Generac 6020 Review

(Rated: 4 / 5) Review by Frank Lowery
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There are a lot of different cleanup jobs around the house. From keeping your walls and siding free of mold and dirt, to cleaning your second story windows from the detritus that accumulates over the fall and winter, to any number of jobs around the yard, there is a lot to do. And beyond that, there is your car or SUV to keep clean and shiny, garden tools and your lawn mower’s cutting deck to keep free of mud and grass clippings, and your grill and lawn furniture to clean off every so often.

What you need to take care of all of these different kinds of jobs is the kind of pressure washer that has a wide, versatile range of abilities. You want a machine that is powerful enough to take care of big, tough jobs as well as small ones. And with the Generac 6020, that’s exactly what you’ll get.

Review Summary

The Generac 6020 is the kind of compact, durable, and powerful residential pressure washer that you need to take care of the wide range of different cleanup jobs you face around the home. You will be pleasantly surprised by just how many different kinds of jobs this residential pressure washer is equipped to deal with, and soon you will be looking for new tasks that you may have never considered as possible to do as quickly and efficiently as you will be with the Generac 6020. There are three nozzle tips on this residential washer, so you can choose the right one for whatever job you will use it on.

In addition to that, the Generac 6020 is compact and well designed. You will have no trouble finding enough storage space for this pressure washer in your garage or basement. It has a unique assembly in which its axial cam pump and engine are balanced over the center of gravity. This allows the pump to sit much higher on the Generac 6020 so that it will be much easier to access it in order to hook up the intake hose. And because it runs on gas, you can take it anywhere.

Specifications

The Generac 6020 is a gas powered residential pressure washer that has overall dimensions of 17 x 27 x 21 inches, which is a very compact footprint. It has an engine made in-house that will be perfectly designed for the machine. And its pump is an easy access axial cam design.

The Generac 6020 provides a max pressure of 2500 PSI and it has a flow rate of 2.3 gallons per minute, giving it a total cleaning power rating of 5750. It is made from tough parts: its hose is made of durable PVC plastic, and its wheels are 10 inches and solid.

Description

Once you have the Generac out of its box and assembled (which takes only a matter of minutes, because it comes mostly put together and it is easy to finish with just a basic tool set), you can see that it packs a lot of power into a compact space. This pressure washer has an overall footprint of just 17 x 27 x 21 inches, which makes it one of the smaller gas powered residential pressure washers on the market. Yet it has a powerful OHV engine with a displacement of 196 cubic centimeters – and that is more than enough power to drive its easy access axial cam pump.

The pump provides a cold water spray that can reach a max pressure of 2500 pounds per square inch – which is strong enough to complete just about any cleanup job you could find around the house to turn it on. It has a flow rate of 2.3 gallons per minute, which is high for a residential pressure washer. These combine to give it a total cleaning power rating of more than five thousand. This is an excellent rating for a residential pressure washer, and it is the kind of power you want in your garage.

The Generac 6020 has three nozzle options – the zero degree nozzle provides the max pressure for dealing with very tough jobs, while the 25 degree nozzle allows you to have a more gentle spray that can still remove tough stains but will not risk damaging the surface underneath. And there is a soap dispenser option so you can combine a tough detergent with your spray for washing your car, windows, walls, or just about anything else you could think to clean with it. All told this is a good, compact residential pressure washer that provides a lot of cleaning power.

Pros

You need a residential pressure washer in your garage that is compact, easy to use, and has the kind of cleaning power rating you can count on to finish big jobs fast. With the Generac 6020, you get all of that plus a few more Pros, such as the fact that it has a unique, easy to use design and a very powerful engine. This residential pressure washer has a lot to offer its owner.

