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Posted: 12/1/2012 10:20:15 AM EDT
[#1]
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As I understand it, a big issue with surplus generators is parts and maintenance. Apparently there are people who's business is buying, re-selling and servicing them. Agreed. If I get into the surplus generator buying activity, one of the prospects of it is "taking a mechanic" with me to determine if the article in question is worth buying. Now that "mechanic" may be someone hired (now) or knowledge in my head (later). I run into logistical problems, on the face of it, if I buy a generator and it won't work for me. Trying to sell it later, in whole or parts, may conflict with how it is bought from the government. If it is more of a monument than a generator, it may be of use to me only as a parts source or for bartering.......and I'm not ready to spend my money on such things without a clear plan. ____________________________________________________________________________ ("My pilot and I would have to take it for a test flight."--Ryan "Of course, you just need to leave a deposit."--Construction owner, (w,stte), "Clear and Present Danger") Keep an eye on Craigslist in the area you would be looking to resell it in. In my area there are six surplus generators that have been on their for over a year. It doesn't look to me like there isn't much demand for surplus generators. |
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Posted: 12/1/2012 10:25:45 AM EDT
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Me, currently, I look at what's at auction, like this thing. Now, granted, that might be junk, fixable, or operationaly; I don't know. But that "availability", for the present, is one of the things that's driving my pickup truck research, both from the capability to being able to get it.....and maybe having a common fuel source between them. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Are you going run a huge business? Why would you want that much power and fuel consumption? That will run a small town..... Because on the opening bid, it's cheap and fits into planned infrastructure. Something like a P250 might be more reasonable, but two things: it's gasoline powered and that's not good and it's better to have too much power and try to figure what to do with it than not have enough power. You make a decent point of "that thing would power a small town".....but look at it this way: out in the middle of the country and no power from the city. Run that thing for a short time to charge batteries, fill the water tanks, perhaps fill a column as a kinetic energy source....then turn it off. Turn it back on when needing to charge batteries, fill water tanks, etc.. As I said, I look at what's out there. It it's cheap but comes with too much capability, well, I'll figure out what to do with that other ability. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ You can do everything you mentioned with a much more efficient generator. I went with 3500 running watts because it is exactly big enough to run my well pump with a little extra room to spare. Once I get showers done and my water storage filled and the furnace run a bit the bigger genny goes off and my very efficient inverter genny takes over to maintain my fridge and freezer and charging batteries. The only way your plan is not very inefficient is if you actually need to run huge loads. That huge genny would be great for running the farm during milking or the silo unloaders by themselves. How much did that generator cost? As far as whether or not I am running huge loads, that's undetermined at this time. I obviously won't be growing Mary Jane, but I do plan to be working with algae and power needs for that project are unknown at this time. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ("You had enough drugs in you to tranquilize a latin america country!"--Hillary to Sarah, (w,stte), "Models Inc.") Initial outlay cost is an important consideration, but unless it's intended to be used in other-than-emergencies, the fuel efficiency can be a greater concern. You may be limited to the fuel you have on hand for longer than you'd expect, and it's good to get as much out of that as possible. In that situation, neither generator cost nor fuel price really matters. |
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Posted: 12/1/2012 10:33:51 AM EDT
[#3]
Dont bet on natural gas being there. I am in the New Madrid zone and know it will go out. I run Honda EU3000IS and larger 6500 and have extra generators.
