The river has gone dry

[loosegravel]

Good morning everyone. I haven't posted in a while, but only because I haven't been able to acquire any generators at all lately. It's like the river has gone dry! I've seen a couple of them up on the GP auction, but they're all the way down in CA. With the fuel prices being so high, it's just not a reasonable venture to bid on anything that far away. I haven't seen any generators up for auction in Washington, Oregon or Idaho for quite some time now. Being a retired mechanic, I really do miss working on these marvelous power producing machines. I've been able to meet some really cool people as the result of passing these generators on to others after going through them, load testing them etc. And, of course I've corresponded with a few really cool people here as well who have freely given their time to help me in the trouble-shooting process of many of the issues that I've been up against. I'm just wondering if others are seeing a decline with these MEP units at auction in other parts of the country?

 

[Ray70]

Most of the good machines dried up years ago, then prices went through the roof on the remaining junk around here, so I all but gave up buying them.
By around here I still mean a good 19+ Hr. round trip depending on traffic.
But honestly I'm really surprised how long the 80X series has been at auction. I thought I read somewhere that they were all supposed to have been disposed of well over 2 years ago according to some official mandate...

 

[loosegravel]

I've only been playing with these generators for about 5 years or so. It sounds like you've been working on them/with them for quite a while. But still, 19 hours to go and pick them up is a long time. That equates to a lot of fuel! For me it needs to be a reasonable exchange, or it kind of takes the fun out of it. The average price of fuel is well over $5 a gallon here in the NW. When pulling my trailer, I might get 13 MPG. It doesn't take long to punch a hole in my wallet!

 

[Evvy Fesler]

There's still a trickle here in NC. I can't say how good they are or aren't, but I've had a good experience with two of them even though the first one was a project.

Actually, the reason why I'm responding to this is because I too have made fabulous friends. Ironically, one friend was an old acquaintance that I had forgotten from a previous job. Other new friends are located all over the country and world. And as it turned out, what was a screen handle to me turned out to be a neighbor! This is a great place to meet others and share experiences. Thanks for writing this thread!

 

[loosegravel]

I've read many of your posts Evvy. You took on quite a project this past year with replacing the rotor in one unit if I'm not mistaking? Anyway, I still enjoy reading your posts. I just haven't had anything to post about lately!

 

[Digger556]

I know the yard guys (govplanet) have been talking about this computer upgrade the DoD has gone through recently, backlogging the flow of surplus. Our local yard is empty, but they keep saying the floodgates are going to open and they anticipate getting 10 truckload/day of equipment. This was over a month ago and I havent seen anything new show up on the auction block.

As an aside, I watched two guys bid up a clapped out 803a, with obivious engine and genhead issues, to over $5500 before fees and taxes. I was floored! Especially when there was a running 803a with a trailer on CL for $5250.

 

[Evvy Fesler]

I know the yard guys (govplanet) have been talking about this computer upgrade the DoD has gone through recently, backlogging the flow of surplus. Our local yard is empty, but they keep saying the floodgates are going to open and they anticipate getting 10 truckload/day of equipment. This was over a month ago and I havent seen anything new show up on the auction block.

As an aside, I watched two guys bid up a clapped out 803a, with obivious engine and genhead issues, to over $5500 before fees and taxes. I was floored! Especially when there was a running 803a with a trailer on CL for $5250.

Or a brand new Generac at their local dealer. But... one can't undervalue the experience of it.

 

[DieselAddict]

A number of us have been squealing about the cost and availability of generators for a while now.

Its gotten almost impossible to offer these machines to users for a reasonable cost.

I pretty much throw a number down and don't worry whether I get it or not. I'm not getting into any kind of a bidding war with anyone on these things. Its just not worth it.

 

[loosegravel]

I’m with you. Again, as much as I enjoy working with these things and interacting with other members here, it still needs to be a “reasonable” venture if I find one or more to bid on. I used to buy dead cars/trucks to revive and that was also kind of fun. That is until Uncle Sam stepped in and said “we’re going to charge you sales tax, not on what you paid for this vehicle, but on what the blue book value is.” So I may have only paid $500 for a car for example, but our fine government wanted to charge me tax on $3500.

