Truck mount carpet cleaning equipment is the standard for most residential carpet cleaning businesses today. It provides the power, functionality and mobility to bring professional level cleaning services directly to the home. This equipment is housed and transported in carpet cleaning vans. There are two different types of truck mounts, slide-ins and van powered. This article will take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of the van powered (or direct drive) truck mount machines.

A van powered machine is aptly named as it’s power needs are supplied by the van’s engine instead of a separate gasoline or propane motor. A clutch-type mechanism is used to connect the cleaning machine with the drive train of the cleaning van. It connects thru the van floor at the console between the driver and passenger seats.

The biggest advantage of these truck mounts is the power available with this setup. It provides more than enough power to drive the biggest truck mount machines. It’s also makes for an efficient use of space as the cleaning machine is mounted directly behind the seats leaving most of the van available for the other equipment needed for your carpet cleaning business.

The biggest disadvantages are the cost and the van requirements. A late model van, sometimes of a specific make and model, is required due to the close integration of the van and the truck mount. While used vans are also an option, it takes a specially trained technician to install and maintain this type of truck mount. They’re also some of the most expensive as they’re very powerful and usually the top-of-the-line model for the manufacturer.

These van powered truck mounts are some of the best on the market. They provide quiet, efficient power to drive your carpet cleaning machines. While the cost might put them out of reach of the small operator, once you grow into them, you know you’ve arrived.

Carpet cleaning has evolved to the point where even the smallest of operators can compete using truck mount carpet cleaning equipment. Professional level cleaning capabilities are now available in machines that can easily fit inside a regular cargo van. This article will take a look at the advantages of the ‘slide-in’ type of truck mounts.

Slide-in truck mounts are so called due to their ability to slide into a regular cargo van or box truck and bolt to the floor of the vehicle. They come with their own power in the form of a gasoline or  propane engine. They also use water from an on-board water recovery tank thereby converting regular cargo vans into stand-alone, service ready carpet cleaning vans.

There are many benefits to using the slide-in type truck mount equipment. The most obvious is that they can be installed in any type of van regardless of make, model or age. They also come in a range of different sizes depending on the cleaning power desired.  Thus, the ability to match specific vans with specific equipment provides the flexibility to fit many different carpet cleaning businesses.

The ability to move the machine between vans (not easy but doable) also allows for upgrading your van and/or machine independent of each other. A start-up business could conceivably buy a used slide-in truck mount and a used cargo van to keep costs low while getting the new business off the ground.  Finally, some business use box trucks instead of cargo vans for their truck mount equipment. This is primarily for the additional space a box truck provides. Slide-in truck mounts are easily used in these kinds of vehicles.

Truck mount carpet cleaning equipment is the great equalizer that gives a small business the same cleaning capability as a larger enterprise. The flexibility of the slide-in type machines then adds the flexibility to start your business small and grow your equipment as your business grows.