Orbital machines

[Patrick]

For the seasoned veterans that have used different orbital machines I would appreciate some input upon a few of them. Specifically the Challenger, Oreck SWK, and the Hos Orbot. I am just curious as to your opinions positive, negative, and everything in between. I am pulling the trigger on possibly the Orbot Sprayborg in a few weeks. The price is not the point I am looking for. I am looking for performance. I do know the Orbot is easy on the eyes and may impress custys. From the posts that I have read it has got rave reviews from alot of you. Challenger has been out of commission for awhile.
I've been reading the posts for about 4 months now and just put myself into the mix a few days ago. Starting my business in about 3 weeks. Going for residential and commercial.
I work a full time job and am going to do it on the side so I can be established when I retire.

[ebarnett]

I only have experience with the Orbot. It is a great machine and performs as well as it looks. However, it is not perfect and has a few design issues that I have alluded to in other posts. The latch assembly is very weak, I broke two of them (they have since upgraded them to make them stronger) also the solution line to the spray heads sticks out to the left and can easily snag on drawer handles, etc. I ripped mine out twice by accident, had to go to lowes and get new connects. Also the pad driver that comes with it is a plastic disc with velcro strips glued to it. After the first use the strips already were starting to fail. Excellent supply sells the duragrip that solves this problem. Besides these it is a very good machine.

[Shorty]

Hi Patrick, welcome aboard.

I'll attempt to give you what limited info I can.

I have the Sprayborg by HOS, so I'll just do a cut 'n paste of the previous post to make it easy.

I only have experience with the Orbot. It is a great machine and performs as well as it looks. However, it is not perfect and has a few design issues that I have alluded to in other posts. The latch assembly is very weak, I broke two of them (they have since upgraded them to make them stronger)

I HAVE NOT HAD A PROBLEM WITH MINE, WHICH ARE THE OLDER LATCHES.

also the solution line to the spray heads sticks out to the left and can easily snag on drawer handles, etc. I ripped mine out twice by accident, had to go to lowes and get new connects.

I AGREE WITH THIS COMMENT, BUT AGAIN, I HAVE NOT (AS YET) DAMAGED IT.

Also the pad driver that comes with it is a plastic disc with velcro strips glued to it. After the first use the strips already were starting to fail.

AGAIN, NO PROBLEM HERE.

Excellent supply sells the duragrip that solves this problem. Besides these it is a very good machine.

THE ONLY PROBLEM I SUFFER WITH THIS MACHINE I FIND, IS THE ATOMIZATION OF SOLUTIONS WHICH LITERALLY GETS UP MY NOSE, BUT THIS (NO DOUBT), WILL APPLY TO ALL O.P. MACHINES THAT DO NOT HAVE A SHOWER FEED.



With the Orbot being taken over by Windsor, parts/service/back-up, etc; may not be up to scratch as with the previous suppliers.

I can't comment on the Challenger, never worked with one.

I have the smaller Oreck, but if I was looking for another OP, I would be purchasing the Oreck SWL Lowboy from Excellent-Supply, (especially if it came in 240 volt).

Most of my commercial work is with the Cimex, some jobs where space is limited, I need the Sprayborg, in much smaller/tighter areas I use my little Oreck, then for corners and edges, I also have an oblong plated Carpet Gem O.P. which does the trick for this old fella.

Short 1

[Patrick]

Thank you Eric and Shorty.

[MikeB]

Hi Patrick and welcome.
I only have experience with the Challenger. I have used this machine almost exclusively for ten years. I bought it used and it still works great.
I am a part timer myself and looking to "retire" into full time carpet cleaning some day.
I recently added 10 inch wheels to mine and it now performs similarly to an orbot except I have a shower feed instead of spray system.
As far as the machine goes, it's bullet proof and I think the company is up and running again, but they have been on again off again for a few years so I would call and find out for sure if you're interested.
For residential it is about as good as it gets for an orbital machine with regard to weight and performance and durability.
For commercial larger jobs it is pretty slow going. About 600 square feet per hour or so unless you convert to wheels down which brought mine up to 1500 sq ft per hour using the shower feed.
All that being said, if I were starting out I would seriously consider the Oreck with wheel kit for an all around quality machine. The price is about the same as a standard Challenger and much more versatile out of the box. No alterations needed. It is also easy to add a shower feed tank to the Oreck which I personally like better than a spray system for large commercial jobs.


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[Patrick]

Thank you Mike.

[pauluscarpetcare]

Looking at the Oreck Orbiter, will it do a satisfactory job as a residential prescrub followed by HWE using my TM.
Thanks in advance.

[Derek]

i've only owned and used the Challenger, Orbot & the Oreck Orbitor (the last is a very small machine and from my experience, not good for typical CC'ing BUT does great on stairs!!)

Challenger does a GREAT job BUT, i'll only recommend a wheels-down OP machine. they are MUCH easier on your body and, with a weight kit, can give the same results as a Challenger.

if i were in your shoes i would consider the LowBoy with Wheel Kit and i would have to make my own weight kit for it.

just my opinion, welcome to the business!

[Patrick]

Thank you Paul and Derek. I am thinking it may just come to the same conclusion when I bought my Harley. Pick the one you absolutely love because you will have it for a very long time.

[encapman]

Looking at the Oreck Orbiter, will it do a satisfactory job as a residential prescrub followed by HWE using my TM.
Thanks in advance.

The little Oreck Orbiter is pretty small and light. It's handy to have when you need it. But I don't think it will give you what you're looking for as a pre-scrubber before HWE.

[Rob D]

Looking at the Oreck Orbiter, will it do a satisfactory job as a residential prescrub followed by HWE using my TM.
Thanks in advance.

I own an orbiter , the low boy and a crb. If I were to choose one as a prescrub for hwe it would be the crb.....orbiter would eat alot of time

[pauluscarpetcare]

thanks for the input guys. i'll put the $400.00 towards a lowboy.

[TheCleaningDude]

Patrick,

What will you be using the machine for mostly?

Commercial carpet or resi or both?

Also, any other applications? Tile, hardwood, stone, etc.?

All of this will play a role in what you ultimately go with.

[Patrick]

Just resi and commercial for now. With experience I will possibly branch out to tile as well

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[Rob D]

Patrick I own a low boy with the bigboy wheels and love it.....you can't go wrong with that choice....