Thread Number: 4939
An AMAAAAAZING Oreck Find!!! 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 55002   11/18/2008 at 00:48 (5,650 days old) by charles~richard ()        

Here's a phrase that I could never have imagined myself saying (with apologies to Oreck devotées):

“I’ve found an ORECK and I’m THRILLED with it!”

But there it is.

I've said it. And mean it! Let me explain.......

There's a thrift shop called "Children's Charities" across the street from the office of one of my client's. When the store first opened I went over and nosed around. It was mosty expensive antiques and "foo-foo" -- stuff I neither had any interest in nor money for so I never went back again. Recently, they've had stuff outside in their parking lot -- racks of clothes, office furniture, etc. Again, nothing that really interested me.

Well, today I pulled up in my client's driveway. When I got out of my van I happened to look across the street at the stuff in the thrift shop parking lot. A shiny, glittering object caught my eye. At first, from the distance across the wide boulevard, I thought it was a modernistic men's valet -- you know, one of those stands for a man's wardrobe. It was a tall upright thing with two black "hooks" on either side of the upright part.

But I looked more closely and realized that at the base there was a large chrome motor! Oh, I thought to myself, it's a big floor polisher! Ever curious about such things, I scurried across the road to see what it was.

Ohhhhhh, it was SOOOO pretty! A chrome and black ORECK XL PROFESSIONAL 9000 floor conditioning machine, with green cord and bumper. Wow! And I could tell it was an 'orbiting' style polisher, something that fascinates me endlessly and I have several in my collection including the original orbiting machine, the Cyclo made and sold by Interstate Engineering (Compact & Revelation). Then somehow or another Oreck got their hands on the patents for that technology and, in the early 1980s I believe, introduced the Oreck Orbital polisher. That machine, designed for home use, has about a 10" brush. But the glistening machine I saw today had a HUGE pad driver, 16" in diameter!

Well, of course, I had to have it. Hoping against hope the man running the thrift shop had no idea what it was worth (this model, now replaced with the XL9000, retailed for $1000!!), asked what he wanted for it. He looked it over, hemmed and hawwed, and said ... "Forty Bucks."

Needless to say, I could not wheel it across the street fast enough!

Here are some photos of it, along with the other two "orbiting" machines I have.

Oh, and yes, it runs -- beautifully! I don't believe it was ever used. There is not a scratch, scuff or nick on it, and there was no pad on the driver. So I do think it's unused.

The one critical thing I'll say is that, while it's a pretty thing and really works great, there are details that are kinda crummy and almost make it look home-made.

Look closely at the sloppy welding around the top of the handle. And note the two metal "channels" for the wheels that are permanently locked into place instead of being the flip-up wheels that most (all?) commercial polishers have.

And the "D" handle grips, a special and typical Oreck feature, are made of hard plastic. I suspect after a couple of hours using this machine, the user is gonna have blisters all over his palms. But it will be fun to play with. I'm going to take it down to my church to use up in the organ loft.

Post# 55005 , Reply# 1   11/18/2008 at 02:03 (5,650 days old) by ohio_tuec ()        
Eeeeeek!!!!!

 You got a LowBoy! I congratulate you Charles on your spectacular find. In my time at Oreck I have only seen one of these machines sold. They are not common and all, and to top it all off, you got it at a phenomenal price....

Post# 55017 , Reply# 2   11/18/2008 at 11:23 (5,650 days old) by charles~richard ()        

"you got it at a phenomenal price...."


I'll say! When I called Oreck to find out about it, the model number, SRP etc., I almost fell on the floor when the customer service person told me what it went for! btw I had a typo up there, I said it was the Oreck 9000, that should be 8000, which was replaced by the 9000.

I see the 9000 has many improvements over the 8000, has the standard commercial "lawn mower" type handles now, has an optional suction kit for dry-sanding, a larger pad driver (19"), and overall is even more attractive with an all-chrome housing and more streamlined wheel assembly (but still stationary, it appears from the photo). Guess maybe they received, and listened to, some customer input!

I will say, the customer service person I spoke to [in the Oreck Professional department] was very nice, and very helpful. And I got right through to a real person, rather than having to go through one of those endless "press 1 for this, press 2 for that" loops.

Seeing the even more beautiful 9000, I of course want one now!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO charles~richard's LINK
Post# 55041 , Reply# 3   11/18/2008 at 22:00 (5,649 days old) by normvac (COLUMBUS, OHIO)        

Charles, congratulations on your find. I actually had a friend come to visit a couple of weeks ago. Lo and behold he
was bearing something with a green handle on it. Just didn't look familiar from afar. Well it turns out to be a Johnson
floor polisher. Must be 30's. time worn but still runs. Has
a black cloth covered cord. I had seen them in magazine adv. over the years. Saw someone's here on line, but never met one in person.
Hope your trip was good. Was hoping to hear something about it
at some point.
Norm


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