V.C.T removal

[JCobb]

Does anyone have any experience with these machines. The removal job is on the second floor and the elevator isn’t big enough for a ride on machine. Removing V.C.T and installing P.V.C.

Thanks JCobb

 

[Mark Brown]

They are not the worst, you get getting overcharged because it is a wolfe. I would look at a national like this....
https://nationalequipmentdirect.com/115-volt-walk-behind-scraper/

... i said they are not the worst, what I should have said is they are amazing. I rolled up 3500 sqft of hallway demo with a buddies national one day in about 4 hours. Then spent the rest of my life getting those pieces out of the back of my van.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

I agree with Mark. I like the National over Wolfe. The Wolfe is pretty but it just doesn't seem to have the oomph that the National does. I haven't taken one of the Turbos apart in quite some time but back when they were making tools for Sinclair they were essentially built on a heavy duty hammer drill for the motor. Could be totally different now though, again it's been awhile. The first time I tore into one and got the outside housing off and there sat a hammer drill I busted out laughing.

 

[C.J.]

The National is nice but the Wolff does have one good perk to it. With the Wolff you can move the weights forward or back on the machine depending on whether you need more weight over the blade for digging in or over the wheels for traction. I also feel like the Wolff is just a bit more aggressive due to the way the blade reciprocates compared to the National. I guess you would have to be able to see inside each machine to understand what I’m trying to describe but there is a difference.

On the downside the Wolff uses a Bosch angle grinder for its motor whereas the National has a GD tank for a motor. Might have been a hammer drill when CFR was workin on them but it was a flipping angle grinder when I was workin on them. This means the motor is gonna be the weak point on the Wolff. When you’re riding it hard the motor on the Wolff is building up heat. If you don’t give the machine time to cool down here n there it burns out the brushes faster and over time thermal fatigue takes its toll on the motor. You’ll get a couple brush replacements out of the motor on the Wolff then you’re looking at replacing the field in the motor because the wires to the field itself will melt.

Maybe these points relate better towards which machine is better to own than rent but they’re worth mentioning because when a machine goes down, it goes down. Nothing worse than a rental going down in the middle of the night.

TLDR? The Wolff is more aggressive (than the small National), the National is more reliable. If you don’t own it and don’t have to worry about maintaining it I’d say go with the Wolff. I’ve used one and quite liked it. If you’re lookin to buy, go with the National.

 

[JCobb]

Wow. Great info and quick responses. I will have to look into the National floor machine at more depth. Mark, hope you feel better soon

J Cobb

 

[Mark Brown]

No way man, the key to the national is to put about 150 lbs of weight plates in the front of it, then it will literally just go THROUGH a tank... forget being one

....full disclosure, I hate all wolfe products because they pretend to be too chichi when all I want to do is get dirty and get the job done.

 

[C.J.]

That and as you mentioned, Wolff does charge a pretty penny for their parts which, as far as the motor is concerned, are just repackaged parts from Bosch that you can get off ereplacementparts.com for a fraction of the cost.

I’ve only used the small National and I would have to stand on it for additional weight.

 

[Mark Brown]

Without front plate weights I was not impressed with the national. We had a fellow fab up some monster plates for it.

Last time I needed to borrow that thing was a colon demo. I had my eddy in there breaking my balls and wasn't getting anywhere. Only about 80-90 yards. I hopped in my truck, drove for 3 hours and 45 min later the tear out was done. I must have wasted 2 hours, 15 oz of sweat and a lot of blisters before I just called it. I wish I wasn't too cheap to buy one, but I'm kinda tooled out right now.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

The small national sucks. It's way too light weight for most jobs. The 5280 is a substantial machine though and as Mark said you can add weights to it. Wolfe does make some other nice installation tools though like their Linocut and their bevel trimmers for LVT. They are a little bit uppity when you try and do business with them though. I talked to them about their tool line and they wouldn't sell it to us because they are owned by Uzin and we are an Ardex distributor so it was no go on the tools.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

@Mark Brown have you tried the self-dicing blades for carpet removal? Those things are the ticket brother. Slices it and rolls it up in strips right in front of the machine. We sell a ton of those!

