What should a MEP-002a / MEP-003a be worth?

[Speddmon]

he already has the picture posted in this thread...post #29

 

[jas67]

One member here had a generator shipped to him to have it lost in transit. I don't believe that it was ever found. The only thing that the insurance company is going to payout, it what you paid for the set. I could have been the best deal in a life time, but Sorry Charlie, you loose.

Being that you live in PA, look for sales in Chambersburg. There are a lot of generators sold at that location.

As for transporting it home, you could rent a small open U-haul trailer for far less than a freight bill.

Actually, I just won three MEP-016B/D (one B, two D) at Chambersburg. I have a F-350, so transport is a non issue, all three will fit. I have sufficient weight payload that I could carry two MEP-003's if they'd fit. I like the yanmar-powered stuff, as they are very simple engines, and easy to troubleshoot.

I asked about freight as I've seen a lot more of the yanmar-powered gensets at other locations in the past. At $250 for frieght, it isn't worth it these particular sets (I only paid $950 total for all three, including fees). For more valueable items, it might be worth it if the bid is low enough.

 

[mkcoen]

Holy Cow! A MEP-003A just sold at Ft Sam for $2400! Over 1100 hours and nothing particularly pretty about it. Maybe I need to put mine up for sale if they're bringing scrap gold prices now.

And before anyone says "well maybe there was something special about it" there wasn't. I inspected it and put what I thought was a high limit bid on it and wasn't any where close.

 

[m38inmaine]

Just saw that, wow. Also noticed several 400Hz sets selling for even more money, wonder if they know what they are buying?

 

[steelandcanvas]

Holy Cow! A MEP-003A just sold at Ft Sam for $2400! Over 1100 hours and nothing particularly pretty about it. Maybe I need to put mine up for sale if they're bringing scrap gold prices now.

And before anyone says "well maybe there was something special about it" there wasn't. I inspected it and put what I thought was a high limit bid on it and wasn't any where close.

Maybe he's p/o at the power company. It still shouldn't have went for that much. I bought mine back in December and I paid $900. Works like a champ.

 

[Isaac-1]

It is not just the MEP's It is insane across the board I just saw a set of 10 year old low hour (200-400) Onan's diesel standby units (2 10kW and a 15kW sell on GL for around $3,000 - 3,500 before fees) EUC required. Last year I bought a fairly nice (all the bells and whistles, skid mount, missing remote exhuast) 20 year old 30kw Kohler standby diesel unit with about 3,000 hours on it for $1,200 off GL. I know there is a bigger demand for these 10-15 kW units, and I must admit the paint looked nice, etc. but still 3 times the money for 1/3 - 1/2 the power. Last week a watched a heavy duty (10,000 pound rated) 16 foot utility trailer with multiple layers of peeling paint, partly dryrotted tires and questionable hydraulic brakes sell for $1,700, I was thinking about bidding on it, and did some comparison shopping at the local trailer dealers, found new trailers with same basic specs but electric brakes sell new for around $3,200, they would probably go for less at larger dealerships.

Ike

 

[Speddmon]

you can tell it's income tax return season....LOL

 

[DieselBob]

you can tell it's income tax return season....LOL

Never gave that a thought. Let's see, what does daddy want

 

[steelandcanvas]

Just saw that, wow. Also noticed several 400Hz sets selling for even more money, wonder if they know what they are buying?

NO.

 

[jas67]

Just saw that, wow. Also noticed several 400Hz sets selling for even more money, wonder if they know what they are buying?

I recently saw an MEP-026C listed as just a "3KW Generator Set, Military Standard" with no mention of the voltage.

The 026C is a 28VDC/107A APU.

Someone is going to be real disappointed if they don't research the model # first.

 

[Isaac-1]

I just watched a GL auciton close at Ft. Polk on another the likely reset ultra-low hour MEP-002a at over an hour an fifteen minutes after closing time thanks to the 15 minute rule, selling price $1366 before fees. In the same auction a lot of 2 MEP-003'a sold for about $1,200 at about an hour after posted closing, one looked good the other had been gutted and was basicly scrap metal (generator end, sled and block) Go figure.

Ike
​

 

[lindyp38]

i wanna get one....thanks for this indepth discussion.....

 

[coyotegray]

I love my 003 and parts are not that hard to find. There are many of these that have been surplused. They are relatively simple, very durable, under rated and easy to work on.

When buying from GL you just have to do it right like anything else.

 

[SuperSecretSquirrel]

resurrecting a dead thread

Ok, so ever since I bought my MEP-003a, I have been wondering this same thing.

I watched a bunch of auctions before I bought, but as stated, am very new to this.

I ended up paying $1,040. for my MEP-003a (including the 10% and tax).

Add to that the $60 it cost me to rent the little U-haul 4x7 and gas for the trip to Mechanicsburg and I consider my total acquisition cost as $1,100.

