Heavy Duty Washer at Medium Duty Price.
Written: Aug 18 '02 (Updated Sep 22 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Plenty of power. Very Easy Operation. Cleans almost anything
Cons: Hose connection placement could be better. Soap dispenses only on low pressure.
The Bottom Line: Anyone looking for a Medium to Heavy Duty Pressure Washer should definitely look in to the Craftsman 6.5 HP. Why buy a smaller Washer for the same or higher price?
|
|
|
| Steelfan's Full Review: Craftsman 6.5 hp Gas Pressure Washer 580.767300 |
This review was my second review that I wrote here at Epinions. It has seen many views and has been a great review, but I think that it is time for an update. I bought the Craftsman 6.5 hp Gas Pressure Washer in the summer of 2002. It is still performing very well to this day. Since the original review is still good, I am leaving it alone, save checking for spelling and grammar errors.
Features and Specs: This pressure washer is in the heavy duty class with a rating of 2400 PSI at 2.2 gallons per minute. The engine is a 6.5 hp Briggs and Stratton Intek Platinum Engine with overhead value. This allows for 20% more power. The hose is 30 ft long, and the unit comes with a hose reel for storage. You can't use the reel when the washer is in operation. Still is nice a feature. The pump is self priming and starts pumping water right away. I found it best to turn the hose on, and run water through the system by holding the trigger. When the water comes out the nozzle, you know the washer is ready. The nozzle is adjustable for high, and low pressure plus stream, and fan. You pull the yellow nozzle end out for high pressure and push it in for low pressure. Fan or stream spray is adjusted by turning the nozzle end left or right. This is a great feature. The handle folds for easy storage or transporting. The overall weight of the washer is around 94 pounds. There is also a thermal relief valve that doesn't allow the water to get too hot. Extremely hot water will damage the washer. For those tough jobs the washer comes with a soap injection system that mixes the soap, or chemical with the water. You can also choose to buy a soap dispensing bottle, or just use a something else. A milk jug, soda bottle, or something similar will work.
Starting out: The Craftsman 6.5 HP Gas Pressure is very powerful, and easy to use. Upon opening the carton, I found the instructions and parts to be very well laid out. There is very little assembling to be done. The handle, and hose reel are the only parts that need assembling. Oil is provided, and the 20 oz bottle is all you need. I rate getting started an A+.
The first day: After connecting the hoses and gas up the washer, I put the choke on full and throttle on fast. The second pull was all it took for the engine to kick off. I start by washing my Rototiller. Not sure of what type of power the washer had, I used low pressure and the fan setting on the end of the wand. I quickly found out that to get the best results high pressure is needed. Also I used the fan setting to take about all of the dirt and such off of the tiller, but adjusted it to about halfway to stream for the rougher areas. Next I moved to my New Holland TC21D. I used the same settings to wash to grass, dirt, and debris from my Tractor. And I didn't even have soap. It did a great job, but I found that I would need degreaser to remove the oil and grease from the tractor. I moved on to my GMC Truck, which was covered with dirt and grime. While using the washer on the Truck, I noticed that the high pressure hose coiled around and was close to the muffler. I straighten the hose, and got back to work. The washer took a lot of the grime off of the truck, but soap and a brush are definitely needed to do the job right. So far so good. Rating in operation: A.
A few days later: I decided to see if the washer would clean my deck. My deck has about 4 years of dirt, and is a very ugly gray color. I also had a bit of a grease spill from my Gas Grill. I started at the entrance to the deck, and got to work. I found that the best setting for this was turning the pressure to high, and a setting between fan and stream. Stream had enough power to cut into the wood itself. Be careful not to do that. After cleaning the entrance area, I decided to jump to the grease spill. The washer did a great job on the spill, until the high pressure hose once again coiled and got against the muffler. This time I wasn't so lucky to notice it, and it burned a hole through the hose. Water shot out of the hose, and my washing was over for the day. Rating and cost so far: B, and $25.00 for a new hose.
My opinion: so far of the Craftsman 6.5 Washer is very, very high. The one thing that needs to be changed is the hose placement, which should not be so close to the muffler. I'm looking into getting a mesh guard made for mine. Even still the washer is excellent for home use. I bought the Craftsman 6.5 HP Washer on sale for the same or lower price than the 5.0, and 5.5 HP models. And I'm very pleased with it.
May 26, 2003 Update one: I have since learned of a way to make sure the hose doesn't get near the muffler. All you need to do is route the hose through the front handle which I assume is there for lifting the washer. This keeps the hose lower to the ground, and doesn't allow it to touch the muffler. Simple, but it works.
April 19, 2004 Start of Update two: I have learned a few things about the Craftsman 6.5 HP Pressure Washer since my first experiences. I still believe it to be one of my best purchases. First and foremost this washer is still working beautifully after around 2 years of use. Admittedly, I do not use it more than about every 2 weeks during the summer months, but I still feel it has seen its share of use. By using the method of hooking the hose up explained in the first update, I have remedied the hose getting against the muffler problem. Really that was and still is my only problem with this Pressure Washer.
A few other lessons: Since the initial writing of this review, I have found a few more things out about Pressure Washers. First, I have also got an opportunity to use my fire company’s Craftsman 7.0 HP/2800 PSI Pressure Washer. I found it to do about the same job as my personal washer, but there is a problem with that unit which I have not experienced with my washer. The pump is mount downward instead of the side as mine is. The problem with that is the bolts that hold the pump fast tend to break, causing the pump assembly to come apart. This happened to me personally while using my fire company’s washer. Since I broke it, I decide to get it fixed. Thankfully it was still under warranty, but I was told by the service person that this was happening a lot with the vertical mounted pumps. My advice is to look for a horizontally mounted pump assembly like the one on this unit. Also the soap only dispenses on low pressure. After checking around a bit, I found this is common to all pressure washers of this size and style. I believe the soap feature would be more useful if someone could find a way to dispense soap on high pressure.
My uses: for this pressure washer have pretty much stayed the same. I found it great for cleaning my deck, house, truck, tractor, and other lawn equipment. About three times a summer, I get all of my mowers, tillers and other lawn equipment out and clean them all. Also in between those times about every two weeks, I wash my New Holland TC 21D tractor, and Wheel Horse to remove dust, grass, and grime. I have found it best to spray the greasy and oily area with degreaser first, and let it soak for a bit. This method seems to work very well for removing everything on these tractors. Our deck and house are cleaned about twice a year. This is a pretty big job, and takes about an afternoon. I first spray the area with high pressure, and then use a brush with soapy water to get the worst of the dirt off. After that I use high pressure to wash away the soap and dirt. Our deck furniture is treated lumber and is about 10 years old. Last year after putting a new addition on our house, and adding a new deck with Trex, I cleaned all of the old furniture by blasting the dirt off with this washer. It is time consuming, but the results were wonderful.
All in all, there is little bad that I have to say about this washer. It has continued to amaze me, and cleans about anything that I’ve asked it to. For the price of almost $400, I got a very good tool for keeping things clean around my place. I absolutely recommend this Pressure Washer to anyone that has one or all of the follow: House, Car, Deck, or Lawn Equipment. With a little care this washer will be with you a long time.
Thanks for checking out my review!!!
Steelfan
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Steelfan
|
 in Home and Garden |
 in Home and Garden |
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Kent Dobson
Location: Central PA
Reviews written: 168
Trusted by: 173 members
About Me:
Casual Woodworker and Novice Handyman. Tools and Lawn/Garden are my favorite areas. Go Steelers!!!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.