How Much Does a Floor Scrubber Weigh?

Key takeaways

• A floor scrubber weighs from about 110 lb (a 15 in compact) to 4,900 lb (a large engine rider at gross weight). A typical 28 in battery walk-behind is about 620 lb with batteries and 810 lb with a full solution tank.
• Every machine has three weights: empty, with batteries and gross (GVW). Tennant's T16 rider is 1,100, 1,900 and 2,800 lb, so a single "weight" figure means nothing until you know which one it is.
• Batteries are the biggest single item. A set of four 6 V batteries adds 264 to 265 lb on Tennant's T5 and T7, and the T16's 36 V set adds 800 lb.
• Water adds 8.34 lb per gallon. On the T500, a full 22.5 gal tank (188 lb) is almost exactly the gap between its weight with batteries and its GVW.
• For elevators, floors and lifts use GVW plus the operator. For trailering, drain the tanks: Tennant rates the T5, T7 and T16 for 11 degree trailer ramps only when empty.

A floor scrubber weighs about 110 lb to 4,900 lb, depending on its class and on which weight you read. A 15 in compact walk-behind is 110 to 146 lb. A typical 28 in battery walk-behind is about 620 lb with batteries and 810 lb full (Tennant T500). Micro riders run 850 lb or more with batteries, a 36 in battery rider reaches 2,800 lb at gross weight, and a large engine rider 4,900 lb.

The reason searches turn up wildly different numbers for similar machines is that one machine has three weights, and listings rarely say which one they quote. Tennant's T16 rider is 1,100 lb empty, 1,900 lb with standard batteries and 2,800 lb at gross vehicle weight (GVW). All three are correct. The one you need depends on what is going to carry the machine.

The three weights on a spec sheet

• Empty, net, or "less batteries". The machine with no batteries and dry tanks. Useful for comparing build, useless for planning a lift or a floor load.
• With batteries. What the machine weighs parked and drained, and roughly what it weighs on a trailer. Tennant's T380AMR sheet spells it out: "tanks empty, with batteries."
• GVW, GVWR, gross or working weight. The machine ready to clean, with a full solution tank. The three Kärcher U.S. walk-behind pages we read list only this figure, as Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. Tennant's T1B calls it "Working Weight (with Water)."

The working weight is the one floors, elevators and ramps see. When a sheet gives only the first two, add the water yourself (below).

Published weights by machine class

Every figure is the maker's own, copied from its spec sheet or product page. "Not listed" means the source gives no figure for that column.

Three things the table shows that a single listing does not:

• Path width barely moves the weight inside one family. Going from a 26 in to a 32 in T500 head adds 35 lb. Changing the head type adds more: the 28 in cylindrical and orbital T500s are 40 lb heavier than the 28 in disk.
• Class moves it a lot. The step from walk-behind to micro rider is about 230 lb with batteries (T500 28 in to T7), and from micro rider to a 36 in battery rider about 1,050 lb (T7 to T16).
• Kärcher's and Tennant's 28 in machines are 300 lb apart, but not like for like. The BD 70/75's 505 lb GVWR and the T500's 810 lb GVW are each maker's full-machine figure, but they carry different batteries (24 V 220 Ah against the T500's options up to 260 Ah) and tanks (19.8 gal against 22.5 gal). Compare the configurations, not the model names. Our guide to reading spec sheets covers the other columns that need the same care.

Where the weight comes from: batteries

On a lead-acid machine, the battery set is the heaviest single component. Subtracting each Tennant sheet's empty weight from its with-batteries weight gives the weight of the set it ships with:

That is why a walk-behind can lose close to half its weight when the batteries come out, and why battery choice changes the answer. The only sheet in our set that prints both chemistries side by side is the T1B: 110 lb with lithium, 126 lb with AGM, a 16 lb difference on a 15 in machine. On a large set the gap is bigger. Our lithium vs lead-acid comparison covers the trade-offs beyond weight, and floor scrubber batteries explains the sets themselves. One caution: on a battery rider, weight is part of traction and stability, so do not swap to a lighter pack without the maker's approved kit.

