Industrial Washing Machine

So you have got to love a good story.. don't you?
My neighbor drives a uniform delivery truck for Aramark. The guy is out on the road 12-15 hours a day. Being cool he spots things for me from time to time and gives me a call or text. Friday afternoon I get a text from him about a hotel in town that has a broken industrial washing machine. He said the guy told him he wanted $70 bucks for it. Sight unseen I knew that was going to be WAY too much- heck I buy CARS for $200. Later I get a text saying "The guy will take $50" Still steep for me, but I'll go check it out and see if I can negotiate.

Saturday morning I drop off a car and on my way back to town I swing by the hotel, once I get there I see this thing- not worth $50 bucks but I am intrigued. I go inside to ask to speak with the contact. He is in an office off the front desk and never comes out- he says that they gave the thing to the guy who does maintenance at the hotel, I thought "No problem" and was ready to leave.



The lady says "Wait here a minute I'll get him" I wasn't sure why- figured it had been promised to someone and there wasn't anything to do on my part. So the maintenance guy comes down and says "Yeah they gave it to me.. but my brother's cousin something or other is supposed to come and get it for me" I was still thinking "Umm Ok, I'm not seeing why I am still standing here" So the guy says- let me call the hotel owner. Getting weirder by the minute right? So the owner (in California) says "Yeah you can have it- to the maintenance guy) Once again I'm still wondering why I'm here.. I said "Well Thanks guys I appreciate your time" .. keys in hand.. I head towards the truck. They maintenance guy says "Well I dunno.. I don't know if and when my brother's cousin something or other is going to get by.. So will ya give me $10 bucks for it?

I'm like "Sure thing man" guy helps me load it onto my trailer, I strap her down and bring her home. Snapped some pics for all of ya! Enjoy.

Originally Posted by Pnutfarmer

Good catch, be sure to check out the motor and see if it runs. It's going to be an Elmo name brand reversible and can bring you around $100 on Ebay. If you're going to strip it completely, the stainless drums are the toughest part. The shaft will be welded to a thick plate (1/2" or more) in the back of the inner drum that could be stainless (hopefully) or usually steel. That cone shaped backplate in the inner drum is welded flat onto it and there are stainless connecting rods running from it toward the front usually inside the dashers. You have to cut a hole in each one to cut the rods before you can get the drum to come loose from the plate. I was fortunate to find a stainless buyer near me who could calculate and deduct for steel so I didn't have to remove the shafts or plates. Good luck, I think you'll do fine on this one.

Wow man.. you have an uncanny knowledge about this beast! Thanks for the insight and the tips. I'll look into the motor- it spins freely (kind of neat you can get behind it like a ships wheel and drive it like a boat and hear the drum turning (the kid in me) and my kiddos did the same darn thing. The picture of the motor was to give context, I have big hands and this motor is a MONSTER! Never seen anything like it!. Heck the solid steel welded base will pay for my outlay of cash.. not to mention all the drive wheel and bracket that holds the drum is all alum, as well as the Stainless drum etc. Licking my chops on this one

Would love to hear some total yields off of this item when you are done. Not dollar wise, but weights and metals.

Originally Posted by parrothead

Would love to hear some total yields off of this item when you are done. Not dollar wise, but weights and metals.

You read my mind! That was exactly what I had planned:
Brass: XXX Lbs
Stainless Steel: XXX Lbs
Aluminum: XXXX Lbs
Copper Wire: XXX Lbs
Steel: XXX Lbs

Once I get this badboy broken down- I'll fill in all the "X's"

Originally Posted by Pnutfarmer

Sledge, yeah, I took apart over 50 of these things a few years back so I got some good schoolin' on them. Those windows make good dishes for all kinds of stuff. The bearings are awesome and we mounted two of them to a barn I beam and put up a swinging hoist. I can't tell from here if it's a 3 phase or not, but you could have a VFD(variable frequency drive) for the motor that will also bring good money on Ebay. It's not exactly like the ones I had but close enough. If you have any questions when you get into it, ask and I'll try to answer.

