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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 3, 2024 21:55:30 GMT -6
We bought a new Maytag Atlantis model washing machine 20 years ago, at a $200.00 discount because it had been hit by a forklift from the rear and had a big dent in it that didn't seem to interfere with the mechanics of the machine. We had 4 kids living at home at the time, so there were 6 of us doing our laundry all at once. We needed a bigger machine than the old Whirlpool we had been limping through wash days with for so long.
That Maytag was built like a tank compared to the Whirlpool that we got rid of.
After 20 years of hard use, all I've had to replace on the Maytag was a set of hot/cold water solenoids and a lid switch. Not too bad at all!
I'm convinced that old Atlantis model of Maytag would outlast 5 of the old Whirlpool models similar to what we used to own. The Atlantis model has a 4.5 cubic foot washing capacity that will hold 21 full-size bath towels. It has always impressed the heck out of me by what it was capable of washing. I'm very happy with it, even after twenty years of abuse!
www.maytag.com/washers-and-dryers/washers/top-load-washers.html?plp=%3ABest%20Seller%3Acategory%3AWashersandDryersWashersTopLoadWashers%3AinStock%3Atrue&plpView=list¤tPage=0
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 4, 2024 7:51:06 GMT -6
Oh Gosh. Thank you so much! We’ve been looking at used Speed Queens now, because even just a washer is over a grand. We,literally, cannot afford to work on one right now because everything else we have needs fixed. After looking, it’s easy enough to buy a cheap used one and beat it to death until later, but we’re not going to have any “later” when I start repairing the house.
But Hahn has a Whirlpool listed that literally reads, “with adjustable water level”. The price on it is the same as the one I just returned. This is the closest to “honest” as I have gotten from anyone so far. I have no fear in simply talking to owners or dealers and asking questions, but they are MUTE. The problem is, there are so many worthless machines, they are hush as they want to offload them as fast as possible. I couldn’t get any information as to when the law started or how many years one must go back to get the normal water cycle but I dn’t think it is as clear as that.
macmex sent me the info on his new machine and I may just look for its exact model to know for certain. Huge help.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 4, 2024 16:53:48 GMT -6
We went to Tulsa and checked out refurbishing places. Then, we went to Hahn’s. They have a scratch and dent Speed Queen washer for $850. This wasn’t much more than that metal wash bucket without a stick from Lowe’s. We nabbed it. My jaw hit the floor with the professionalism, the 3 year warranty and more.
Me: So, what does the warranty cover?
Sales lady: The machine
Me: So, the engine (then it hits me) … all of it?
Sales lady: Yep.
I felt like I was stepping back in time.
___
It just filled all the way up with water!! The agitator isn’t as aggressive as the one on the old Roper, but I bet it’ll be fine.
SO, I asked the gal how Speed Queen gets around regulations. Anything labeled “commercial” is the work around for low water capacity limitations, but these sold for residential must also include the low water capacity options.
I think they are clamping down with the regulations quickly. It would seem the GE or Whirlpool models without restrictions are no longer available except for used. The used Speed Queens are gone almost as soon as the for sale sign is hung.
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Post by macmex on May 5, 2024 7:07:03 GMT -6
We purchased our machine last summer. So, I assume that the regulations set in since that time. At the time, I bit my tongue when my wife purchased a new washing machine. I figured I could fix the old one. Now I know why.
First they "fixed" gas can nozzles "to protect the people." Now, washing machines. Soon it'll be cars, etc.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 5, 2024 23:52:47 GMT -6
To be real, the weak agitator on the SpeedQueen doesn’t clean as well as my old Roper (read: whirlpool). But that’s his carbon dust saturated overalls. Even the roper didn’t remove it all. Everything else is a piece of cake.
My clothes smell better as the old Roper was dirty.
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Post by woodeye on May 7, 2024 9:43:39 GMT -6
FrostyTurnip, I'm glad you managed to win the battle and get a new washer that works. I bought a Whirlpool washer at Lowe's about 15 years ago, it was one of the new age looking things. I bought it because in the past I had always had pretty good luck with Whirlpool appliances.
That washing machine was the end of my pretty good luck with Whirlpool, it worked fair for a year or so, but then it was one thing after another going wrong. It made me feel like I had bought it from Mr. Haney on the Green Acres TV show. It would get out of balance too easily and the controls on it were downright stupid. Even washing a small load was too much to ask of it, sometimes it wouldn't even spin enough water out of the small loads. It couldn't be set to just spin, it had to go through the entire cycle just to spin more out of the small load that had just been washed.
