Anyone else ever notice that there always seems to be a summer before the fall? Almost without warning, a winter comes right after that. EVERY SINGLE YEAR. It's like a conspiracy. Much like the wheels on our adventure truck, the seasons roll round and round. With those seasons come new work that needs to be done. Specifically, work for a pressure washer.
After buying our first house, we had to learn quickly that if we neglect the small things, we wind up behind a pile of large things. This was especially true when we bought a small farm. Fields of weeds, grass, leaves, projects in the dirt, and animals to take care of. Not to mention the remodeling and upgrades.
It didn't get any easier since we didn't have any of the necessary tools to address typical homestead needs. Things like a chainsaw from STIHL, a trimmer for brush clearing…or even a pressure washer.
How a Pressure Washer Changed our Farm Life
We love our homestead and want to make it better. We want to make it feel like home…to feel like it's ours. We added thirty solar panels to the roof, we put home paint on EVERYTHING, retiled, and added a whole new bathroom. I spent time reshaping the field to make it more usable so that one day the boys and I could all play catch outside. I used my STIHL chainsaw and trimmed and cut down old trees. I added fences around the pool, put in new forty foot gates for our new giant travel trailer, put in a make shift garage and sun cover for the cars, and even put in a hot tub. A whole lot of work down and everything is really starting to come together. But when it came to our farm's necessary tools, still no pressure washer.
However, with all I could do to improve our home, nature took its jabs. The trees dropped their leaves. The dry, arid ground cast its dust on our house. We even brought back pounds of the road we traveled on. And while we were away, the animals did what animals do on the farm. Even animals that weren't part of OUR farm made their place onto our turf.
A Pressure Washer Delivered
And so the time has come for me to take back the ground lost while I was winning other battles. For thirty years, our family has trusted one name with the heavy work on our property; STIHL. I had the STIHL trimmer. I had the STIHL chainsaw. I even had the STIHL blower. Now it was time to get what I always knew I would need. A STIHL pressure washer.
I specifically chose STIHL's SB 600 pressure washer as it was large enough to handle not only what I have as a current workload, but what I know will inevitably come. This pressure washer has a 3200 psi and throws 3 gallons a minute. As much as I drooled over STIHLS RB 800 pressure washer with its whopping 4200 psi, it was realistically greater a power than I needed by myself. Even by my future preparations standards. Still, it was nice to look at.
A Pressure Washer Built from the Ground Up
If there was one thing I could pass on to anyone looking to either purchase or learn about a pressure washer, it would be what STIHL does best. What STIHL got right when it built its pressure washer is the exact same thing the get right with the vast array of their other German-engineered equipment. They build it better. I've used other pressure washers before, and typically they're built on a silly little metal chassis with hard plastic wheels. STIHL jumped right into it and built a solid metal chassis, put large rubber wheels on it, and even made a metal accessory board on the back near the handle to keep at the pressure washer nozzles. They didn't put any cheap plastic on the RB 600.
So, it was off to war. War against the California dust and grime. The truck got washed. The solar panels got washed. The house got washed. I took a shower at some point. Everyone was happy. Even Chelsea's beloved hot tub got de-grimed.
I tackled the BBQ, too. Now, to be honest, I never really planned on cleaning this. I usually just burn through cheaper BBQs and move on to another after a few years. This one, however, has been performing very nicely. So I thought, heck, while I have this sweet pressure washer out, why not give it a good spray down? I put on the 15 degree nozzle and went straight to cutting the grease off the stainless steel panels. The pressure washer was able to remove 95% of the residue. Using a bit of the ‘duck safe' dish soap, I finished off the job with a shine.
If you are looking for a pressure washer – or any serious yard tool for that matter – look no further than STIHL. High quality parts like a brass manifold pump, ceramic coated pistons, high quality 40′ high pressure hose, and a well above standard protective roll cage chassis with 13″ pneumatic tires are just a few of the reasons STIHL takes the cake. This isn't a yuppy's weekend squirt gun…this is top of the line.
Do you have a pressure washer at home?