I had an encounter with a bison vacuum.

[josh1998]

We went over to my boyfriend's great aunt's house yesterday evening to move a bed for her. My BF had told me she had a weird vacuum called a bison but I hadn't actually seen it. So yesterday he started talking about it and she showed it to me. I saw a bison on ebay once but it was green and chrome. Hers is a metallic brown color which I think is ugly. She got this thing way back in the 80s she said. She doesn't really use it though. She has an oreck she uses. I honestly can't imagine how anyone actually used a bison for daily cleaning. That was the biggest and most awkward thing I've ever seen. And it's beyond heavy. It has a dial thing on the handle that has variable speeds. Talk about loud! You need hearing protection to use that thing. She had a big box of attachments that went on it but I didn't get into messing with them so I don't know what attachments it has.

Were these beastly things ever popular and was it made by the Kirby company as maybe a model that was a fail? I'm assuming these vacuums are kind of rare.

 

[lesinutah]

Hi

Hey


There was a Kirby engineer or something like that.  He left Kirby to make his own vacuums.  This is a side note the engineer founded bison is also to have developed transmission before bankruptcy or government shutdown.  


Back on track the engineer started not positive on name but they produced bison vacuums.  I'm not sure how many years he was in business.  His vacuums were powerful but broke down and was a pain to fix or so I have heard.   


He basically tried to infringe on Kirby's patens.  Removeable nozzle belt lifter something along those lines.  Kirby sued and won of course there still in business.  Bison went under and somehow Kirby got tech drive there most profitable invention to there vacuums ever.  You can find bisons for sale a person in supermarket forum was selling for $650.  I still think he has a couple on eBay.  


I have never seen in person but seen pics.  The vacuums look cool but not that cool.  If you do search in forum search you can get more in depth details.  The guy who tried to make a better Kirby loses pants and launches Kirby to new heights.  It's a little ironic.  


Les

 

[dysonman1]

Bison Vacuums were launched in Ocala, Florida in 1969 by Richard Schaefer, a former Kirby distributor. They wanted the machine to have a removable nozzle, but didn't want the customer messing with the Belt Lifter, something many people don't know how to use correctly. They also wanted a variable speed motor. GE made the motors for them. The first three models were green and polished aluminum. They were sold door to door. In 1981, Bison painted the machines brown powder coat, and began to also sell them in vacuum shops. Bison was out of business by the middle 1980's. They never made a self propelled model. Since Bisons were sold for more than 15 years, they are not 'super rare'.

Jim Keeler took a Bison in the late 1980's, and fitted a Hoover Dial-A-Matic power drive unit to the Bison. He sold the "kit" to vac shops for use on both Kirby and Bison cleaners, meaning the vac shop would outfit their own rebuilt cleaners with the Hoover self propel mechanism. He also sold refurbished Kirby and Bison cleaners to vac shops - already fitted with Hoover's power drive module and handle.

Kirby's development of the Tech Drive was their own doing and had nothing at all to do with the self propelled Keeler "FrankenBison".

 

[lesinutah]

Dysonman

Hey It must have been dialamatic I heard about. There is alot of rubbish stories on internet. I read it on the net so it must be true. Thanks for clarifying the story. I'll try not to take internet as gospel and look like a donkey in the future. Les

 

[tolivac]

The factory in Ocala Fla is now owned by E-1 a company that makes emergency vehicles such as fire engine trucks and ambulances.

 

[kenkart]

TRUE BISON STORY

The late Clay Floyd was a dealer for a while, He went to Florida to see them made and for sales training, The owner of the company who was also a Baptist preacher, locked all of them in a room, preached them a hell fire and damnation sermon, and concluded with "I had better never hear of my vacuums being sold in trailer parks OR to colored people!"..You can see why he didn't last long!

 

[vacuser]

bison

here's mine.using it with the hose is much more fun to vacuum with.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

"... to colored people"! Dear Lord

Thank God we're past that.
Phillip has a great specimen of that machine.
Amazing how incorrect stories get out and become the new truth.
I'm just always careful when I hear things.
We must always get correct details, no matter how convincing the lies might sound.
It is a huge , loud machine. I've always heard about them breaking, sometimes during the sale.

 

[tolivac]

Hey--what would it matter----if the customer can pay for the vacuum and wants it----CLOSE THE SALE!!!!!

 

[kenkart]

I really miss Clay Floyd

He was a vast world of knowledge about the vacuum business and companies, Being a Bison dealer , he actually saw the company in operation, Clay never sugarcoated anything, if he said something, you can bet it was true!