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MEP 803 buyer guide/video

WWRD99

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Been following this chap for a while on all things truck maintenance/fabrication/ etc....... He has just done a vid on the MEP803 he aquired from GovPlanet to back up his home....
I Bought a Military Surplus Diesel Generator to Power my House (youtube.com)
I just watched that! He got it in Chambersburg pa. I noticed his fuse mod wasn't done so I commented on it and told him to join here and get those parts figured out plus get his auto start kit too. I can't believe he got the fuel filter off that easy though!

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Light in the Dark

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I feel like I saw that machine/slab/trench setup in a thread here not too long ago. I assume he is among the forum members now.
 

WWRD99

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There are over 2 million views so far, so people are watching it! Might be good for you all that might have some of those in stock.

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dougco1

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Been following this chap for a while on all things truck maintenance/fabrication/ etc....... He has just done a vid on the MEP803 he aquired from GovPlanet to back up his home....
I Bought a Military Surplus Diesel Generator to Power my House (youtube.com)
I was looking at going down that same "rabbit hole" for my home back when the surplus 10K gen-sets were going for $300-$500 . What stopped me was the later gen-set auctions the prices were going for $3,000-$5,000 and the auto transfer option was rare and very expensive at the time.
For $6,000 I installed my 20k propane fired cummins generator with no regrets.
 

TomTime

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That was a good video.

He paid more then $3,600 for it, I know, I bid on that genset last year myself but went past my $ limit. With the taxes and fees, probably more like $4,500, but that is still a good price considering prices now.
 

peapvp

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Basehor, KS
This gas business maybe all true if you have outage of 2 to 4 hours during the winter and your house is heated by gas as well. That won’t make a dent in your gas bill.

The real bummer is a outage of 2 to 4 weeks in the middle of the summer with 100 degrees temperature and 95% humidity and possibly no running water
 

Icesythe7

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That was a good video.

He paid more then $3,600 for it, I know, I bid on that genset last year myself but went past my $ limit. With the taxes and fees, probably more like $4,500, but that is still a good price considering prices now.
I was curious how much they were up to now so I looked this one up here
Looks like winning bid was $3,655.00
plus 15% fee of $548.25 which makes it $4,203.25
plus 6% PA tax of 252.20
Total paid on this unit out the door was $4,455.45

Which makes me wonder I bought mine last year for ~$2,600 out the door...have prices double in the last 6 months on GP? I see them all over facebook fully working for $1500 - 2000 all day long I'm curious what would make someone gamble ~$4,500 on one vs an already running and working on you can go see on marketplace for half the price?image_2024-02-24_114252598.png

They aern't selling on FB fully working for $1,800 but flying off the shelf in an unknown condition on GP for $4500?
 

TomTime

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Wow. A MEP-803A for $1500-2000? That seems like a reasonable price for a good working unit considering the current auctions prices.
But how old are they (engine and gen condition), how many hours on them, what kind of gerry rigging has been done, what is the location (distance away)?
I’m not a social media guy so no FB. A non FB persons use to be able to look at market place on FB without having to sign in, but not anymore. Fortunately the wife is a social butterfly. I guess I need to check the wife’s FB and look at market place for a MEP-803A. Good luck to me… (y)😁
 

flyfishtrailer

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Cool, CA
Remember, all it takes is two bidders who both want the same item to make it get stupid. Unfortunately, I think the whole covid thing opened the door to the gov auctions and now there are a lot more people getting into buying stuff, plus the auctions are online so folks can bid from anywhere in the world.
If you ever go back to GP auction items a few weeks after, they list where all of the bidders are bidding from. I am amazed sometimes when I see the locations. I also see what I call "California Money", stuff at the Las Vegas and Yermo locations all go for higher prices than across the country.

I think a lot of money gets tossed into a bid because they can if that makes sense. I hate it cause just in the last few years; it has made it hard to win bids on the better stuff. I wish I was buying from auctions in the days when you had to go in person to a base and it was a real auction.

My neighbor, when I was just 8 or 9, who restored military jeeps came home from one many years ago with 4 M416 trailers. He paid anywhere from 40-60 bucks each for them. Wow. I was happy this last year to get a trailer mounted 803 with low hours for about $4200.
 

