Bus & truck wash
Automatic Bus / Truck Wash Equipment (Gantry Type)
Gantry wash machines for buses and trucks in Tunisia: the vehicle parks in the bay and the machine travels over it on floor rails. Brush, touchless and combination systems, 6 to 7 vehicles an hour out of a single bay.
KKE Wash Systems has the experience and the expertise in the manufacture of bus and truck wash equipment.
A clean fleet matters to your brand image. Trolley washing systems are an easy way to have an in-house washing facility for a quick wash whenever you need one: the space and the resources they consume are much lower than a drive-through system's, and they suit a medium load of truck or bus cleaning.
Choosing a machine
Three things decide which technology you want
Location
Where the bay sits, how much room the machine has to travel through, and what your site can give it in supply, drainage and shelter.
Type of dirt
Light road film off a city bus is a different problem from baked-on site soil, and it is the one that decides between mechanical action and pressure.
Type of vehicles
Flat-sided buses and box bodies suit a brush. Tankers, mixers and anything with an irregular profile are the case for a touchless machine.
Wash technology
Friction, touchless, or both on one gantry
Friction / brush
Brushes carry water through them and put mechanical action on the panel, which is what shifts road film. The KKE 403 and the KKE 504 are the brush machines.
Touchless
High-pressure nozzles and chemistry only, nothing touching the vehicle — so the machine can follow a profile no brush can reach. That is the KKE 503.
Combination
Brush plus high pressure on the same gantry: brushes on the flanks, high-pressure passes and wheel blasters where a brush cannot get to.
years engineering vehicle-wash systems
countries with KKE installations
vehicles an hour from one bay — 6 to 7 on a full cycle
trolley models: the KKE 403, 503 and 504
Our range
Three machines on the same rail
All three are trolley machines: they run on rails set into the bay floor and travel the length of a parked vehicle. What separates them is how they reach the dirt.
| Model | Technology | Vertical units | Roof brush | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KKE 403 | Brush | 2 hinged brushes, pressure held by a pneumatic air cylinder | Optional add-on, with the Extended Mirror Program | Buses and flat-sided trucks — the entry machine in the range |
| KKE 504 | Brush | 2 brushes with cross-over motion, pressure sensed off the brush motor's own power draw | Standard — three brushes in all | Buses and trucks where the front and the rear have to be cleaned too |
| KKE 503 | Touchless, high pressure | High-pressure nozzle passes, positioned by vehicle mapping sensors | Contour-following top nozzles | Irregular profiles a brush cannot follow — tankers, mixers, tippers |
Brush · entry level
KKE 403 — Automatic Bus / Truck Wash Equipment
Two hinged brushes, held against the body of the bus by pneumatic air pressure. The brushes swing free rather than crossing over, so the 403 cleans the sides and wraps only slightly onto the front and the rear — which is all a flat-sided bus or a box body needs. Very easy to operate and to maintain, and the machine most first-time buyers start on.
- Two hinged vertical brushes with pneumatic pressure sensing
- Roof brush available as an add-on, with the Extended Mirror Program
- High-pressure wheel blasters and spray passes can be added
- Washable heights from 3.5 m to 5.1 m
Brush · three brushes
KKE 504 — 3 Brush Automatic Truck Wash Equipment
Three brushes: two vertical and one roof brush as standard. The vertical brushes each run on their own driven carriage and cross over to the centre line of the bay, so they clean the complete front and the complete rear of the vehicle as well as the sides. Brush pressure is read off the power the brush motor is drawing, and the Extended Mirror program senses the mirrors automatically. Modular, so the machine is configured to your bay and goes up quickly on site.
- Three brushes — two vertical with cross-over motion, plus the roof brush
- Front and rear cleaned, not just wrapped
- Brush pressure sensed from brush-motor power draw
- Add-ons: high-pressure wheel blasters, height and length extensions
Touchless · high pressure
KKE 503 — High Pressure Automatic Truck Wash System
A touchless machine: high-pressure water and chemistry do the work and nothing touches the vehicle. Precision position-measuring sensors and vehicle mapping sensors read the profile in front of the machine and place the passes against it, which is why the 503 is the one to specify for trucks with an irregular profile — tankers, mixers, tippers, anything a brush would have to bridge.