Thank you sir! I appreciate that! I have been looking at this thing for a day on and off and I'm wondering what I've got myself into he he.

Ok Ladies and Gents: I have been backlogged on getting this broken down and too the yard. I still have the steel left to take in (Probably this Saturday) but I have All the Rest of the #'s:

Brass: 8 Lbs
Stainless Steel: 243 Lbs
Aluminum: 42 Lbs
Copper Wire: 6 Lbs
Steel: XXX Lbs

I'm not worried about posting #'s.. so without the steel I'm at $105 on a $10 investment. I'll let you know the Steel talley when it is all said and done.

Wow thats awesome! Great profit on that beast.

Originally Posted by sledge42

Ok Ladies and Gents: I have been backlogged on getting this broken down and too the yard. I still have the steel left to take in (Probably this Saturday) but I have All the Rest of the #'s:

Brass: 8 Lbs
Stainless Steel: 243 Lbs
Aluminum: 42 Lbs
Copper Wire: 6 Lbs
Steel: XXX Lbs

I'm not worried about posting #'s.. so without the steel I'm at $105 on a $10 investment. I'll let you know the Steel talley when it is all said and done.

Hope you don't mind me asking. What type of SS was that? The SS right now on the yard I use would have got me more than $105.

Great post though!

That is a good bunch of stainless.

Hopefully I answer all the questions:
1. The Motor I took out. It was so darn heavy when the rod got taken out- the darn thing fell on the concrete and broke the cast alum end (Grrr) So I knocked the alum off the motor- I still have the guts and the Copper Windings to turn in.
2. The Stainless at my yard sadly is only at .30/lb- regardless of "type"
3. The bear part of this was- you can see in the pic- The big alum "Drive wheel" in the back- was connected to an Iron flange, which was also attached to the LARGE alum wheel- that is welded to the drum. I took it all out and could not get the stainless drum apart from the Alum and Steel- So.. Basically I had Alum, Steel and Stainless all mashed together. I spoke to my yard about it- he graded the whole slug of it at Stainless- but that in itself weighed 198 lbs. Then you also had the Outer Drum- that was perfectly clean stainless- but as I said at .30- it wasn't a huge payout on that. Still 243lbs of stainless wasn't bad.

Nutshell: I probably would think twice about doing one again honestly, I've had the base/machine off the trailer and back on again and the base is a blankety blank- had to get a neighbor to help me get it back on- it alone I would guess has to weigh over 500 lbs. I'll be glad to have it gone ASAP!

I'll keep you posted on the steel weigh in as soon as I get the #'s

Nice score and thanks for the numbers.

Why not lasso heavier parts and drag it onto the trailer with your winch.

Further Update:
Lots of Interest on the Motor:
Ok so with the Motor- I broke off the Aluminum Endcaps and sent the rest in. Without the Aluminum on it- the Rest of the Motor weighed in at 89 Lbs. With Alum I figure it would have been about 92-93 lbs.
I run the steel in tomorrow. So this entire project will wrap then.. and you guys won't have to hear about the spin cycle anymore

So Running Totals:
Brass: 8 Lbs @ $1.20/lb = $7.20
Stainless Steel: 243 Lbs @ .30/lb = $72.90
Aluminum: 42 Lbs @ .45 lb = $18.90
Copper Wire: 6 Lbs @ $1.00/lb = $6.00
Electric Motor: 89 Lbs @ .20/lb = $17.20
Steel: XXX Lbs

$122.20 on $10 Investment thus far. Stay Tuned!

Originally Posted by KzScrapper

Nice score and thanks for the numbers.

Why not lasso heavier parts and drag it onto the trailer with your winch.

Ok We REALLY do need a "Facepalm" Icon here. Cause I was thinking- I can't use the winch-- duh.. if I just moved the ramps in closer together and drug it it would have been a piece of cake. I guess my brain says "Uhh yeah you need to drag a car" but it never even clicked to use me winch to do this. Gosh.. feeling dumb now.