How to know if you are truly comparing apples to apples when buying a spray foam rig/equipment

The Trailer

What is the GVW and why is it important ?

GVW = Gross Vehicle Weight. This is the MAXIMUM weight the trailer should weigh.

Trailers themselves will weigh 2,000 – 3,000 lbs with nothing in them. Spray foam equipment: Spray foam machine, hoses, transfer pumps, guns can weigh up to 700 lbs or more. Add in a generator, compressor and dryer which can be as heavy as 2,500 lbs or more and you are now around 6,000 – 6,500 lbs. No let’s put two sets of material (or 4 drums of material) which weighs 2,000 lbs. Include tools, accessories, extra fuel, etc. and you may have another 400 lbs. So now you are around 9,000 lbs. What is amazing is many proposals for a spray foam rig include trailers with a 7,000 gvw! Profoam trailers are either 10,000 GVW or above and the floors are constructed using 12” on center floor beams. 

… that is just the way the actual trailer is constructed. Make sure that your trailer is insulated with closed cell foam and has a heater and/or AC if you are in a southern state. ?” Plywood walls covering the closed cell foam. We use ?” plywood for obvious strength when hanging accessories. Many trailers do not use ?”. 

Spray Foam Equipment

The only two manufacturers we recommend are Graco and PMC. We choose PMC over Graco because we feel their equipment as good or better than Graco equipment and it cost less upfront plus accessories and parts are less. Overall it’s easier to maintain PMC Equipment and cost less to maintain. We usually choose 10.5kw heaters vs small heaters (7.5kw or 6kw on E20) because spray foam needs to be sprayed at high temperatures and being able to heat and maintain the temperature of the chemical is key to a successful spray foam job. PMC AP3 Guns are almost 50% of the cost of Graco Fusion AP Guns and just as good – if not better! If you still prefer Graco – we can always work you up a quote!

Any other brand will not offer the support or quality you need. Investing thousands of dollars and not getting the correct support is something we’ve seen way too often.

Spray Foam Power Generation

We include a generator but we always also include the ability to use shore power to power your entire spray foam rig. Whether out of necessity or convenience – having the ability to use shore power instead of your generator saves money on fuel and increases the life of your generator. Many towns also have noise ordinances and having the ability to use shore power allows you to keep spraying foam even when neighbors are close by.

Compressor and Air Dryer

Everyone installs the same thing right? Wrong. Too many times we see trailer built with a compressor and desiccant dryer not a refrigerated dryer. Big deal ? Yes. Compressors give off lots of moisture and if you have a desiccant dryer and not a refrigerated dryer – you will eventually have moisture in your lines which will lead to big problems with your gun. The A -Side chemical does not like moisture. Furthermore, there are two types of dryers : Regular Dryers and High Inlet Temperature Dryers. Both better than desiccant but if you are trying to dry air coming off a piston compressor, you should have a High Inlet Dryer because the air tends to be high temperature. Profoam dryers are always High Inlet Temperature Dryers.

Training

We include a 1-2 day job site training but we also offer one of the most comprehensive 5-Day Spray Foam Training Classes in the industry.

Profoam Overall Philosophy

Every customer becomes a partner. Our focus is making sure we do the best we can to put you in the best possible position to succeed.