The machine which Oreck calls the Orbiter is quite small - perhaps a 10" diameter machine. It's good for small jobs - stairs, small landings, very small rooms on upper floors when you don't want to carry a larger machine up one or more flights of stairs. It's similar in size and productivity to the machine which Challenger and others sell as a stair tool, but with a handle. Don't confuse the Oreck Orbiter with the Oreck LowBoy, which is a full-size orbital floor machine with a pad driver diameter of 17". I have used LowBoys, and I would consider them a little too big for general residential use.
The $399 looks nice vs. $ 1500 -2000. Now IS the Oreck machine too lite.Only 34 lb vs 84 or somethin like that. I run A HWE van and Im thinkn of adding on a Op for agitation for Trafic Areas . Im in Florida and have a ton of 10 ft wide trailers ,somewhat in a rural area. This might be more suitable .I do have EDIC 19" 175 that I also Could use for large jobs with a bonnet.
IS the Oreck A POS is what I really want to know .Or is great but just small and not ment for comerc. or Commercial would take 2x as long.
You probably won't know for sure until you try it.
If your main interest is scrubbing in prespray in small areas, it might work just fine. You could do this with any kind of non-absorbent pad, or with one of the brushes Oreck sells for this machine. They sell one brush for tile & grout cleaning, so you could offer that service as well. And they also sell a synthetic bonnet (they call it terrycloth, but it's not) that you could use for encapping carpets. I'm not sure if the Orbiter is intended for everyday commercial use. They sell it mainly in the small Oreck stores mainly aimed at the homeowner market. So durability could be an issue.
Now I have been researching and the 399 I mentioned is the house hold one . What is the upcharge for the commercial one , The only thing I see diferent is the A]The Color
B]A cord holder
I am A Cheap S.O.B , I will end up with a used a challenger. Thats wht I really need more lb and larger ,I can Ecap large rESI - Commercial and clean 2x as fast for a litle more.
Erik, I've had a Oreck Orbiter for years. We use our's for pre-scrubing with the shampoo brush, and we also clean area rugs from time to time with the pad and driver.
The Orbiter is way to weak and light to clean carpet. There is just no way. The lightest that you can afford to go would be the 66 lb 1/2 horse Challenger. Now that thing will clean carpet.
I have learned over the years to spend the money and avoid the frustration.
Erik G -
I have used my Obiter to prescrub traffic lanes when I did alot of HWE, its actually 13" add a Fibre plus pad from Rick G. and you should be happy with it. The carpet brush may prove to be a little aggressive.
They also have different models 1/3HP consumer and 1/2HP commercial units. I have the commercial, I rewired the on/off switch and relocated it so I could remove the long handle and just use the head of the machine when I wanted to.
