Make Your Butler Better

Re the Butler. If it has live reels, disconnect them, and don't use them for that purpose. Too much power lost with the extra lengths of hose, not used, and the subsequent loss of pressure and vacuum. Forget that aspect. You will have better results with the corresponding increase in gasoline saved, and less strain on the equipment. 

Remove and discard the Butler waste filter box that it comes with. You can use the space it takes up better. Use an in-line filter, and clean it out after every job. No crud in the waste tank now. The Butler filter is almost useless. Put the in-line filter next to the truck, on a short length of vac hose. Put the other end of the short length to the vac intake on the waste tank.

Remove and discard the clean water tank. As I have said on a lot of BBS's- why take water from a place that has water, to a place that has water? That's nutso. Hauling around water takes more gasoline, harder on all of the truck's components- engine, transmission, brakes, shocks, etc. Nutso. EVERY home, and EVERY office you go to has water. I have run truck mounts since 1976, and I have NEVER had a need for hauling my own water. 

Some cleaners say it is convenient to haul water. Quicker to begin cleaning, by not having to find the hose bibb. All right, it is quicker, by seconds. Maybe a minute. How frequently do you have to replace brakes? Carrying 100 gallons weighs 900 lbs, plus the weight of the tank. That's another 100 lbs, at least, so the total additional weight is over 1000 lbs. Think about that.

Remove and discard the reels. Coil and hang the hoses. More space in the truck, plus less weight of the reels. A reel is worse than useless. It turns the hoses into dog poop magnets, and they need constantly to be cleaned off. Why make more work for yourself? You have to unreel the hoses, coil them to carry into the house or apt, and connect them there. then when finished, disconnect them, coil them to carry outside the house, connect them to reel onto the reel. clean them off, and reel them up. 

If the hoses are coiled and hung from the walls by bungee cords, or heavy string, or light rope, you carry the whole coil into a house, string it out, and connect them. When finished, you coil them, tie them, and carry them out to the truck and hang them. It is a LOT quicket that way, than fooling with reels. I know, I started in 1976 with reels. I discarded tham in 1978. 

What do truck mount manufacturers know about cleaning carpets? NOTHING!! What do truck mount manufacturers know about making life easier for the guy using them? NOTHING!! What do truck mount manufacturers know about making the equipment more heavy, more expensive, more stuff to buy, more bells and whistles that are not needed, but ADD TO THEIR PROFIT? EVERYTHING!!!

Think about it. Look at the entire thing in the truck. Say to yourself- Do I need this? Who says so? How can I do it differently, so it is all easier for me? What can I do to simplify it for ME???

Without the fresh water tank, the Butler filter, the reels, how much more room will you have? How much weight will you save? How much easier will it make my work? Then do it.