TomTime

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Well, I got on FB and looked all over for MEP-803A's, mainly east of the Mississippi. I must be looking in the wrong place. Of course I'm blind in one eye and can't see in the other o_O. I found some 803A's but only one under $2,500 and it said it was in fair condition (NFI given), whatever that means, and it was 650 miles away. The one in the above picture. Where are the rest?
Found a few under $4,000 but they had high hours, way to far away, or gave no info what so ever and looked crappy. Why sell something and not put as much info on it as possible? Maybe it's a POS? Trying to hid something?
Most of the 803A's were way to $$$, at auctions prices or higher, and again gave very limited info.
When I sell something I put as much info about it as possible, the good and the bad, to keep from getting inundated with questions. But you know I still get questions that are already answered in the description...crazy!
Even the 802A's were way to $$$. (I have an 802A which I paid less then $1k for it.)
Maybe that is why people are paying the big bucks at auctions. At least in the auctions, I'm looking at, they will run and show it is producing power or they show an attempt to start the genset. The ones that run of course go for higher $$$ than the non-runners.
I'm still looking for that reasonable priced MEP-803A! Good luck to me...:cautious:
 

DieselAddict

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Efland, NC
One of the things I've discovered and try to take advantage of when I can is the generators on trailers can sometimes go for less than bare machines since it takes more effort to haul away a couple of generators on trailers. You never know if the tires are good enough for a road trip home so its best to haul them out off the ground. A MEP802 on a trailer recently went for around $850 (edit: pre tax and fees). I know because I'll pick it up next week from Butner. :D
 

Icesythe7

Active member
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Location
Indiana, USA
Well, I got on FB and looked all over for MEP-803A's, mainly east of the Mississippi. I must be looking in the wrong place. Of course I'm blind in one eye and can't see in the other o_O. I found some 803A's but only one under $2,500 and it said it was in fair condition (NFI given), whatever that means, and it was 650 miles away. The one in the above picture. Where are the rest?
Found a few under $4,000 but they had high hours, way to far away, or gave no info what so ever and looked crappy. Why sell something and not put as much info on it as possible? Maybe it's a POS? Trying to hid something?
Most of the 803A's were way to $$$, at auctions prices or higher, and again gave very limited info.
When I sell something I put as much info about it as possible, the good and the bad, to keep from getting inundated with questions. But you know I still get questions that are already answered in the description...crazy!
Even the 802A's were way to $$$. (I have an 802A which I paid less then $1k for it.)
Maybe that is why people are paying the big bucks at auctions. At least in the auctions, I'm looking at, they will run and show it is producing power or they show an attempt to start the genset. The ones that run of course go for higher $$$ than the non-runners.
I'm still looking for that reasonable priced MEP-803A! Good luck to me...:cautious:
Takes time sometimes, obv you see the people that want an arm and a leg and then you find stuff like this
image_2024-02-25_110315781.png
or this
image_2024-02-25_110417905.png
 

TomTime

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MD.
Not a Mep-803A (10KW). I already have two MEP-831A (3 KW) and paid less then that for them and in much better looking condition and hours in the double digits.

Oh, I found many military generators. Lots of MEP-813A but not into 400 Hertz. Lots of MEP-804A's, 805A's, 806A's but I need single phase not three phase. Lots of MEP-002 and 003's, but much older units.

I'd would really like one of the newer Cummins 10kw MEP-1030's, but not at the prices there are going for.

Still looking for a MEP-803A.
 

2Pbfeet

Well-known member
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Location
Mt. Hamilton, CA
Well, I got on FB and looked all over for MEP-803A's, mainly east of the Mississippi. I must be looking in the wrong place. Of course I'm blind in one eye and can't see in the other o_O. I found some 803A's but only one under $2,500 and it said it was in fair condition (NFI given), whatever that means, and it was 650 miles away. The one in the above picture. Where are the rest?
Found a few under $4,000 but they had high hours, way to far away, or gave no info what so ever and looked crappy. Why sell something and not put as much info on it as possible? Maybe it's a POS? Trying to hid something?
Most of the 803A's were way to $$$, at auctions prices or higher, and again gave very limited info.
When I sell something I put as much info about it as possible, the good and the bad, to keep from getting inundated with questions. But you know I still get questions that are already answered in the description...crazy!
Even the 802A's were way to $$$. (I have an 802A which I paid less then $1k for it.)
Maybe that is why people are paying the big bucks at auctions. At least in the auctions, I'm looking at, they will run and show it is producing power or they show an attempt to start the genset. The ones that run of course go for higher $$$ than the non-runners.
I'm still looking for that reasonable priced MEP-803A! Good luck to me...:cautious:
Well, for fun, I looked within a 1,000 miles of the west coast, and $4-10k seemed to cover the prices for me, but they say timing is everything, and "location, location, location".:LOL: Around here, things got pretty cheap around 2020, but I didn't see $1,200/803 cheap. I've seen GP prices in AZ that were in that range, but most were "as-is-where-is" with more than a few hours.

Always nice to find a bargain, now and then.

All the best,

2Pbfeet
 
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