Once fascinated to hear of the "T" until Geoff told me that the motor starts immediately on plug-in just like all other conventional Maytags. You set the timer for the number of minutes, and when done, the timer simply shuts off the gyrator; the motor remains active for wringing or pumping, waiting for you to return, the motor still running. Not a very useful thing; hence abandonned.

Could never get over why Newton thinkers could not get out of the box on this one. How perfect a Tag would be with an auto shut-off--its only known defect.

Why, Gentlemen, do you suppose they never got up to speed on this, when nearly all other conventional machines sported an automatic timer, sooner or later, WP KM SQ Blackstone, Norge, ?

Yes, a model with an extruding control panel and a timer reading HOLD, OFF 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, was the automatic one. Interesting that maximum wash time was eight minutes. What secrets were locked away in the Speed Queen laboratories

Robert's Ephemera Brochure from last week displaying Norge Wringers was instructive. There you can see that many models were offered even in the early years. The TOL model had a full chrome wringer, not just the feeding trays like mine has. It was stunning, also featuring an extruding decorative control panel. I had never heard of such a machine. There were 8 models, only 5 of which were familiar.

The assumption here is that Speed Queen, although more limited, like Maytag, in the variety of models manufactured may have offered the automatic timer and the neutral one during the same years. I'm trying to learn at what point SQ changed the speed of the 180 stroke.

I once owned an older SQ with a red agitator (NO chrome cap, alas) a stainless steel tub, an automatic timer, and slow stroke agitation.

Neither SQ, Norge nor Maytag ever offered two speed motors while WP KM and Easy all did. Endless fascination and mystery!

When my father saw this picture it brought back memories of HIS grandmother's Grey Ghost with an engine. He and his adolescent cousins always referred to it as "the gopher killer" since they would take the exhaust tube and stick it down gopher holes in the yard!



Talk about mulit-functional use. Wash/wring/extract and kill varmints :D

Does anyone know what year they transitioned to using non-Maytag engines?

According to my records, 1952 was the last year Maytag used the 72 engine, the last of the 2 stroke mulit-motors. Maytag probably started using the Briggs 4 strokers soon after.

Maytag carried out their tradition of making parts available for their older equipment and actually still produced replacement parts for those multi motors into the 90's.

I was chatting with the parts counter guy a few years back in my neighborhood about old Maytags and wringers came up in the conversation.

In 1994, a customer came into his shop with a broken kick starter. Being unfamiliar with these antiques, he told the guy to go down a few blocks to the motorcycle repair shop. The guy stated it was off of a Maytag, not a motorcycle. Back then, Maytag still produced parts for most all of their old appliances and he was fully aware of that. The customer had the model # of the engine (it was a 92) and the part # on the kick starter was still legible when the broken pieces were held together. With nothing to lose but a little time, he called Maytag corporate headquarters and was able to get a straight line to a very knowledgeable parts person. After giving them the information, they stated "We don't have the kick starter in stock, but we still have the original molds and can custom make him one. Should be done and shipped out in 2 weeks." The customer went for it (he couldn't recall the price) and sure enough, it arrived on time, brand spankin new in the box.

What other company would go to the trouble and great lengths of custom making one single part for a piece of machinery that had been obsoleted for 60 freakin years?

I missed that, Mark. What a gas!

Did you ever find out if it worked, difficult though that may have been?--finding out.