As discussed in earlier forums, it came missing an IP, which I have since obtained used for a ballpark of $300.

I still have to add batteries and some hoses and other odds and ends. plus fliters and such.

I figure total cost to get her running will run me about $1,800.


I looked around on e-bay and other sites, and I'm seeing MEP-003a's in running condition going for around $2,500 - $3,500.

My basic Marine math tells me I got a pretty good deal (assuming it works once all work is done)

Does that jive with what others have been seeing / experiencing?

Is that a descent price to have paid GL up front these days, given the condition it came in?

 

[steelypip]

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I paid less than $600 for a running condition 1000 hour MEP-002A from an auction late last fall. As far as I can tell, everything works on it (haven't tested the aux lift pump yet). OTOH, I had a friend who cruises GL all the time and is a frequent purchaser looking out for one for me at the right price in the right condition with no time limit.

Basically, you need to buy at the right time of the year, and when there's a glut on the market. Mine was part of a pretty large lot release, and I suspect that drove the average price down quite a bit. Right now the 3kw water-cooled units seem to be the generic genset. I have to say that for the single standby generator for my house, I really prefer having 7.5 KW surge capacity to ~5 KW surge capacity. Likewise, the 208/3 phase option is appealing.

It's still a crapshoot, of course. I didn't know that the generator was going to be in nearly perfect condition when I bought it. It might have had a spun bearing or a fried gen head. I expected that it would likely have an inop gauge or fuel pump.

But I at least knew that it had an injector pump, all its gauges, hoses, and fuel pumps, and all the shrouding. Just as with a truck, pre-inspection is a big help in determining just what you're getting.

I'd say that if you've got a running MEP-003A in your yard for $1100 during hurricane season, then you've done just fine.

Now I'm just looking for a residue lot so that I can pick up another MEP-002A skid plus misc parts because I want the skid for a project.

Oh, and my surplucenter order showed up today, which included my battery cutoff switch and 24v charger. Now I just have to get hold of 150 ft of buriable 8 or 6 ga 4 lead to run to the generator's permanent resting place. And a couple of lawn mower batteries.

 

[Isaac-1]

Since I started this message thread over a year ago I have seen the prices on MEP-002 and MEP-003 generators on GL in my area just continue to rise. It is now rare to find an intact looking MEP-002 on GL in my area sell below about $800 and MEP-003's seem to run about $1,500 with occasional units selling for much more. One nice looking trailer mounted MEP-003 I was thinking about bidding on ended up selling for around $3,000, which is just way too much to pay for as-is may be a paper weight in my book.

Ike

 

[steelandcanvas]

Now I just have to get hold of 150 ft of buriable 8 or 6 ga 4 lead to run to the generator's permanent resting place.

Steelypip, Don't use direct bury wire, trench it, and put it in PVC conduit. I don't think you'll ever regret doing it in plastic.

Pros: Protects wire from damage, and you can easily replace it should you need to. Nicer install.
Cons: A little more money and time to accomplish the task.

 

[steelypip]

I was planning on trenching and using conduit, thanks in large part to posts I'd read here over the last year! See - there are people who know how to use search...

But that said, the wire is still going to be below grade in a wooded area and I want to use something like UF or USE to get it to the house. I figure the waterproof insulation will deal with the water and the conduit will deal with tree roots, freeze/thaw, etc. And I intend to bury large conduit (3" or so) so that I can pull some more wire later if I need power for another shed or something else. I'm going to purposefully oversize the generator line in case I decide I wanted more power later on and switch generators.

Another benefit of running conduit is that I get to run power the other way too - from the house load center to the mower shed beside the generator for the charger where the batteries will live. But that'll be plain old 12 or 14 ga UF.

Just because I recognized the MEP was a value for what I was getting doesn't mean that I'm too cheap to do it right...

 

[GPrez]

I have found the prices vary widely. I have seen some units at auction go really high, but others go low. My first genset was a MEP-004 on a 2-1/2 ton trailer, which I got for $630 in 09. Sold it a year later for $1800. They got a deal in my opinion and I made some money. That was a big unit.

I picked up a trailer mounted MEP-002 in the fall of 2010 for $363 from GL. There were a lot of them being autioned at this one time which could be why I got it cheap. It had 2200 hours and it works fine in spite of my stupidity.

My method of bidding is to bid low on several units at once and hope for the best. You just never know what might happen. You have to be patient and keep trying. I've picked up several of the M101A2 trailers for the minimum bids. Ususally the tires and wheels alone are worth more than the minimum bids.

 

[convict1]

My MEP-002 didnt require a ECU and was available for immediate pickup once the paid invoive was available. The Ft. Polk units that I saw were far less desireable then what the other man said previously, fuel caps were hanging to the side, heavy rust inside the fuel tank, just one thing after another. Once I got mine home it was relatively simple to get up & running...