I replaced the vertical rods inside of it to hopefully fix the balance issues, that didn't work either. I finally gave up, it has been sitting in my barn collecting dust for 7 years now. I bought a Maytag and have not have one single problem with it. I hope to salvage the motor from the Whirlpool for use on my sander in the shop someday.
The new regulations that have apparently been put on appliances have probably ruined Maytag washers by now too. I don't know for sure of course, but it seems like to me if the regime keeps slapping extreme regulations on everything we'll all be using a tub and washboard one of these days. I'm usually not a good prepper I suppose, but I do have a tub, washboard, and clothesline...☹️
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 7, 2024 10:28:20 GMT -6
I’m sorry you experienced that awful washing machine. It’s amazing how patient you were with it, even attempting to work on it yourself all the while it wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. I bet it was rated as a high efficiency machine but with its inability to wring the water out probably costing you a mint in drying the clothes offsetting any efficiencies.
And all that started for you 15 years ago. I do not understand how they are in business except that the younger generation having bought the new regulated ones don’t know any better. Like animals in cages. They don’t know what’s out there so they don’t know what they’re missing. It’s like the young workers at Lowe’s with which I was discussing. They didn’t know anything different than the new HE junk, so they were stumped. I guess if their clothes are too dirty, they are tossing them and buying more cheap imported clothes?
Many in the younger generation are defending the HE washers, stating that it is “friction” that gets clothes clean, not water; to which I retort “You can’t wash clothes in mud.” And if there is no agitator, where is that “friction” they speak of? This boggles the mind. I learned to wash clothes by hand in the Middle East where my daughter lives now and she is still washing clothes by hand. They don’t use friction except for the occasional nylon brush to spot treat. There’s a trick to hand washing and, assuredly, it involves pushing soapy water through the fibers of the clothes
There is something I want to add here for those reading. The Speed Queen is the best, but for a short period of time, people still need to be paying for the “classic” machines that do not have the digital controls, but the old timer. The computer boards tend to break down. Those with the mechanical timers are being phased out. I think they’re only selling them because people insist and that portion of the machine isn’t regulated yet but the computer boards are what controls the water issue beneath regulations. Ergo, these “classic” machines are even more expensive. We purchased the ones without old mechanical timers, but didn’t know at the time. IF push comes to shove, we can convert the one we have and that is a far cry better than most other options out there, just like what woodeye describes.
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Post by macmex on May 7, 2024 15:41:28 GMT -6
Frosty, this is all very educational! I think I'm going to fix our old washing machine and perhaps hang onto it as a spare.
After years of looking my wife found and purchased a washboard like we used in Mexico. Even when we had a washing machine, down there, we always had a concrete washboard with an attached "tank" for dipping water. One could wash cloths about as fast with that as with any washing machine but, of course, one had to be standing there doing it the whole time. We have the washboard set up out back as a stand by and we have years worth of the bar soap used to wash clothes with it.
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Post by woodeye on May 7, 2024 17:46:44 GMT -6
FrostyTurnip, Yes, that Whirlpool was an HE disaster. It did not have a setting to fill the thing to the top, so I swore on a stack of bibles that I would never buy another washing machine that would not even fill up. The Maytag I have now fills to the brim, I leave the setting for that on HI at all times.
It's counterintuitive to add ingredients to HE soap at the soap factory that will make it have less suds. I'm old school and something of that nature is definitely not natural. I guess there's government mandates for soap suds emissions too? 🤷♂️
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 13, 2024 16:06:00 GMT -6
They caught the perp on an unrelated robbery, the one who had been stealing our equipment. I recall the robber being aggressive and territorial causing me to open carry until I cleaned up the drive and Bill installed the motion detecting camera with lights in an unreachable location to which further break ins were deterred. He had pretty much cleaned us out anyway. That last incident was December last year.
A detective stopped by this morning to speak with Bill about it. He was a Cushing citizen and has been in jail for months now on unrelated burglaries. The detective stated that when the man was presented in front of the judge, he told the judge, “FU”. Yeah. Very aggressive. Although he was nabbed on unrelated burglaries, our testimony and case will provide another nail for his cage as they confirm his DNA on an item from our shop which was stolen.
It’s nice to get some justice every now and then. Kudos to the Cushing Police Department, our neighbors.
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