So far we’ve had a front loader that died after about 5 years and a top loader (the new kind without an agitator) that only lasted about a year in the barn (although it had lighter use in the house for about 5 years prior). The cheapest ones are top load agitator models but we recently had an appliance repair guy said for barns if you don’t want to fork over $1,400 for a commercial grade machine get a front loader. ?? What’s been your experience? Advice?? (This is for a training barn with ~ 12-15 horses at any one time)
Used might be best. Do you have 220 electric (I think) to power a laundromat big machine? That is how I would go if I could choose anything. However our farm only has 110 electric, so I haul the winter heavy stuff to the laundromat a couple times a year. Then wash one blanket at a time so they come truly clean. My big blankets, 84" winter types, do not fit into a regular front loader AND come clean. Not enough water and room for dirt to get off the fabric.
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I have a similar problem as goodhors does. We have a residential front loader. It was the largest capacity they had at the store when we bought it. Nothing fancy, just the average machine.
Anything bigger/thicker than a sheet just does not come clean in it. Water does not get into the folds.
Thanks for the ideas – sheets and blankets are not an issue for us – we send them out to a commercial service (horse sheets and blankets is what they do!) in the spring, and we’re in Florida so its mainly sheets for morning turnout. The issue seems to be heavy saddle pads and just the fact that we do a lot of laundry. The cheapest front loader at Lowe’s is a Samsung but our appliance repair guy won’t work on Samsung machines (he says its virtually impossible to get parts) so I’m leaning towards a Maytag front loader – its about 50% more than the Whirlpool top load but hopefully will last longer.
I recently bought both home and barn washing machines. Home - Samsung replacing Maytag and barn - LG replacing Maytag. The oldest Maytag lasted 35 years. That is well beyond major replacement parts availability, and even the specialty tools to replace the major parts were no longer available.
My Samsung major appliances have proved to be frequently in need of repair. I have done all of them myself so far following You tube instructions and parts bought on Amazon. Disassembly of the outer cases to actually get to the parts is the major hurdle. The Samsung money goes into making outward good looks and not the unseen innards is my conclusion.
So far the LG washer and dryer in the barn, bought based on Consumer Reports ratings, have been repair-free. No invasive procedures so far so I haven’t seen what is inside.
But as we in the research biz in my day were fond of saying, “a paper with an n of 1 is a case report and not a study.”
Strongly recommend a Speed Queen washer of any type, top or front loader. That is the brand I see at laundromats, in a variety of types. I have a Speed Queen top load at home, it is a real workhorse here. Something gets washed daily, plus we have a “laundry day” with multiple loads. I tend to only do loads that half fill the the basket, to allow fabric movement and enough water to get things clean. Limit is 3 pairs of Levi heavy fabric jeans per medium load, real farmer pants, dirty. Horse rain sheets by Amigo, cotton stable sheets, fuzzy English pads in pairs to balance, all go thru well. Come out clean.
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need to talk with an electrician, if 120 vac is there, 240 vac can be supplied. The neutral wire of the power circuit (white wire if electrical code had been followed) can be changed to power wire at the load panel (once done the former neutral needs to banded with black tape to indicate its transformation from neutral to power)
Once converted there would be 240 at the outlet.
Warning: rant from a blanket washer
The new extra large machines have the capacity to handle even a big turnout with hood. Your main issue is that when wet, that blanket is going to weigh somewhere around 50 pounds. Thats a LOT of weight for a household machine; your best bet is to look for one that is designed to do king size duvets as the weight is going to be similar.
However. Bigger isn’t always better. The other issue that people tend to run into is their machine gets off balance really fast and then eventually something breaks. This is, IME, actually from too small of a blanket in a large washer. Take a medium weight blanket, soak it for a few minutes, and lift. It’s 30 pounds. Now think about that being tossed back and fourth in your washer for 50 minutes. The smaller the area, the more likely your washer survives the experience. So it’s actually better to have two washers; one large capacity and one medium capacity. However, since we all don’t have endless amounts of room in the barn, you can wash the blankets with some bath towels to help dampen the force.
Moral of my rant is this; if you live in Florida get a medium size machine and take your one or two giant blankets to the laundromat once a year. If you live in Minnesota buy the big machine since you’ll probably wash more heavy’s than sheets anyways.
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As I said in an earlier reply – blankets and/or sheets are not our issue as we are in Florida and we send the sheets out every spring to some folks who do that for a living. I think our issue is just sheer frequency of use, and loads with heavy saddle pads.
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I found a guy on craigslist that repairs used washing machines and sells them, a brief conversation with him got me a repaired washing machine for $250 (this was an upsell from the $200 unit) washing machine with a one year warranty, he delivered, installed and removed my old unit, that was 4 years ago. The machine looked brand new when I got it, and now after being fed a hefty diet of muddy 95 day sheets for 4 years works just fine.
Well how about the rest of us that don’t have services? can we talk?
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I replaced my venerable Maytag laundry pair with a top load GE that had minimal bells & whistles. I had fixed the washer at least a half dozen times, I should have that time, but I had COVID/pneumonia and with 2 kids in the house being without a washer for a couple weeks until I was well enough to fix it wasn’t an option. I think the GE possible has a bad bearing in the transmission. It’s had a few horse or pony blankets, but not many & it’s barely 4 years old. The Maytag it replaced was at least 15 years old and had been moved a half dozen times.
Recently spoke to an appliance repair guy who came to fix my very old Maytag dryer. He said the top load agitator types–the old fashioned ones–are simpler machines that are easier and cheaper to fix when they break. He likes Maytags and GEs because the parts are inexpensive and easy to get. He said the main mechanics of a washing machine are really simple, but that some of the newer machines with a million programs end up having more possible points of failure with more expensive parts when they do break.
I wouldn’t buy a top load agitator for blankets, but it seems totally fine for saddle pads and sheets.
LG front loaders get the highest ratings on Consumer Reports and Wirecutter, but if you’re really stressing the machine, it’s probably not the right choice, since what you really need is something cheap to fix.
I splurged and bought a big machine for blankets when my 35 year old Maytag reached the end of its life. Interestingly the replacement parts were available but the specialty, proprietary Maytag tools to replace the transmission could not be found.
After using my big new washer to do the first blanket and finding it really didn’t get all that clean, just all balled up, I went back to hand washing. I did one a day. Hang in wash stall, pressure washer rinse, soap up both sides with a long handled brush, rinse, let drip overnight and hang on the fence the next morning to dry in the sun.
The front load washer is great for barn towels and saddle pads, though.
It has been 2-3 years now since I bought mine but the cheapest Speed Queen still has the promised longevity, cleans great and is ( was) under $1,000.
I love mine which is a top load. I do not do saddle pads but I do clothes for my husband and 2 sons --all full-time employed diesel mechanics and their clothes from weekend farm work and all I can say is this washer gets stuff clean!
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