pile lifter blues--please advise

[frankiechocolate]

Hey, I had a big commercial job and rented a pile lifter. It did nothing. would not even pick up paper clips or paper dots.

followed up with oreck and filled two bags.


any of you had any experience with Pile lifter?

I had one a few years ago and returned it cuz nothing was ending up in the bag




I want to give my clients the cleanest clean possible and thought a p.l. would go down deep and groom out the stuff.


Yeah, I adjusted it to the carpet setting. at every setting it did nothing.


maybe I should just buy a dyson?


a fine rug seller I know said the mfg. states if you use a dyson on their fine wool rugs it will destroy them and void the blah, blah blah



so, Maybe I want this vac to really suck out the dirt outta commercial carpets?


what do you boys say?



read my blog, "the carpet cleaner's crocodile


best wed .ever!

frankie chocolate

 

[Nate The Great]

What kind of pile lifter was used? Certified, Kleenrite, Minuteman.....? I ask because I never heard that you can adjust it to the height of the pile. I thought you just lift the back wheels off the carpet the go deeper into the pile or back wheels on the carpet to not go as deep.

Also, what type of carpet were you using it on?

 

[Jim Martin]

Pile lifer is a waste of money........I have a certified one sitting in the shed in my way all the time that cost about $1200.00........they are heavy....and they don't vacuum worth a crap and has no height adjustment.....my Dyson will pick up way more in a day then what that thing can in a month....

a fine rug seller I know said the mfg. states if you use a Dyson on their fine wool rugs it will destroy them and void the blah, blah blah

this may be true (don't know)...if you were running it over a wool rug every day ..but to do a cleaning every 6 to 8 months I would not think it would effect it at all....

 

[Torn]

Most of my background is in the commercial cleaning. In that industry most of the large companies are going with back pack vacuums. The top brand in my opinion is ProTeam. I believe they have the highest CFM's. They're back pack vacuums are great to have in your van/truck because you can put it on your back and vacuum all day long. Here is their website. http://www.pro-team.com/

 

[sweendogg]

The point of the pile lifter is to not make a good vacuum. If you filled two bags with your oreck then the pile lifter did its job. Think of a pile lifter as a mole. That big brush is digging up all the crud out of the carpet and putting it back on the top of the carpet. If you try to use your pile lifter as a vacuum you will walk away dissapointed every time. However, following a pile lifter witha regular vacuum. You will get alot more dry soil out of dense carpets that a small brush bar simly can not dig out. Especielly if its impacted by lots of foot traffic. Alot of people who reliougly use a pile lifter do so in a manner that digs the crap out out and then picks it up with a back pack vac or a regular up right and seldom worry about the vaccum part.

Now I have heard good things about Kleenrite's X-Vac and its ability to pull actual dry soil with its vacuum motor and still dig lots of crud out. But there are also alot of guys who will use a sturdy CRB machine to lift the pile and dig crud out as well before vacuuming and then they have a machine that will also agitate in prespray. So they have accomplished two tasks with one machine.

Just some things that I've heard and also have worked for me as well.

 

[Jim Martin]

I agree with a lot of what you said but on the same side of the coin.........a good vacuum will do the same thing at a fraction of the cost and weight....................

 

[Torn]

I agree with a lot of what you said but on the same side of the coin.........a good vacuum will do the same thing at a fraction of the cost and weight....................

Exactly

 

[joe harper]

Jim.

I have the same CERTIFED PILEBRUSH you own..."They are a PITA..to run"..
BUT in CERTAIN situations they are the best tool for the job..

We DRAG it out..for construction sites on commercial jobs...Picks up nails,screws,ect...
Plus ...it BEATS the drywall dust out of the FIBERS & BACKINGS of level loop carpet....
It is the closet thing to a RUG-BADGER...you can buy...for thick wool rugs...
'YES you do STILL have to vacuum..."

Here in Fl....Our soil "sugar sand" is very fine and when the cleint does not vacuum
regularly...It COMPACT's like CEMENT in the entrances to the building...If you don't
REMOVE this soil when DRY....It will turn into a mud-puddle...

When I owned the Flooring Store...It was a LIFE-SAVER....When some Carpet was delivered
with ROLL CRUSH...."pile-reversal"...

 

[Jim Martin]

run a purple Dyson DC-17 across the floor a few times and look at all the fine dust and sand like dirt it can pick up....

I ran the pile lifter over a floor after some guys did some remodel work and all it did was toss the crap all over the place...
Machine is like brand new.......brush has no flat spots....I always keep the trap clean and all the seals are good....

As far as lifting the pile and /or a pile reversal.. ..it does a good job....But in a residential /commercial cleaning it is a big waste of time and money

 

[joe harper]

Jim.

I agee with you.. :!:

It is also DANGEROUS..in the wrong hands...I personally caught a drapery cord and
it RIPPED .....the drapes OFF THE WALL... In about 2 seconds ....

You WANT to buy MINE... :?: "NICE BOOK-ENDS"..

 

[sweendogg]

I was basically saying what joe was. But since the vac part is worthless, I'd take a crb to accomplish the same task any day.

 

[tmdry]

Jim i'll give you $10 bucks for your worthless pile lifter that is collecting dirt.

 

[Jim Martin]

Jim i'll give you $10 bucks for your worthless pile lifter that is collecting dirt.

I could not sleep well at night knowing that I ripped you off................

 

[tmdry]

Ok $9.99...

I have a great comm vac that will tag behind it.....oh wait, i shouldn't have said that. :roll: 8)

 

[XTREME1]

I love my pile lifter for digging out and most of the time vacuum after words on commercial. I did a school the other day and after pile and vac the guy thought I was done cleaning and was amazed