I was also going to guess MEP-017a, or perhaps a pre-MEP series unit of some type, if it is a MEP-017a then it is a gasoline powered 5KW generator, 1 or 3 phase output powered by a 4 cylinder military standard engine running at 3600 rpms. Good solid generator likely built in the mid to late 1960's, but very poor fuel economy, might be ok for standby use if converted to run on propane or natural gas. Putting $$$$ on generators is very hard since most people feel they are nearly worthless as long as the power is on, but if a storm is on the way or even if it is bad weather season where you are prices tend to go up, down here on the gulf coast that means highest prices during hurricane season, up north it tends to be in the fall before the winter really hits. Having said that I would say that MEP-017a's typically sell for somewhere between $250 - $750 in good running condition, trailer mounted generators usually sell for more, guessing the weight for the generator would be around 450-500 pounds..
Ike
p.s. don't let that 5KW rating fool you, that is 5KW 24/7 in extreme conditions, not 5KW peak for 10 seconds if your lucky. Also those batteries look a bit fuzzy and caps look bulging, so if it runs it may have a bad battery charging regulator, check the output voltage at the batteries while running should be around 28.8V if more then regulator is bad, I just had to buy a 24V charging regulator for my MEP-016b, cost about $100 on ebay.
Is there enough visible for any of you guys to tell me what it might be and is it worth a trip to look at it?
