wet/dry vac on dock?

[Tigerxj]

Wasn't sure if I should post this in maintenance, or here, since it is a question more about keeping the boat clean.

we use a simple small shop vac dedicated to the garage for cleaning out the wife's kid hauler. Was thinking about doing something similar for the dock for the boats. We went out yesterday, and I am shocked at how little concern grown adults have for tracking sand and crud into the boat. My kids (all under 8) do a better job!

Anyways, you can only wipe up so much sand with the rags and at some point you are just spreading sand around. I am thinking about mounting a wet/dry vac on one of the posts on our dock, and wondering if anyone has done something similar, and if there are any specific recommendations. If you've never seen these, many manufacturers make dedicated wall-mounted vacs, generally in the garage storage world, complete with 30' hose in most cases, plus accessory kits for detailing, some with vacuum powered brush heads, etc. We have a covered dock, no concern for exposures there. We have two boats, the nautique sits on the lift under the covered portion, the pontoon sits in the water outside the covered portion, and is waiting on a new cover, so it tends to collect a little more junk.

Would appreciate any recommendations on specific brands/models to look at.

it would be nice to find something that has a blower option as well, because a shop vac is great for blowing up odd sized inflatables like the trampoline, or other kids toys around the dock, the EZ-Ski, etc.

thanks in advance!

[gcam4]

What brand of power tools do you have? Reason why I ask is numerous brands have a cordless shop vac. They also have a jobsite blower that is super lightweight and will fill inflatables in seconds. You can use the blower side of the shop vac, but I don't. I would highly recommend both!

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[bturner]

I have a DeWalt Air Infiltrator that does really good on blowup toys and tires....

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-110-...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'll be adding their portable shop vac to the tool kit this year as well....

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-20-V...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

As gcam states all the cordless tool companies are making these. The reason I went with DeWalt was primarily because all my hand power tools are DeWalt and I have 2 charges and about 6 batteries. If you don't have any battery power tools now pick a good manufacture and go with that as your standard. The idea is to get with one manufacture and take advantage of a single battery platform for all your tools.

[Tigerxj]

That’s good advice, I hadn’t considered cordless stuff. Both my dad and I use dewalt. How would you compare (if you’ve used one) the suction power to something like a shop vac?

[Stevemo14]

I have the Cordless DeWalt Vac, and I use it all the time. Is it as powerful as a full size shop vac, no, but its plenty powerful to vacuum the boat, the truck, or anything else like that.

[gcam4]

I'm on the kobalt lineup and as Stevemo said, it's not as powerful as a plugin, but is more than adequate. The convenience is everything too! I would look at their jobsite mini blower as well. My kobalt came with attachments for inflatables and it works great for patios, walkways, garages etc. It isn't a full power leaf blower but more than enough for small jobs.

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[paticus]

I bring my house Dyson V11 (with handheld attachment) with us on every boat trip. It can be easily stored under a seat, and I can clean up messes if they are made. It's great for the truck too. Whatever route you go, having a vacuum on board is pretty nice.

[bturner]

I bring my house Dyson V11 (with handheld attachment) with us on every boat trip. It can be easily stored under a seat, and I can clean up messes if they are made. It's great for the truck too. Whatever route you go, having a vacuum on board is pretty nice.

I may as well never come home again if I ever dropped our Dyson V11 in the water. That would be a quick $699 and the silent treatment for a month from my wife.... Wait a minute, what a brilliant idea!

Just kidding of course.....

[shag]

Not sure if Rigid is still doing it, but about 7-8 years ago I bought a open box cordless package at Home Depot (drill, driver, sawzall, circular saw and light) with a lifetime warranty (including batteries) for about $350. I built my entire boathouse with these tools including screwing down all the composite deck boards and have been happy. Just replaced a few batteries again (free) and the ones they sent are the new lithium batteries that last a ridiculously long time. Not sure if they have a vac though. As far as sand in the boat, no shoes are allowed in my boat - I am not a dick about it, I simply just say to "leave the shoes on the dock, your on a boat" I don't have a mounted shop vac, but have a small one I keep in a storage box in the boathouse.

[SilentSeven]

I have the Cordless DeWalt Vac, and I use it all the time. Is it as powerful as a full size shop vac, no, but its plenty powerful to vacuum the boat, the truck, or anything else like that.

Do you use it to remove water from the boat (carpet)? I'd like a portable wet dry vac to dry out the boat after a heavy swim/ski before covering on the lift. I use a dyson handheld for dry cleanup but have yet to find a good wet vac solution...

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[Stevemo14]

It is Wet / Dry

[SilentSeven]

Oops. Wasn't very clear with that....

How well does the dewalt work as a wet dry?

For example, I have used combo wet dry vacs that have problems with getting the filter wet, not having reasonable suction to pull water out of the carpet (wet hand vacs), etc.

They are labeled wet dry but don't operate easily for primarily wet use.

I want a vac I can use to suck say 80% of the water out of my carpets after a hard day of boat usage.