Originally Posted by sloinker
I am now in the market for a pressure washer and have come across a myriad of manufacturers.
This is my area of expertise.
Always, always, always, when buying a pressure washer, buy a Honda GX200 (NOT Honda GC190) engine (or Chinese clone of GX200) with a triplex pump. Pump brand doesnt matter. And I will tell you why.
Never under any circumstances buy a pressure washer with a Honda GC160 or GC190 engine. This is the worst pressure washer engine in existence. Literally any engine, any engine, would be better. These have plastic camshaft pulleys that snap like clock work at about 50 hours, when used on high demand engines, like pressure washers. I had about 40-50 of these "pressure washer" engines in my junk pile. Too expensive to fix, not worth the effort.
Always, always, always, buy a horizontally mounted pump and not a vertically mounted pump. Just about every vertical mount pump is rated for 50 hours. The horizontal pumps are most often rated for 300 hours, and are easier to service and change the oil on.
First, the GX200 engine is super ridiculously durable. Don't be scared of the Chinese clone engines. They are very durable.
Second, parts are the cheapest for this engine than any other engine in existence. Need a new carburetor? $10 on eBay. Need a new coil? $10 on eBay. Need a need recoil pull start assembly? $10 on eBay. See where I'm going here? The engine is ridiculously durable, but if something breaks, you can fix it, easily, in 5 minutes, with a $10 part.
Now onto the pump. Brand doesn't matter. Why? Because even the cheapest pump will give you years of service. And when it dies, you can buy a Cat or a General name brand pump for about $200 and slap it on. And then you will get another 10-15 years of service out of your pressure washer.
Its not unreasonable to think that a person could get 25-30 years of service out of a Honda GX200 pressure washer and triplex pump, assuming that you keep it maintained and throw new parts on it as they break.