 

[Jeepadict]

I’m with you. Again, as much as I enjoy working with these things and interacting with other members here, it still needs to be a “reasonable” venture if I find one or more to bid on. I used to buy dead cars/trucks to revive and that was also kind of fun. That is until Uncle Sam stepped in and said “we’re going to charge you sales tax, not on what you paid for this vehicle, but on what the blue book value is.” So I may have only paid $500 for a car for example, but our fine government wanted to charge me tax on $3500.

Just for clarity, Uncle Sam didn't do that...the blue county that runs your red state did. If you decided to find refuge in a different state, that wouldn't be an issue for you any more.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[Ray70]

Well, maybe some states but not all. I used to do a lot of antique auto restoration and RI wants to tax us on "full restored value" when you try to register that junk yard find you just purchased! Imagine buying a chassis and a pile of parts ( mostly in milk crates ) for $3500 then being told the state wants to tax you on $80,000!
Then if your bill of sale is more than a month old they want interest on the owed tax as well!
And here in RI you have to pay first, then jump through the hoops to get some of your excess taxes refunded.

 

[NDT]

First the WWII and Korea era PE-95s dried up, then the Vietnam era MEP-17s and 18s dried up, then the 1980s MEP-002s and 003s dried up. It is a lifecycle thing.

 

[loosegravel]

Just for clarity, Uncle Sam didn't do that...the blue county that runs your red state did. If you decided to find refuge in a different state, that wouldn't be an issue for you any more.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

You are so correct! Need to get out of here

 

[Chainbreaker]

I'm glad I went all in with my little herd of 5 MEP-002a's when I started with my first procurement. It was ~2012 when my military generator addiction first began with a 12-hour pwr outage with no backup. To this day they are serving me well & should continue to do so if I do my part.

I really lucked out with the last one I purchased off eBay with a last-minute offer of ~$900 which he accepted and as a bonus it was on a trailer. The guy was moving out of state & really needed to sell it. He said it ran great, but it needed a new starter installed which he had the newer version but couldn't figure out how to install. I got it home & installed the starter & itdid in fact run great & passed my load test with ease.

It was an all original 1991 green genset with ~ 700 hours on it. The biggest surprise to me was that the M416 trailer it was sitting in can bring as much a $2k with a little restoration. The off-road wilderness crowd apparently love to convert them to an expedition type camper/tent platform to tow in rugged terrain out on the boonies.

So, deals do pop up now & then. You just gotta turn over all the rocks & keep looking diligently... eBay, Craigslist, Gov't Auctions, etc. and your timing has to be right along with knowing how to vet them before purchasing if you can.

 

[juanprado]

My swag is that good ones are being diverted to Ukraine

 

[Digger556]

My swag is that good ones are being diverted to Ukraine

Would not doubt it. I'm hanging onto my TQGs for Red Dawn II

 

[DieselAddict]

I have a few in the que to get fixed up and go for adoption. After that I expect to be done with them for a while.

 

[incorporatedbyinference]

Would not doubt it. I'm hanging onto my TQGs for Red Dawn II

Wolverines!

 

[FarmingSmallKubota]

i bought some 531's recently because the price was right and shipping wasnt too bad since they were in Michigan, but i can't seem to get much interest in selling the ones i have 802's, 1040's, 803a Whisperwatt, Yanmar. and since Yellow freight went under shipping any from out of state is a no go for me. so will most likely sell what i have and be done.

 

[jamawieb]

Just have to keep your eyes open and dont focus on the government auctions. I just bought 2 803a's (high hours of 4,000hrs), a 002a with 50 hours and a 003a with ASK (150 hours) all for $1,700 from an online farm equipment auction. Bought 3 006a's for under $1,500 a piece with less than 500 hours, within the last 2 months. I've got 13 generators to work on during the winter so I'm set. LOL!