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Posted: 12/1/2012 10:46:35 AM EDT
[#4]
Quoted: I know once I spend $5k-10k on a generator, I'll never have the need for it, because power will magically never go out. Same logic as too why I bought a plow for my garden tractor... Haven't had enough snow to use it since I bought it 14months ago  |
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Posted: 12/1/2012 11:01:14 AM EDT
[#5]
I use one of these as a primary backup (NG-fired):
And one of these as a backup-to-the-backup (or a loaner to one of my neighbors): 
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Posted: 12/1/2012 12:08:17 PM EDT
[#6]
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I know once I spend $5k-10k on a generator, I'll never have the need for it, because power will magically never go out. Same logic as too why I bought a plow for my garden tractor... Haven't had enough snow to use it since I bought it 14months ago
Which is all the more reason to buy a generator and a snow plow. Better to have and not need than need and not have and if by buying it it puts the hex of 'you will not need that' then better yet. |
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Posted: 12/1/2012 12:25:59 PM EDT
[#7]
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I use one of these as a primary backup (NG-fired): http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/TGrayman/generator/exterior.jpg And one of these as a backup-to-the-backup (or a loaner to one of my neighbors): http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/TGrayman/generator/Honda.jpg Nice. That Kohler is exactly what I have been looking for. If you don't mind, how many kw is it and approximately how much was it? |
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Posted: 12/1/2012 12:47:11 PM EDT
[#8]
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I know once I spend $5k-10k on a generator, I'll never have the need for it, because power will magically never go out. Same logic as too why I bought a plow for my garden tractor... Haven't had enough snow to use it since I bought it 14months ago
Which is all the more reason to buy a generator and a snow plow. Better to have and not need than need and not have and if by buying it it puts the hex of 'you will not need that' then better yet. My hex goes the other way with generators. Every time I buy one, we're out of power for a week or longer shortly thereafter. I'm 3 for 3. |
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Posted: 12/1/2012 1:16:35 PM EDT
[#9]
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As I understand it, a big issue with surplus generators is parts and maintenance. Apparently there are people who's business is buying, re-selling and servicing them. Agreed. If I get into the surplus generator buying activity, one of the prospects of it is "taking a mechanic" with me to determine if the article in question is worth buying. Now that "mechanic" may be someone hired (now) or knowledge in my head (later). I run into logistical problems, on the face of it, if I buy a generator and it won't work for me. Trying to sell it later, in whole or parts, may conflict with how it is bought from the government. If it is more of a monument than a generator, it may be of use to me only as a parts source or for bartering.......and I'm not ready to spend my money on such things without a clear plan. in terms of a small diesel generator of the type you are looking at -- you will be far better off finding a Terex (or similar) light tower in good shape and using it for a standby generator. the Kubota D722 and D902 3 cylinder engines in those type of light towers will EASILY run 10K hours prior to major servicing. and there are about eleventy billion of these engines in service, either in lightstands, small tractors, skid loaders, and so on -- making getting parts a snap and as easy as pulling up a diagram on Messicks and clicking. none of the fun of finding NOS parts for a military-only generator engine, that is for sure. http://www.dieselenginemotor.com/kubota/supermini/page4.html http://www.messicks.com/KubotaTractorParts.aspx more detail from a guy that knows what he is talking about here: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/shop-tools/1048244-kubota-diesel-engine-monday-tech-how.html those portable light plants you see lighting up the nighttime highway roadwork areas are a great source. my last employer had almost 400 of them, ALL kubota powered, and ALL trouble free. i maintained every single one of them for years. they are 3 cyl, constant speed diesels; i dont remember the model--but you could check out any equipment yard for something like this: 
