Hot take: The number of guys I see using a 3/4-inch suction hose for a 6-inch cutterhead is genuinely baffling.

After watching a crew in Baton Rouge spend a whole afternoon clearing a clog that would've taken twenty minutes with the right hose size, I have to ask, what's the most basic piece of gear you see people consistently using wrong?

4 comments

4 Comments

drew_walker2mo ago

Saw a video last week where a guy was using a standard garden hose to try and feed a big pressure washer. It just can't move enough water, so the machine kept surging and stalling. The basics seem to get overlooked for speed or because it's what's on the truck. What's the point of having all that power if you choke it off at the supply?

lucashenderson1d ago

You can choke it off at the supply" yeah that's basically my whole workflow sometimes. I once used a garden hose on a pressure washer because I forgot my big supply line at home and figured I'd just make it work. Machine stalled out every 30 seconds and I spent an hour feeling like a genius. Drew's right though, that kind of shortcut is just asking for trouble especially when you see what happens when a cheap hose blows. I'd rather drive back for the right parts than deal with a whip line to the face.

abbyf792mo ago

Forget just losing power, that undersized hose is a safety bomb waiting to go off. You're building up crazy pressure and heat in the line before the cutterhead. I saw a cheap coupling blow once and whip back like a snake, could have taken someone's head off. Saving twenty minutes on a parts run isn't worth a trip to the ER.

rivera.shane2mo ago

Honestly, is it that big of a deal? Sometimes you just use what's on the truck to get the job moving. @drew_walker makes a fair point about choking off power, but not every clog is a crisis. Maybe that crew in Baton Rouge had their reasons for using that hose, like it was all they had left on a Friday afternoon. We've all made do with less-than-perfect gear to avoid a parts run. Sure, it might cost you some time later, but sometimes getting started now is worth the hassle.