Whirlpool Mark-18 Pair
Great pair Kevin glad you were able to save them. Whirlpool TOL models were fairly rare machines as WP was usually sold by independent dealers so almost no dealer anywhere in the country ever displayed WP TOL laundry, where as Sears had a pair of LKMs in every major store and they promoted them as well. In the 70s when I worked at the MT-WP appliance dealer I think I sold one pair of this cool washer and dryer to someone that ordered them. Usually the WP distributor did stock these TOL models and in fact when I would go out on a service call and see a TOL WP laundry product I would ask the customer how they got these machines and they usually had a story that they knew someone that worked at the WP distributor or some other similar connection.
But on to these great machines, as Bob already mentioned this was WPs last dryer with the variable tumble speed control. With a clothes dryer even 1 or 2 RPM difference in tumble speed can make a HUGE difference in drying performance, too slow and clothing will just ball up and roll in the drum, a little too fast and the clothing clings to the drum and as you can imagine neither one of these conditions promotes fast wrinkle free drying.
This feature really worked well but there were a few minor issues which is probably why it never appeared on KM dryers. You had to carefully change the tumble speed control when the dryer was running as it was a mechanical system that pulled the belt on a cone shaped grooved pulley with a shifter fork. These dryers tended to go through more belts than the regular WP built dryers because of this and the fact these dryers used the narrower 4 rib belt the the regular capacity dryers used instead of the HD 5 rib belt that all other Super Capacity WP built dryers used.
The other really cool thing about this dryer is that because it is a Gas Model it has a 30,000 BUT burner when you use a high heat selection. This would IMEO make this one if not the fastest drying clothes dryer for home use EVER, great save Kevin we will all be waiting to see performance test results, this should become your favorite everyday dryer.
And don't worry about actually using this dryer everyday it uses the most poplar belt ever used on a clothes dryer, 341241 and the motor, rear rollers, blower wheel are still in production about the only two or three parts that would ever cause you any problems and are hard to find are the timer and timer dial-knob and maybe the over sized idler pulley.