 

[JCobb]

The National 5280 looks good, but it could do with another weight cradle towards the front. Might have to break out the welder. I have seen a few used, but you never know what you are getting. Also a couple of the larger gladiators for sale used.

J Cobb

 

[Mark Brown]

@Mark Brown have you tried the self-dicing blades for carpet removal? Those things are the ticket brother. Slices it and rolls it up in strips right in front of the machine. We sell a ton of those!

I have tried officially one and I do believe it was defective. I watched the video... what happened was not the video. What happened in the video was amazing.

 

[JCobb]

@Mark Brown have you tried the self-dicing blades for carpet removal? Those things are the ticket brother. Slices it and rolls it up in strips right in front of the machine. We sell a ton of those!

Self dicing, I will have to check those out.
J Cobb

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

They got a little fin that sticks up on each side of the blade that cuts the carpet as it scrapes. Now, I will tell you they probably aren't going to work on Lee's Faculty IV that's stuck down with blue glue. But there is nothing that will work with Lee's Faculty IV installed with blue glue. It's easier to tear down the building and build a new one somewhere else. Just leave it where you found it.

P.S. the fins go up Mark, not down!!!

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

Mark, I miss your picture with your dust mask. It reminded me that I'm not the only one of us with a receding hairline!! Bahahaha! By the way can you tell I'm starting to feel better?

 

[Mark Brown]

Mark, I miss your picture with your dust mask. It reminded me that I'm not the only one of us with a receding hairline!! Bahahaha! By the way can you tell I'm starting to feel better?

.... I liked you better on deaths door if we are being honest to one another.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

I think it would be a neat idea to have a show where parts of a project were done using two different business models.

1. The standard low bid sub through a GC business model vs.
2. Pulling the flooring out of the bid package and working directly with the end-user to show that a better job can be done and still save the end user money because the GC isn't stepping on the number.

I think it would show that we are knowledgeable experts in what we do and the flooring recommendations, subfloor prep and installation differences between the two processes would be eye opening. You can still let a designer choose color, but I don't find that most of them are qualified to understand the flooring requirements of a space let alone the effects of site condition and schedule. They are much like architects in that they are trying to deal with too many disciplines at once and have no mastery of any, only a basic working knowledge.

I'll probably get crucified if the architects & designers I work with ever found out I said that but meh....what are they going to do put me in flooring jail?

 

[JCobb]

I think it would be a neat idea to have a show where parts of a project were done using two different business models.

1. The standard low bid sub through a GC business model vs.
2. Pulling the flooring out of the bid package and working directly with the end-user to show that a better job can be done and still save the end user money because the GC isn't stepping on the number.

I think it would show that we are knowledgeable experts in what we do and the flooring recommendations, subfloor prep and installation differences between the two processes would be eye opening. You can still let a designer choose color, but I don't find that most of them are qualified to understand the flooring requirements of a space let alone the effects of site condition and schedule. They are much like architects in that they are trying to deal with too many disciplines at once and have no mastery of any, only a basic working knowledge.

I'll probably get crucified if the architects & designers I work with ever found out I said that but meh....what are they going to do put me in flooring jail?

That sounds like a great idea to me. That way the spec’s would match the project, not some generic copy and paste. While we are dreaming can I get at least one job with proper heating. Lol
-Clean
-Smooth
-Flat
-Dry
-Warm
And we are good to go, not just 2 outa 3.

 

[Mark Brown]

That sounds like a great idea to me. That way the spec’s would match the project, not some generic copy and paste. While we are dreaming can I get at least one job with proper heating. Lol
-Clean
-Smooth
-Flat
-Dry
-Warm
And we are good to go, not just 2 outa 3.

Hell I would be happy with any of them.

 

[C.J.]

That sounds like a great idea to me. That way the spec’s would match the project, not some generic copy and paste. While we are dreaming can I get at least one job with proper heating. Lol
-Clean
-Smooth
-Flat
-Dry
-Warm
And we are good to go, not just 2 outa 3.

I get those a lot. Problem is they have furniture and old people.