the generator is already on them, makes 6k watts. pretty quiet once running, starts well in sub zero temps, and is super fuel efficient. we all used to take them home when the power was out, and run them as backup generators--they have a panel w/outlets inside the cabinet. i ran mine for 90hrs STRAIGHT on one tank of fuel ---- *alot* of those light towers, no matter the manufacturer, use kubota diesels. 99% of the LTs i have worked on have been kubota powered, and i have worked on ALOT of LTs. probably all the others had lombardini diesels. kubota parts availability is excellent. lombardini diesels are now sold under the "kohler" name; not sure of that is good or not. i *believe* the generators are made by marathon, and i have only had to replace one. the engine/gen combo is about 3 ft long, the large cabinet around them is kind of deceiving they can and do run for a long, long time. constant speed, constant temp, constant load. its kind of hard to "abuse" one, other than by not maintaining it. they are also known as light plants, light stands, light towers. i have alot of experience with amida brand towers, similar to the picture i posted above. i also have worked on plenty of IR/Bobcat towers. nearly identical engine/generators. those amidas are getting kind of out dated now, and the cabinet in much physically larger than what is available today. my last employer had to have 250 of those amidas; all with at least 6000 hours, some over 15000. a hight hour unit would not scare me at all. i would have no problem buying a 8000 hour amida tower for $2000 all day long. there are lots of them out there, you just have to know where to look. otherwise, just get a Kubota Lowboy II and be done with it. life is too short to fool around with crap, unknown quality surplus equipment which isn't going to work when you need it and getting parts is a pain in the ass. there is a reason you see Kubota Lowboy gens at large scale construction sites: because they work, and downtime is major expensive. ar-jedi 
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Posted: 12/1/2012 1:19:25 PM EDT
[#10]
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I use one of these as a primary backup (NG-fired): http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/TGrayman/generator/exterior.jpg And one of these as a backup-to-the-backup (or a loaner to one of my neighbors): http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/TGrayman/generator/Honda.jpg Nice. That Kohler is exactly what I have been looking for. If you don't mind, how many kw is it and approximately how much was it? It's rated at 12kW on propane, and 10.5kW on NG (lower energy content). I'm not sure whether they sell that particular model any more (bought that one about six years ago), but I'm sure there's a similar model available. I'd have to pull all the paperwork out to recall exactly what it cost, but IIRC, it was $4000 or so. We also had to pay to pipe a large NG feed to the other side of our house, so that was another thousand or so... and about a thousand to hook it all up (electrician, etc). Let's say $6k all together... but I'd have to find the actual bill-of-sale to be sure. It's honestly one of the best investments I ever made for the house... the wife-satisfaction-factor is substantial
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Posted: 12/1/2012 1:20:32 PM EDT
[#11]
Quoted: Quoted: As I understand it, a big issue with surplus generators is parts and maintenance. Apparently there are people who's business is buying, re-selling and servicing them. Agreed. If I get into the surplus generator buying activity, one of the prospects of it is "taking a mechanic" with me to determine if the article in question is worth buying. Now that "mechanic" may be someone hired (now) or knowledge in my head (later). I run into logistical problems, on the face of it, if I buy a generator and it won't work for me. Trying to sell it later, in whole or parts, may conflict with how it is bought from the government. If it is more of a monument than a generator, it may be of use to me only as a parts source or for bartering.......and I'm not ready to spend my money on such things without a clear plan. ____________________________________________________________________________ ("My pilot and I would have to take it for a test flight."--Ryan "Of course, you just need to leave a deposit."--Construction owner, (w,stte), "Clear and Present Danger") I've got a good bit of experience with the military sets. I would recommend a MEP 002A or 003A. These are 5 and 10kW respectively diesel engine generators. The DoD bought thousands of them so parts, spare engines and the like are available. The voltage regulator boards can be easily rebuilt since the -24P manual has all components identified. Filters are available at NAPA although changing out the filter seals to Viton o-rings makes life much easier  . I get these at McMaster-Carr.The 5kw will swing an 8 kW load and the 10kW will easily do a 15 kW load. They are heavy, 1000+ pounds so you have lower theft issues. The only downside is the noise, build a generator shack with good sound deadening for the most sanity. What to look for? The horse's mouth is the fuel tank. Rusty and white deposits? Forget it unless you have time. Hours? Anything under 7000 is bound to be good. Since these are an Onan design, look for a recent Onan tag on the fan shroud, many had engines replaced in the 1990s so these are probably low engine hour units. As long as GL/DRMO has not used them for crash barriers, they should be fine. Also, look at the printed panels for wiring circuits, instructions etc. These weather fast and weather can be hard on the gauges. Expect to pay $500+ for new gauges, I've been able to fix a few basket cases for under $20 by swapping new movements into the old cases. Or swapping out the scales from the original into a new meter with same movement but only different scale. Some locations remove the filters, then lose the filter housings. Stay away from these. |
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