Big generators?

No, not the album by Yes.

Our village was donated a very large generator about 5-years ago. It's a Generac Model 94a01243 - s with a bigass Cat turbo diesel V8. It only shows 32-hours on it, despite being built in 1994. Unfortunately it's way too large to be of use to the village, and there's no transfer switch for it anyway.

We've found a nearby town with a smaller and more suitable generator with transfer switch(no details on it yet) who is willing to swap.

I've been tasked with determining the value of each unit, and ensuring we're not getting ripped off. Where is a good place to gauge the value of something like this?

Try industrial equipment supply companies.

How many KW is it.

Yes, post the kW and voltage (along with the make/model/vintage of the other town's genset, if you have that information.) I think the 94 in the number you provided is simply the date code, the rest of the number doesn't look like a typical Generac part number either. Are these portable units or stationary?

There are companies out there who deal in used gensets, check the yellow pages to see if you can find one in your area. For that matter, you could probably call the local Generac dealer and they could give you an idea of what it's worth - the generator dealers in my area sometimes have used units for sale in addition to their inventory of new units.

Here's a picture of it. I'd consider this stationary, then again, my first thought was to ditch the dynamo and add an axle behind it.

And here's a pic of the tag.

This was all the info from both tags on it:

Model 94a01243 - s KVA 250 S/n 2011903 Volts 277/480 Amps 300.7 Power factor .8 3-phase 60hz 1800rpm Kw 200

Generac model 94a 01243 s Date 2/11/94 Hours  32

Cat  S/n 5yf01717 Model 3208 Arrangement no. 104-2666

I don't have any details on the other unit yet. I'm sure this thing wasn't cheap new, but only 32-hours in 18-years might not be a good thing either?

According to my estimating guide a new 200kw generator sells for around $45k - $50k. However, that one is missing some stuff (no muffler/exhaust, no fuel tank, no enclosure so it can't be installed outdoors) and I'd be suspect of the low hours - they should be exercised more than that, so it may need some maintenance.

One of my clients recently looked at a used Cummins 150kw portable generator. The local dealer was selling it for $20k but it was ready to run, mounted on a trailer, with all the accessories. I'd guess the one you have is worth something less than that, maybe $10k - $15k. However, that's just a guess...I'd still call the local Cat dealer to see if they can give you an opinion. You can find a dealer from the Cat website at http://www.cat.com/dealer-locator

Am I the only one who thinks its cool that you live in a village?

That is a NA cat 3208 which as 210 hp and kind of obsolete. A new version would be half the size and noise for the same output. I would not attach a lot of value to it. Why not call a generac dealer and get a trade in value? I'm going to guess $5000.00 because the engine is only worth $2500.00 used.

In reply to pinchvalve:

The 'Village of Rossville' is the official legal name.

Unfortunately, we're not missing any idiots.

Thanks for the help, that gives me some direction!

In reply to bearmtnmartin:

I'd suggest looking into scrap price as well. I don't know about this sized generator, but some of the ones we put on the smaller CAT engines were worth about 10-15k in scrap copper...

bearmtnmartin wrote: That is a NA cat 3208 which as 210 hp and kind of obsolete. A new version would be half the size and noise for the same output. I would not attach a lot of value to it. Why not call a generac dealer and get a trade in value? I'm going to guess $5000.00 because the engine is only worth $2500.00 used.

Not to nit-pick or anything, but he said it's turbo, you can see the turbo in the picture, and the label says 299hp.

You've got a project generator that's too big anyhow, and a neighbor willing to swap you a running generator that's better sized.

Perhaps you don't want to oversweat the guestimated dollars too much.

foxtrapper wrote: You've got a project generator that's too big anyhow, and a neighbor willing to swap you a running generator that's better sized. Perhaps you don't want to oversweat the guestimated dollars too much.

I definitely agree with this!

I'm curious about how it's too big?

dculberson wrote:

bearmtnmartin wrote: That is a NA cat 3208 which as 210 hp and kind of obsolete. A new version would be half the size and noise for the same output. I would not attach a lot of value to it. Why not call a generac dealer and get a trade in value? I'm going to guess $5000.00 because the engine is only worth $2500.00 used.

Not to nit-pick or anything, but he said it's turbo, you can see the turbo in the picture, and the label says 299hp.

My bad. Aftercooled and everything.

In reply to foxtrapper:

Because we're a government entity and alway under scrutiny(and rightfully so), so we need to be sure we're acting within the best interest of the community.

As it is, the other town got rid of their generator, so we're going to sell this one. Are there any better options than eBay or Craigslist for something like this?

petegossett wrote: In reply to foxtrapper: Because we're a government entity and alway under scrutiny(and rightfully so), so we need to be sure we're acting within the best interest of the community. As it is, the other town got rid of their generator, so we're going to sell this one. Are there any better options than eBay or Craigslist for something like this?

like someone said, there might be more money in scrap value for the iron and copper in that than there is in selling it whole.

govdeals.com is frequently helpful for disposing of government surplus.