Best Freebie haul... Ever!

[dustin]

Last Sunday I replied to a Craigslist ad for "4 free vacuums for parts". The ad said they had been used commercially and were no longer working. The ad had a picture of a Panasonic commercial upright and a Hoover Air. They were located in Portage, about an hour and 20 minutes drive from Jackson, so we set up a time to meet Friday evening. It turns out they were at a Daycare/preschool facility, and I put the address into mapquest. I took a friend along for the ride, and we got there, found the person we were supposed to meet, and followed her to the vacuums. She took us into a room and told me there's two, the others are over there... Ended up being 6 of them. Of course the Hoover Air (ultra light version), and Panasonic Commercial, The best being a Kirby Sentria! Looked like it had been through a war though. Also a Hoover Hush commercial bagless, Oreck Magnesium, and a Bagless Bissell. Made the drive home and hauled them inside- all of them ran! All but the Kirby were thouroughly clogged- the only one that needs anything other than a belt is the Oreck, the brushroll is worn down to nothing- And by nothing, I mean NOTHING. less than 1/8" of bristles on any given area! Had all but the Bissell unclogged and working properly Friday night. The Kirby works Great, but needs a belt. It's seen very little use, the brushroll and fan are like new, and it's clean inside, and not a scratch anywhere outside. It was covered in a sticky gooey mess of what looked like some type of dried on soap- looked like it had sat near where cleaning chemicals were dispensed. Took a wet rag to it and sudsed up. None of them have seen much use, no broken parts (except for the handle release on the Bissell) or major scratches anywhere. All came with attachments, the Panasonic is missing the Dusting brush and the Kirby is missing the hose and crevice tool. The attachments on the Hoover Commercial are still taped on. I got 24 bags for the Panasonic and 3 for the Oreck, along with the shampooer for the Kirby. I think it was worth the trip! Here's a before picture of the haul, I've since given them all a quick wipe down and will go through them as time allows. Started polishing the Kirby tonight, what a job. Not looking too bad though! (Ok, picture is terrible, can't see the Bissell or Hoover Air, but I'm not going back downstairs tonight!)

 

[delaneymeegan]

ALL Free !? Damn. That's a good deal.

It would be good to see 'before' pics, of the bristle-less beater bars.
WHAT did they do with these things? Vacuum parking lots?

 

[dustin]

The only one that has any wear on the brush is the Oreck- The others are all nearly new. Looks like they could have vacuumed the parking lot with it! This is a before picture, none had been wiped down or anything, except the Kirby. I polished the Kirby last night and installed a new belt and it works perfect. Still have some polishing to do, but it doesn't look too bad now. I think I'll work on either the Hoover Commercial or the Hoover Air today, neither need much other than a good cleaning. Yes, all free, cost me about 1/4 tank of gas (what, $10?) to go pick them up.

 

[dustin]

Here's a picture of the worn out Oreck brush roll...

 

[dustin]

And the brushrolls of the rest, all in good condition, and the NASTY filter from the Bissell- doesn't look like it's ever been cleaned, but surprisingly still has good suction from the hose (lower hose is clogged end to end though!)

 

[delaneymeegan]

 


OMG the Bissell.


I have that vac.  I clean the filter system nearly every other time I use it, to keep it working it's best.


 


Some people, however, just don't get it. 

 

[dustin]

I've had many of the Bissell blue/black powerforce bagless and I totally clean them inside and out, new belt, and a good polishing and sell them for $25 or $30. They really are decent vacuums when they are maintained properly, and I've only ever had one come back with a bad motor. Most typical problem is clogged lower hose or dirty filters.

 

[human]

That's a helluva haul! The Sentria alone would have been worth the trip. The rest is pure gravy.

 

[eurekaprince]

You can't beat that bare-bones Panasonic! Great upright! And for free, too!

 

[dustin]

And the amazing thing is, they're all in really good condition- just dusty, no major scratches or scuffs, no chewed up cords, all run great (Oreck sounds pretty tired though). I agree, the Kirby made it worth the trip even if the rest would have been junk. After it's totally polished, it will look like new. NO scratches or scuffs at all, the bag isn't faded, and it runs perfect.
I think I'm going to give the Panasonic to my church, they have 2 Sanitaires and a Kirby Gen 3, the Kirby and one of the Sanitaires have seen better days. Plus I have enough bags for it to last several years (probably more like 5 or 6!).

 

[kirbylux77]

Dustin

What a great score there! Especially the Kirby, Oreck & Panasonic. What do you plan on doing with all these machines? Only thing I would do differently than giving the Panasonic to the church is give them the Hoover commercial instead. If they have been using direct-air uprights, it's probably for good reason....they are probably convinced direct-air machines are better suited to their needs due to their better airflow & performance characteristics. If that's the case, they will not only appreciate the reduced operating costs of a bagless, but the fact it can be cleaned out at any time & performance restored, which would be a HUGE plus for them if they feel clean-air bagged bachines don't maintain their performance as well as direct-air bagged machines. Plus, the Panasonic is worth more money second hand on Kijiji, Craigslist or Ebay, should you be selling some of these machines.

Eurekaprince - That commercial Panasonic is NOT a lower-end model as you thought. It is actually a TOL model, & although not badged as such, from the Performance Plus Platinum series. The giveaway here is the metal bottom plate & TriForce 3 row metal brushroll, those features are usually reserved for the vac shop only models that sell for over the $300 CDN dollar mark. In fact, the ONLY things that separate this from a TOL Performance Plus Platinum model are the lack of the headlight & commerical 3 wire cord instead of a normal 2 wire household cord. If it was a Performance Plus Platinum model, this would have a $350 CDN dollar pricetag on it in any reputable vac shop. But instead, this particular model is available widely online for about $200 to $230 or so US dollars, depending on where you look.

Rob

 

[eurekaprince]

Thank you for that clarification Rob!

I guess what I meant by "bare-bones" is "no nonsense": no cord reel, no bare floor option, no headlight, no extraneous on-board tools. Just a sturdy, tried-and-true, well-built Panasonic upright design that has proven itself as a very good performer over many decades. Just like the Japanese took the American television and automobile and improved upon it, they took the Hoover DialaMatic and made it work better.

 

[dustin]

I'll probably clean up and sell most of them, I may keep the Hoover Air and the Kirby. I think the issue I'd run into with giving the bagless Hoover to my church is the fact that it's a fairly small building, although 90% carpet, and it's never filthy dirty, just whatever gets tracked in from outside. I think someone would see a small amount of dirt in the bin and think it's not cleaning properly- it takes a long time to even partially fill the Sanitaires, I've actually replaced the belt and left the bag alone a couple times. I changed their bags and belts early this spring, and they are due for belts again, but the bags are nowhere near full. Our church is going to be making some changes starting in January, the building is currently being cleaned by a few mentally challenged adults once a week, and they've never done a great job, but in January the cleaning will be done by church volunteers- I'll likely be doing the vacuuming since we live 4 doors from the church and I can pop in anytime and get it done, probably an hour's work. think the Panasonic will be a better fit if someone else happens to do the vacuuming, as it's lightweight, simple and indestructable. I want something that will fluff and groom the carpet well, it's a deep burgundy color very short pile (I'd call it flat), but it does fluff slightly and take vacuum lines when it's vacuumed.