I need to buy a washing machine that will hold up to barn laundry ranging from saddle pads, towels, wraps and ‘easy’ stuff to horse sheets and blankets. My appliance dealer says that front loaders will not hold up to the latter type and recommends the older style top load with agitator. I can just see straps and wraps getting wound around the agitator already! Suggestions for machines that do horse laundry well, hold up to the abuse and don’t cost as much as the ‘industrial’ versions?
There was a thread I while back and a couple of folks recommended the Speed Queen brand, IIRC. It was a very basic, top loader with few bells or whistles. Construction was robust. Try searching the archives for “Speed Queen” and see if it shows up.
G.
We have a top load no agitator one at our barn and it is crap. Items go in dirty and come out still dirty, but now wet.
I have a heavy duty one at home with an agitator and have never had an issue with anything getting wrapped around it. And because the machine at the barn is crap, I have to do all my laundry at my place :no: .
First choice to look for is a used commercial front-loader. Second choice, a HD consumer, largest capacity front loader. Third choice an HD consumer top load, no agitator. Try to avoid the agitator type if you can be cause straps on blankets, etc., can tend to get caught up on them.
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We went for the random top loader that was left in our house. So far (three years in) it has held up really well. I can even wash heavyweight blankets in there and get them clean enough to go to the repair lady as needed. I put all my wraps, boots, and girths in garment bags and that helps with things getting wound around the center. To be fair, we only use this washer for horse things, so supreme cleanliness isn’t our goal. The goal is to get some hair and dirt off our pads, girths, and blankets.
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Front loader. These things are the bomb. Use little water, gets stuff really really clean, and gentle on stuff. Make sure to follow all directions (use HE soap, leave the door cracked open or it will start to smell, etc.). Not sure how many people this machine is to serve, but I think you should be fine. Mine is an LG and I love it to death.
Home Depot has the top load washer, with out an agitator. Tons of space inside those.
Rich Trethewey gave them his approval on an episode of ‘This Old House’ recently.
I used to have a top loader, but with the number of things that are bulky and unbalance it or have straps or velcro to get wrapped up and torn I got rid of it. Replaced it with a used Speed Queen front loader. Large, heavy duty front loaders are expensive, but they are what you want.
I have an LG top loader without the agitator. It lives in my hay barn and I run it with a hose and extension cord. My only complaint is that it is so big that shorty here can’t reach small stuff at the bottom.
I have an LG front loader. The biggest one they make, it does horse laundry every day for about 5 years… still going strong. Had some minor problems with flooding when we forgot to clean the out take of hair (have a floor drain in my tack just in case). When I researched barn laundry, even a USED industrial machine was 3 times the cost of the LG. So I can use this until it dies, and buy two more before a commercial machine would pay.
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