- No contact with the vehicle at any point in the cycle
- Vehicle mapping sensors read the profile and position the passes
- Contour-following top nozzles over the roof
- Trolley design, extendable in length
The cycle
One pass of the bay, four stages
A rollover bus wash typically turns around 6 to 7 buses an hour, though that depends on how long the buses are and which cycle you select. A full cycle runs:
Prewash / presoak
Water over the whole vehicle first, so the grit is wetted and lifted before anything sweeps across the paint.
Soap spray
Chemistry laid on through the foaming chambers on the structure, and given time to work on the road film.
Brush pass / high-pressure pass
The working pass — brushes on a 403 or a 504, high-pressure nozzle passes on a 503, or both on a combination machine.
Low-pressure rinse
Clean water at low pressure to carry the loosened soil and the chemistry off the vehicle.
Configuration
Configured to your bay, your vehicles and your dirt
The trolley machines are ordered against the bay they go into. Washable height is fixed when the machine is built, so it is the one choice to make on the size of your largest vehicle — a double-decker included.
| Option | Available |
|---|---|
| Washable height | 3.5 m (137") · 4.1 m (161") · 4.6 m (181") · 5.1 m (200") — on the KKE 403, 503 and 504 alike |
| High-pressure pass and wheel blasters | 5 bar (72 psi) · 20 bar (290 psi) · 40 bar (580 psi) · 80 bar (1160 psi). Fits either brush machine; the pump system is ordered separately |
| Roof brush | Standard on the KKE 504. An add-on on the KKE 403, with the Extended Mirror Program |
| Height and length extensions | Bolted kit on the KKE 504 |
| Wash technology | Brush, touchless, or brush plus high pressure on one gantry |
Bigger fleet?
Washing more than 7 vehicles an hour?
A trolley machine travels over every vehicle, and that travel is what caps it at 6 to 7 an hour. Past that the vehicle should be moving instead of the machine: a drive-through line holds its arches still and the truck drives through them. It costs more bay length and more site work, and it is the right answer once the yard is queuing.
trucks an hour — 30 to 40 through a drive-through arch line
FAQ
Common questions about trolley bus and truck wash
How many buses can a rollover bus wash system wash in one hour?
A rollover machine typically washes about 6 to 7 buses an hour, though it depends on the length of the buses and on the cycle you select. A full cycle is prewash or presoak, soap spray, a brush pass or high-pressure pass, then a low-pressure rinse.
What is the difference between the KKE 403 and the KKE 504?
They look very similar and they work differently. The KKE 403 has hinged vertical brushes held against the body by pneumatic air pressure; they have no cross-over motion, so they clean the sides, and the roof brush is an optional add-on. The KKE 504 has three brushes — two vertical and one roof brush — and its vertical brushes DO cross over, so they clean the front and the rear of the bus as well. On the 504 brush pressure is sensed from the power the brush motor draws.
Can I fit a high-pressure system to the KKE 403 or the KKE 504?
Yes. Both brush machines can take high-pressure equipment such as wheel blasters and high-pressure spray passes. The pump system is ordered separately, and the pass can be specified at 5 bar (72 psi), 20 bar (290 psi), 40 bar (580 psi) or 80 bar (1160 psi) depending on what you are washing off.
Do you have a solution for a larger fleet?
Yes — the KKE 501 is a drive-through truck wash system. Depending on the arches selected it washes roughly 30 to 40 trucks an hour, because the truck moves through the machine rather than the machine travelling over the truck.
Can we wash a double-decker bus with a KKE 403?
It depends on the washable height you order. Every trolley machine in the range — the KKE 403, 503 and 504 — is built to one of four washable heights: 3.5 m (137"), 4.1 m (161"), 4.6 m (181") or 5.1 m (200"). Choose it against your tallest vehicle; it is fixed when the machine is built.
Talk to a KKE Wash Systems specialist
Tell us what you run, how tall it is and how many of them go through in a day — we will recommend brush, touchless or a combination, the washable height to order, and share pricing for your market.