Where the weight comes from: water

Water weighs 8.34 lb per gallon (the USGS figure). A full solution tank adds:

The check works on the walk-behinds. The T1B's working weight is 20 lb over its net weight, and its 2.5 gal tank holds 21 lb. The 28 in T500 is 620 lb with batteries; add 188 lb of water and you get 808 lb, against a published GVW of 810 lb. So on a walk-behind, GVW is roughly weight with batteries plus a full solution tank. Water moves from the solution tank to the recovery tank as you work, so the total stays close to the full figure during a shift.

On riders the GVW is higher than that sum. The T16's 2,800 lb GVW is 483 lb more than its 1,900 lb with batteries plus a full 50 gal tank. Tennant's sheet does not list what goes into the figure. The gap is larger than the 209 lb the optional extended-scrub tank adds (75 gal instead of 50), with room left for an operator, and GVW is the weight at which Tennant rates the T16's transport gradeability. Plan rider loads from GVW, not from your own sum.

When a sheet gives only the weight with batteries, estimate the working weight as: weight with batteries + (solution gallons x 8.34) + the operator on a rider. For the T7 that is 850 + 242 = about 1,090 lb before the operator. The T5 (24 in) comes to about 770 lb, the T350 about 845 lb and the T7AMR about 1,325 lb (Scrubber Guide estimates from the published figures). Our tanks and solution flow guide explains how much of that tank you actually use per pass.

When the weight matters

Elevators. Compare the elevator's rated load with the machine's GVW plus everyone riding with it. A 28 in walk-behind at 810 lb plus its operator is close to 1,000 lb in one car. A T16 at 2,800 lb is freight-elevator territory, and its 41 in body and 74 in length decide the question before the weight does. Drain the solution tank first if the route allows: on the T16 that takes 417 lb off. The route survey in how to choose a floor scrubber lists what to measure.

Ramps and trailers. Tennant rates its machines much steeper when empty than when full:

So drain both tanks before loading, and size the ramp and the trailer for the weight with batteries, not the empty figure, because the batteries go with the machine. Our ramps and gradeability guide turns these angles into ramp lengths and holding forces.

Mezzanines and raised floors. Use GVW plus the operator and ask the building's engineer whether the floor takes that load on the machine's wheels. A rider's weight sits on three tires (the T16's are each 4 x 12 in), so the concentrated wheel load matters more than the total.

Choosing a class. If the route has a passenger elevator, a mezzanine or a lift at the end of it, weight can rule out a class before cleaning width does. Our walk-behind auto scrubber guide and ride-on floor scrubber guide set out what each class gives you for the extra weight.

Where these numbers stop applying

• Other configurations. Each figure is for the configuration printed on the sheet. Larger battery options, lithium packs, pre-sweep units, overhead guards and extended-scrub tanks all change it.
• Other makers. Most of the table is Tennant, because Tennant prints all three weights. Kärcher's U.S. pages print only GVWR. Do not assume another maker's "weight" is the empty, battery or gross figure: ask which.
• Liters and imperial gallons. The 8.34 lb figure is for U.S. gallons. For a tank listed in liters, a liter of water is about 2.2 lb (8.34 divided by 3.785 liters per gallon).
• Engine machines. The T20 has no battery weight to subtract, and Tennant's sheet does not say whether its 3,300 lb empty figure includes fuel or an LPG cylinder.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Tennant, T1B specifications: tennantco.com
• Tennant, T5 disk specifications (Rev 5.16.05): tennantco.com
• Tennant, T500 product specifications, North America (Rev 10-23): tennantco.com
• Tennant, T350 product specifications (Rev 12/4/2018): tennantco.com
• Tennant, T7 specifications (Rev 12/20): tennantco.com
• Tennant, T380AMR and T7AMR specifications: tennantco.com
• Tennant, T16 specifications (Rev 11/24): tennantco.com
• Tennant, T20 specifications (Rev 9.2022): tennantco.com
• Kärcher, BD 70/75 W Bp Classic + AGM + OBC: karcher.com
• Kärcher, BR 75/75 W Bp Classic + AGM + OBC: karcher.com
• Kärcher, BD 80/100 W Bp Classic + AGM + OBC: karcher.com
• USGS Water Science School, A million gallons of water: how much is it?: usgs.gov