Yep!! Garden hose on city water line! Works great! Not so good on home well water from electric well pump!
A man gave me a real nice portable pressure washer with a gasoline engine on it. but, he lwft it outside in really cold temps, without draining it, and the pump froze and broke.
I checked new pumps at Harbor Freight. They cost $300 and up!
anybody want a nice engine? Vertical shaft, American made!? Runs well!?

We don't have that cold weather and I always shut off water run the washer until no water come out to empty it.

I read about Karcher have pretty bad pump and every where I go is Karcher. I know I am not buying a commercial quality, I hope I can get one that is reliable.

How is Brigg and Straton?

The newest Briggs power washers are built at a price point, the pumps are not rebuildable.I would look for a unit equipped with a General or similar pump, they cost a little more but are much more reliable and can be repaired.

Thanks for the reply, can you name some brand? I have absolutely no knowledge with pressure washer. I read some old post here that the CAT pump are better but I looked, it cost an arm and a leg. I am willing to sacrafice some power for reliability.

Seems like anything under $500 are build at a price point!!!!

Cat pumps are top of the line and priced accordingly.

I bought a Campbell Hausfeld with a 5hp Briggs engine about five years ago that is still going good. 2200 psi with a high low adjustable nozzle. I paid around $289.00 for it. I last used it in Oct. to wash the vynal siding on our house. The key to making them last is maintenance, especially the pump. I use mine about 3 to 4 times a year. Got it at one of the big box stores.

yungman,

Go to homedepot and get a Ridgid 3000psi pw. It has a subaru engine and a CAT pump. The pw is about $500. Subaru makes a great engine. Its one of the easist engines to start and sips gas.

I have the bigger brother to the Ridgid machine that den69rs96 recommended. Subaru engine, CAT pump, 3.0 gpm at 3300 PSI. (See the link below.) I bought it almost new for $450 off Craigslist from some guy who bought it and decided it was more machine than he needed. Current list price is $700 and he got it on sale, I think, for $600. I haven't used it a lot yet (washed about half my house), but so far I like it a lot. If you can find one for your price, go for it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ridgid 3.0 GPM 3300 PSI pressure washer

I have to agree, get a CAT pump. After going down the cheap road and a lot of headaches.I bite the bullet and got a Dewalt PW. Its performed flawless after several hundred hours of use.

I don't think the type of engine matters much, its how well you take care of it

Thinking back I don't think I've ever seen a PW for sale with a bad engine but I've seen a bunch that "engine runs good but pump don't work". LOL

Thanks guys, Sounds like The Ridgid is the best choice for $550.

Yungman, I might be wrong but in my opinion it is very bad to run the pump at all without water. Doing this can destroy the pump instantly. It happened to me with my NorthStar pump. I kinked the hose and the pump was destroyed even though I shut the engine down within a couple seconds.