OP (Oscillating) Machines

At up to 400 square feet per minute is already is the ultimate.     I thought of the OP route but felt that the OP set up would lower the run time too much. The Cimex is nice but you need to be able to pull the soils back out not just scrub them in and hope the encap conquerors all. that statement doesn't make me any friends but its how it works.

I absolutely agree about the cimex and straight encapping. I don't believe in straight encapping. My personal opinion, its a bit disingenuous. People pay me to remove the soil, not make it easier for them to remove it.

Good observation mo, I do think the OP thing is getting out of hand too . I got my first OP for 1500, then picked up a nice Defender with on board spray system for another 1500 (demo unit from CLark)

Now these things are pushing 4000 for a wheel on the ground machine with spray.

As far as OP vs 175 , I have at least a 2000 hours on OP machines and about that much now on the 175,

So here's My judgment on the matter.

In general, there is no difference in cleaning results. However difference can be seen on the real dirty jobs , they will clean up better with OP, I think this is party due to the thin absorbent pads that run well on OP's (cotton, or glads) but a real dirty job will take you a real long time and cost you buckets of these pads. I would much rather just HWE these jobs.

On the average soil jobs you get the same results with a 175, ....Plus ,

I find it to be faster and easier to handle then an OP. NO tip bloom concerns, NO mini earth quakes on uneven floors. NO going through tons of pads, NO need for post vacuuming wet carpet.

For the above reasons I prefer a 175, for my vlm needs.

If I was a stand alone VLMer, then I would prefer an OP on the van to be able to handle the occasional real dirty stuff. Then would use a 175 on the regular work.

One thing I do miss , is the wheel on the ground OP with spray system for the large commercial jobs, it just makes it easy. But I hardly ever do a job like that, so no big deal.

I have yet to try a 175 with solution tank, that might be just as nice.

If a guy is looking for an OP, I would suggest the challenger for residential, if a guy is looking for a commercial machine, the best value is the Orbitec units. Last I checked you could get a 17 inch wheel down machine with spray system for around 2500.

Great observations Andy thanks for sharing

I have never looked for or thought about a 300. I have used a 175. But would think a 300 would work much better. Thanks Phillip. I have been using a Cimex for the past month on cgd and love it. If really bad, I then extract with truck mount.