1. Solid cleaning power rating : The cleaning power rating on the Generac 6020, which is the product of its pressure of 2500 PSI and flow rate of 2.3 gallons per minute, is a full 5750. This is a bit above average for a residential pressure washer, and it will give you the kind of cleaning ability that you will need in order to tackle big jobs quickly and efficiently. It also ensures that you will be able to take care of a wide range of jobs.
2. Durable parts : All of the parts on the Generac 6020 are designed to hold up to tough jobs over the long term, which is good news. It means that this residential pressure washer will last over the long term, regardless of what kind of jobs you need to use it for. It has a durable, welded steel frame, a hose that is made from tough PVC plastic, and wheels that are ten inches tall and solidly made.
3. Compact footprint : The footprint of the Generac 6020 has dimensions that are just 17 x 27 x 21 inches. That means you will have no trouble at all finding enough storage space for this pressure washer in your garage, and you could even store it on a shelf or under a work bench in your tool shed or basement. You can also fit it easily in the trunk of your car in the event that you will need to use it elsewhere.
4. High powered engine : The engine of the Generac 6020 is made in house, so you know it is going to be well integrated into the pressure washer. It has a displacement of 196 cubic centimeters and an overhead valve design. That means it is powerful – in fact, it is so powerful that you will be able to run this pressure washer for a long time before you need to top off the gas tank again.
5. Excellent design : The axial cam pump on the Generac 6020 is designed to sit high up on the frame of the machine, unlike those on many others that are low to the ground. Because of this feature, you will have no trouble getting the intake hose hooked up or having access to any part of the pump. And you will not have to get down on your hands and knees on wet ground in order to do so.

Any single one of these excellent design features would almost be enough all by itself to make this one of the best gas powered residential pressure washers on the market today, and taken together, they absolutely make it superior to many others. Overall, the Generac 6020 is an outstanding compact residential pressure washer. It has the kind of ability and cleaning power that you need in order to tackle a wide range of jobs around the house and yard.

Cons

With all of those great features, you may be surprised to find out that there are in fact a few areas in which the Generac 6020 is not quite the perfect residential pressure washer it seems to be at first. After all, with the kind of power and PSI it provides in a small footprint, it is bringing a lot to the table. Let’s take a look at some of the drawbacks that this residential pressure washer has.

1. Limited nozzle options : With only three nozzle options, the Generac 6020 has fewer than the industry standard of five. This means that you will only effectively have two pressure options, and this is because one of the three nozzles is a soap dispenser. So you will have to either use this pressure washer on the full blast of 2500 PSI or at just one other option. While these should be sufficient for most cleanup jobs, it is nice to have more options.
2. Produces harmful fumes : Like all gas powered residential pressure washers, the Generac 6020 produces harmful fumes and cannot be used in enclosed spaces that are not very well aerated. It also is not compliant with the California Air Resources Board emissions standards for small engines, so it is not available for sale in that state or any of the 14 others that enforce those regulations. But this is really only a drawback because you can’t use it everywhere.
3. PVC hose kinks easily : This is a rather common problem associated with residential pressure washers that have hoses made of PVC plastic. The plastic is rather stiff – which is part of the reason it is so durable – but it also means that it holds its form for a long time, and it will kink up fairly easily if you keep it rolled up when you are not using the pressure washer. You can un-kink it, but this is a bit of a hassle.
4. Cold water only : When you are purchasing a gas powered residential pressure washer, it is always nice to have the option to have a hot water spray, because this is one of the features that are unique to these machines. On the Generac 6020, you only have the option for a cold water spray. This will do fine for the majority of cleanup needs, but it would have been nice to have the option for a hot spray.
5. Does not have electric start : There is no electric starter key on the Generac 6020’s engine. You have to start it using the traditional means of priming the engine and pulling on the starter cord, sometimes more than once to get it going. This is not a huge design flaw by any stretch of the imagination, but it is always nicer when a residential pressure washer that runs on gas has an easier mode of getting it started up.

As you can see, none of these Cons is the kind of serious drawback that would make a residential pressure washer like the Generac 6020 receive a poor rating. Some of these are features of owning a gas powered residential pressure washer, and the others are design choices that do not take away from the overall performance of the machine. I do not think that any of these Cons overshadows all of the great features listed in the Pros section.

