines can normally be delivered within 24 hours, and full training on how to use the equipment is given by a member of the Pressure Clean team.
That team boasts five service engineers, four of them out on the road looking after the company’s extensive customer base and one based at the showroom and parts department on the Bell Brook Industrial Estate in Uckfield.
The engineers, including newest arrival David Fowler, are kept busy carrying out repairs that make sure busy customers aren’t without their machines for longer than necessary and carrying out the annual planned maintenance that Pressure Clean’s customers are increasingly choosing to opt into.
Alongside Karcher equipment, Pressure Clean supplies and maintains machines from MAC International and from the Nilfisk range, and it is that company’s MH 3C-90/670 PAX that is currently proving to be the most popular machine in the showroom.
The compact, high-performing mid-range steam cleaner/pressure washer has a built-in hose reel, is quick to reach operating temperature and is efficient to use, making it ideal for cleaning farm machinery and light industrial equipment.
With farmers and landowners keen to prove their environmental credentials and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, Gary and Donna have seen increasing interest in electrically heated pressure washers, an area in which MAC International is currently leading the way.
“Farmers are certainly more aware of the need to reduce their carbon footprint, and the tightening up of restrictions around the use of red diesel is also having an impact, which seems to have resulted in a shift towards electric machines,” Gary said.
MAC’s impressive new Elektra models, which require a three-phase supply, offer 18-24 kW or 24 kW specifications and promise CO2 emission-free cleaning and “market leading heat retention”.
Gary went on: “This new Elektra mobile range of hot water pressure cleaners is really impressive and has sparked a great deal of interest. They are proving very popular with those who are looking for a ‘greener’ option.”
MAC also offers a large range of static electrically heated machines that are increasingly popular for wash bay set ups. The MAC Plantmaster range runs from 18 kW to 48 kW and can deliver 13 litres of 80°c water per minute at a pressure of 170bar.
Pressure Clean will be displaying a range of cleaning equipment on its stand at the Farm Expo event being organised by Kent County Agricultural Society at the Kent Showground on Wednesday 2 March.
