A Graveyard of Washing Machines

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mayfan69

mayfan69

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Hi guys,

I was contacted by a washer repairer who said he had a "graveyard" of machines, some of which he said i might be interested in.

So, on a recent trip interstate, i decided to pay him a visit. Here are a couple of pics of some of the more older machines.

This first pic is a Wilkins Servis 506 (pretty much a helical drive Maytag) in Avocado. I have already purchased it. Defintely will require some work and more than likely a re-spray. I already have a nice spare control panel which hasn't faded.

Cheers
Leon

1-4-2009-04-59-53--mayfan69.jpg
 
Hoover Zodiac?

Hi Chris

Yes, that's a Hoover Zodiac. He had a few Hoover's there, plus lots of Simpsons and Kelvinator's of various vintages.

Unfortunately, we were both on timetables, so i couldn't take pics of everything. I will more than likely be going back sometime this year and decide exactly what else i might want....defintely one of the Frigidaires above thats for sure.

Cheers
Leon
 
sigh...

What I wouldn't give to have a nice keymatic....

I actually wonder if there is some little old lady that has one stashed away...

Leon, the 4spd Fluid Drive that you have...does it work and do you know the history of it?

c
 
4 speed Fluid Drive Auto

Hey Chris

Well....you could always try and advertise for a Hoover Keymatic. Nathan found his that way, although it wasn't initially the machine he wanted, but there are still some out there.

As for the Four Speed programmed Fluid Drive: Yes, it does work, however, the timer will need a repair as apparently its not completing the entire cycle and the gearbox will need to be swapped over with a spare one i have as during transit, it unfortunately leaked oil on the way back from interstate.

The owner was an elderly woman who bought it new in about 1970 and when it started give timer problems, bought a new one and put this one in the shed.

Cheers
Leon
 
timer...

Well mum got hers in 1968...August to be exact as they moved into the house on the bank holiday long weekend (she worked for the Bank of NSW)

...and it is interesting that mum did the timer in hers at least twice in the time she owned it and then something happened to the 'spin'. When it was fixed it would spin rather slowly and you could still wring water out....so that coupled with the hotwater solinoid going meant the machine went...
 
Slow Spin

Hmmmmmm

Sounds like the clutch lining had worn away. That was one of the issues with that type of mechanism or maybe the fluid drive itself needed replacing. To replace the lining is fairly simple...i did it on a 1976 Simpson and its spinning to full speed now.

Leon
 
Wow!

That looks like a very interesting place to wonder around! I would love to rescue some of (or all of?) those machines! Being that they are all out in the weather, it looks like some (most?) are not in that great of condition.... but hopefully with a little TLC.......?

That Lightburn "King Size", I've never seen anything like that, pretty neat!

And the photo of the 1965 Frigidaire Multimatic "Deluxe", what is that growing out from around the lid? Mold, fungus, moss? Eeew! LOL
 
Where, oh where?

Hi Leon,

I'm amazed - I didn't think there was still Gold in the Goldfields, but I was wrong. What an amazing place to find nowadays when everybody is so environmentally conscious that things like this have to be carted off to a "correct" disposal station and crushed.

As to the Lightburn, I have very vague recollections of having seen something like this in my childhood (late 50's/early 60's). I believe they were Australian designed and manufactured, but I'm not sure.

The Hoover Zodiac is from the early 80's. I bought a similar machine in white in 1979 and the colour scheme you see here came out a few years after that. I think mine was one of the first made here - I say this as I had friends who had Hoover front loaders bought around 1975 and they definitely came from the UK and looked somewhat different.

Cheers,

Nick

Cheers,

Nick
 
Zodiac

The main difference between our machines and the British ones were that we kept the basic design of the post 'slant front' keymatic and ditched the detergent drawer. A shame really as we didn't get it back until the Electra 530/535....

A really good Zodiac is a very good and capable machine with its' 5 rinses....
 
There're got to be close to a hundred to choose from. Most probably just need painting job. There should be 1 in the state.
 
WOW! Where is this "graveyard"?

What is growing under the lids of those Frigidaires? I wonder if the owner would be tempted to repair them for a paying customer?
 
Places like this are almost a thing of the past now. There was one on the outskirts of Thompson, Iowa several years ago where I picked up some machines. Found an old '54 Hamilton among others there. Last I heard, either the state or some form of government was trying to make him get rid of all of them. I'm sure they probably succeeded and that place is no more. He had many old Frigidaire, Maytag, Kenmore and various other machines of the 50's, 60's & 70's. Still, the place where I saw and found the most was right here in my own home town back in the early 70's. That place had nearly everything as far as washers and dryers! There was even an old Apex like the one Robert has now, although I did not pick it up. But there were lots of matched sets of ABC omatic machines and Leonards, a rebadged Kelvinator washer. Lots of Frigidaire and Philco machines too. The odd ball ones that service guys didn't like to mess with were all there. They were all hauled to the dump or the crusher by the early 80's. Sad...
 

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