Product Comparison

Now, I do not think that Pros and Cons lists by themselves are the best way to figure out if a particular product is the best one for you. They can tell you a lot about a machine like a residential pressure washer. But they are best used if you look at them along with doing a bit of product comparison. This way, you can see how it stacks up against the rest of the market. Let’s take a look at two machines made by competitors of the Generac 6020.

	Generac 6020	Simpson MSH3125-S	Simpson PS4240-S
Type	Residential	Residential	Commercial
Dimensions	17 x 27 x 21	33 x 21 x 19	25 x 30 x 27
Power	Gas	Gas	Gas
Engine Manufacturer	Generac	Honda	Honda
Engine	196cc OHV	GCV190 OHC	GX390 OHV
PSI	2500	3100	4200
GPM	2.3	2.5	4
Power Rating	5750	7750	16800
Pump	Easy-access axial cam	OEM Technologies axial cam	Axial cam
Cold/Hot	Cold	Cold	Cold
Spray Gun	Ergonomic	Pro-style	Professional grade
Nozzle	3 (0°, 25°, soap)	5 (0°, 15°, 25°, 40°, soap)	5 (0°, 15°, 25°, 40°, soap)
Hose	1/4-inch x 25-foot	1/4-inch x 25-foot	1/4-inch x 25-foot
Hose Material	PVC/plastic	High pressure poly-braided	Steel reinforced, non-marring rubber
Wheels	10-inch solid	10-inch pneumatic	10-inch pneumatic
Weight	82 pounds	78 pounds	142 pounds
Warranty	2 years	1 year	1 year

As you can see, the Generac 6020 has an average cleaning power rating, and there are residential pressure washers available that have higher ratings. But do you really need all of that extra cleaning power? As a comparison, these ratings can go all the way up into the tens of thousands on commercial pressure washers, but you wouldn’t necessarily want that around the house, either. The Generac 6020 has the smallest footprint and the most powerful engine of the three, as well as a warranty that is twice as long.

Conclusion

You want to be completely sure that you are getting the very best residential pressure washer so that you can tackle the widest variety of jobs around your house with it. I always think it is a good idea to take a second look at the Pros and Cons so you know what you’re getting.

Conclusion Pros

1. Solid cleaning power rating.
2. Durable parts.
3. Compact footprint.
4. High powered engine.
5. Excellent design.

With a very solid cleaning power rating, the Generac 6020 will be able to easily deal with the vast majority of cleanup jobs around your home. And because it has a great design, is made of durable parts, and has a powerful engine made in house, you know you can count on it for the long term.

Conclusion Cons

1. Limited nozzle options.
2. Produces harmful fumes.
3. PVC hose kinks easily.
4. Cold water only.
5. Does not have electric start.

There are a few minor drawbacks to the Generac 6020. The main one is that it only has three nozzle options, which takes away from the overall versatility of the machine. It also does not have a cold water option. But overall, I think that it has a lot to offer its owner.

Final Word

Let’s face it: all of us want to ensure that our home and property are always looking their best, whether we are going to be having friends over that weekend or just relaxing by ourselves. A person’s house is their castle, and not only that, it reflects how much they care about their family as well as their place in the neighborhood. So you want to make sure your house is always clean and beautiful. But in our busy lives of today, that can seem like a lot of work to manage over the years.

Fortunately, residential pressure washers like the Generac 6020 allow us to cut the amount of time cleaning up around our homes can take by more than half. You can quickly and efficiently blast dirt and grime away from a number of different surfaces. And that way, you will always be sure your home looks its best.

Best Price

One of the main advantages the Generac 6020 offers its owner is the fact that it is not the most expensive gas powered residential pressure washers on the market today. Because of that, you will be able to get all of the benefits of owning a powerful residential pressure washer without having the drawback of digging too deep into your pockets. It is not a cheaply made residential pressure washer, either – far from it: it has durable parts and a solid engine that provides all the power you need. It has a solid cleaning power rating. And you get all of that without having to spend too much.