Make My Day

You can keep your weed wackers, table saws and hi-torque portable hand drills, for my money, nothing beats the Power Washer. It sits uncontested at the very top of the power tool food chain.

Yesterday, my wife asked me to clean our painfully filthy flagstone patio. This is one of the few household chores I actually don't mind doing. Because I can do it well. And I can do it well because I have the tool for the job.

I plugged the Husky GT 1650 power washer in to the 220 Volt outdoor outlet. And then death-defyingly attached the garden hose. Normally, I don't like to mix my electricity with my water, but I knew I could depend on the faithful service of an 18-cent plastic GFI circuit breaker.

Within seconds, water was gushing through the magic power wand at Peter North-like speeds. And I was blasting away caked on layers of soot, grass clippings and barbecue sauce from our 2005 Memorial Day Pig Roast.

There's something magical about the point and shoot power of 1600 pounds of pressure per square inch. I would imagine it's not unlike the feeling one gets when holding a loaded double barrel shotgun.

And I'm not the only who feels that way.

Minutes after I was done scouring my flagstone, the doorbell rang and my next-door neighbor came by to see if he could borrow the machine. I think it's a serious case of power washer envy.