Pest Control Equipment - Plan for Maintenance BEFORE You Buy!

When selecting pest control equipment, think about maintenance before writing a check. My recent article in Pest Control Technology (PCT) discusses this important topic.

What do I mean by think about maintenance before buying pest control equipment ( or weed control equipment)?

Some questions:
What maintenance is required?
How long will maintenance take?  How long will the pest control equipment be done?

What parts will be required for maintenance?

Where do we get the maintenance parts?  How long will it take?

Can we do the maintenance ourselves?
Any special tools/skills required?

Are there parts I should stock now?

Here is an example of a company that ignored my advice:

Hose reel swivels have rubber o-rings that need to be replaced about once a year.  You can count on having to do it regularly.  It takes 5 minutes.  This sprayer design is so tight that in order to change the the swivel orings, you have to remove the hose reel.  Hose reels, when filled with hose and water are heavy.  An easy 5 minute job now becomes an unpleasant hour job.

Think about maintenance before buying pest control equipment.  If you can't easily do the maintenance, it doesn't matter how cheap this rig was, it's not worth it.

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