Built to Outlast.
Engineered to Outperform.
Built to Outlast.
Engineered to Outperform.
Buying a sewer jetter is different from buying most other plumbing equipment. It’s one of the few purchases that can directly impact the type of work your company will be able to pursue. The right machine can help you take on larger jobs, add new services, reduce subcontracting, and create new revenue opportunities. The wrong machine can become an expensive headache that spends more time in the shop or the yard than on the job.
That’s why the best sewer jetter isn’t necessarily the biggest one or the most expensive one. It’s the one that fits where your business is today and where you want it to go next.
Most plumbing companies start in the same place. The owner wears many hats, cash flow’s tight, and every equipment purchase has to justify itself pretty quickly. At this stage, many companies rent jetters when they need them or refer larger jobs to someone else.
Eventually, though, those rental bills start adding up, and you find yourself turning away work or watching competitors handle jobs you could have done yourself. That’s the point where owning a jetter starts making sense.
For many plumbing businesses, a van pack or smaller skid-mount jetter is often the logical starting point. These rigs can help bring jetting services in-house without the upfront investment that a larger trailer unit might need. The goal at this stage isn’t to buy the biggest machine available. It’s to stop turning away profitable work and start building experience with jetting services.
At this point, owning a jetter opens the door to root cutting, grease line cleaning, preventative maintenance, and larger drain cleaning contracts that may have been out of reach before. Choosing a balance of affordability and productivity will help the business keep growing.
“My grandpa did this for 50 years, and he said if he could ever have a jet, it would be a Harben. He never got one, so when I started my business… in the back of my head, the goal was to get a Harben. If you buy one, you’ll have it forever.”
For an emerging business, the decision you may have to wrestle with is simple. Are you losing enough work to justify owning the machine? If the answer is yes, it’s time for a sewer jetter.
As your company grows, equipment starts getting used by more workers. What worked when you ran every job may not work as well when multiple workers are using the machine every day. Reliability and durability become critical to the business. Downtime becomes even more expensive whenever the machine isn’t in the field. Customers start to expect more, and opportunities begin to appear in commercial maintenance, restaurants, industrial facilities, schools, and municipal work.
At this stage, you aren’t buying a jetter just for today’s job. You’re buying it for the jobs you want to win in the next 5-10 years. A dependable machine helps crews stay productive, but it also gives you the confidence to pursue larger opportunities knowing you have the equipment to back it up.
“We bought a used Truck-Mounted Harben Jetter in 2001, and it’s been used almost every day for the last 15 years. We liked it so much we just bought a brand-new Harben Truck-Mounted Jetter.”
As you move into commercial maintenance, grease line cleaning, property management relationships, and larger drain cleaning jobs, it makes sense to be looking at trailer jetters. The additional water capacity and broader pipe range create flexibility that can help support a growing customer base and a wider variety of work.
As an established company, you look at equipment differently. You’ve already built a customer base and proven demand. Now, the focus is keeping your crews productive and protecting profitability. One challenge every mature company faces is that not everyone treats equipment like they own it. Machines get pushed hard and abused, maintenance gets delayed, and mistakes happen.
Over time, the true cost of a sewer jetter isn’t just the purchase price. It’s the repairs, downtime, replacement parts, and lost productivity that come with ownership. How the crew treats the jetter can directly impact your profitability.
“We bought our first Harben jetter in 1989, and it is still working. So, when we decided to purchase a new machine, we knew we wanted a Harben. Not only is the reliability of Harben hard to beat, but also the customer service is phenomenal.”
Mature contractors gravitate toward larger trailer jetters because they need equipment that can handle a wide variety of jobs while standing up to years of daily use and wear and tear. At this stage, versatility and durability often matter more than keeping the initial purchase price as low as possible.
When comparing sewer jetters, it’s easy to focus on the upfront cost. A better approach is to think about ownership in terms of years, or even decades.
How often will the machine be used? What new services and customers can it support? Will it help you win larger contracts? How much maintenance will it require? How much downtime can your business afford?
Those questions usually tell you more than the sticker price ever will. That’s one reason so many contractors choose Harben. The radial piston diaphragm pump is designed for how crews work in the field, not ideal conditions. It can run dry, requires fewer wear parts than a conventional triplex design, and has earned a reputation for staying in service for decades.
Timing can be just as important as durability. A jetter may be the right move for your business, but that doesn’t always mean paying cash is the best option. Financing can help spread the investment over time while the jetter pays itself off. Harben also offers its JetRegret Trade-In Program, which can help reduce the cost of upgrading from an older machine that no longer meets your needs, regardless of the brand.
At the end of the day, the best sewer jetter is the one that helps your business grow while creating the fewest headaches along the way. Whether you’re building your first service truck or managing multiple crews, the goal is to buy a machine that keeps earning long after it pays itself off and helps carry your business into its next stage of growth.