Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Recommend A Toilet, Please.

Since entering puberty, I've been afflicted with a bad case of monster turds. It was so bad my father gave me my own plunger for my 13th birthday. I passed this trait on to my sons. In a world of .22 LR toilets, we're pinching 12 GA ammo into the chamber. My #3 son actually killed a 40 yr old American Standard. No amount of plunging would get it to work. I finally had to replace it.

When I did, I remembered what happened to my Dad. I grew up as the son of a landlord. Dad had stopped building houses and apartment buildings and spent the latter half of his working life maintaining a bunch of apartment buildings scattered around town. At 14 he brought me into the business and I was the maintenance man for his buildings until I was about 22. Dad built all these properties in the early to mid-50's. They all had American Standard toilets. That in itself is kind of funny, because he had a brief fling with one of the Kohler heiresses about that time. I never did get all the details. Anyhow, about 27 years into the life of the buildings, the toilets started to give up the ghost and we had to replace them. At first, Dad was buying American Standard replacements, and they were pricey. Finally one day a guy suggested the cheap $70 toilets made in Mexico. Dad bought a couple and our love affair with cheap Mexican vitreous began. We kept 5 in in the storerooms at all times. I got good at replacing toilets so we did not have to call in a plumber. We never had one fail.

When #3 killed an American Standard about a decade ago, I remembered the cheap Mexican toilets. I forget if it was Lowes or Home Depot, but they had a cheap toilet from Glacier Bay for about $90. I put it in. No problems. Also it clogs a lot less than the old American Standard, even though the new one is only a 1.6 Gal job. I've since put one in at Deer Camp.

My point is this: You don't need to go expensive to get good, and even a bunch of Monster Dumpers like us can live happily on a cheap toilet. Nowadays you've got a 3-to-1 price differential between the top-end and the bottom. So far, I've been happy at the bottom.

One other tip for all you monster dumpers:

Dad must have really had a bum time with that Kohler heiress, because he bought American Standard for all his houses too. I'm living in the last one he built. The ballcock died on the one in his bathroom last summer, and china is this funky green color that goes with the decor a lot better than white. I took a chance on a Danco Hydroright ballcock:



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B9BNGU0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


It has a handle that allows you to flush a little for #1 and give the full load for #2. It took me some time to get it tuned properly, but I've been very happy with the results. I found that I could set it to use less water than before for #2 flushes and still get fewer plug-ups. The #1 flushes just barely go down, but they use about 1.5 gallons less water. It's all adjustable, so you can tune it to your bum and your tank. I'm happy with mine. I'm going to use these as replacements for all my American Standards as the old Mansfield ballcocks come up for maintenance.