Used generator questions

Upinsmoke · 01-15-2023, 07:12 AM

I believe I may be in the right church, but possibly the wrong pew. If so, please relocate it.

My cousin has an older (not antique) Class A which is junk, and he has removed the engine. The inside is in a shambles etc.

However, I believe it has a good generator on it. I should be able to get a look at it this coming week. He just wants it out of his lot and I'm thinking the generator must be worth something.

Are there RV salvage/junk yards? If so, any known good ones?

Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions!

Morich · 01-15-2023, 07:46 AM

Lots of ways to salvage an RV but where and who is likely to be a local question. Thge value is often not that great so moving one across country is not as good as there are others closer.
I might just do a search of local ads like Craigslist or simply Google the idea. If wanting to part it out and sell it then Craigslist is my first thought for local as it is very active near me and for cross coutry shoppers, E-bay works for me getting rid of excess RV items.
I've not shipped heavy stuff though, and freight can be a problem.

**creativepart** · 01-15-2023, 09:25 AM

Yes, there are RV salvage yards. But none of them want an old cheap junker. They take the wrecked, new valuable RVs. Face it, you either give it away to someone that will haul it away, or pay someone to haul it away. Finding someone that wants it for free is your best bet but make sure they can actually remove it. Having a good working generator may just provide enough value to make it worthwhile for some foolhardy person to agree to take it.

Otherwise it’s going to sit at your cousin’s for the next 30 years.

Morich · 01-15-2023, 09:52 AM

A place to start might be to go to E-bay and do a search for used generators. That will show up a long list and let you see what others are selling and how they handle shipping, pickup, etc. . With that baseline of what they sell for, you can then make a plan to fit what you have.
A quick search currently has 389 listed, so it is something that many are doing.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...+used&_sacat=0

Upinsmoke · 01-16-2023, 02:31 AM

Thanks everyone, and yes Craigslist, FB Market Place, Ebay are all good ideas (and I will look to see if there are any there) but my real question is/was "is the generator worth anything?"

I figure a couple of hours (maybe) to remove the genset and if it's worth say $500 then it may be worth it - dunno.

If I come up with anything good, I'll repost the solution. Thanks again for the thought.

Morich · 01-16-2023, 07:25 AM

Checking E-bay, I found $100 to $6999! So it will depend a lot on what you have and what you are willing to sell it for!
No reason to think it doesn't have at least some good value.
I find E-bay is a great place to get rid of the extra stuff I had collected over the years of RV'ing.
And it would not be hard to imagine a listing that goes all across the country might find somebody very willing to travel to pick it up to avoid shipping. Lots of folks drive the Rv to Iowa to get service so driving it to you to get parts is not hard to imagine.

hank857 · 01-16-2023, 09:13 AM

need t o let us know size of gen and fuel type. Iknow folks who need one but they also want diesel and fairly big gen.

**creativepart** · 01-16-2023, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Upinsmoke

my real question is/was "is the generator worth anything?" .

The first question you should have when thinking of selling is are you sure it’s working good? And, can you prove that? Because that’s the first thing any buyer will ask.

You said “I believe it has a good generator on it.” How will you determine if that is true?

Upinsmoke · 01-18-2023, 12:40 AM

OP here. The gen runs on gas, it was in running condition when it was abandoned, and I hope to get a look at it in the next couple of days.

My guess is that, at this point, it may be easier to check for running & electrical condition while it's still in the unit. Since the entire grill work was cut out to get the engine out, I'm sure he could do the same to make it easier to get out if everything checks out.

This could turn out to be just a fishing expedition, I'll post what I find.
Thanks!

Morich · 01-18-2023, 08:43 AM

What I see on used listings often goes withtheidea that it was running when stored and that means a buyer can discount the price to the level he feels right. If you want to open the deal to a wider group one can list guarantees and that leaves you open to loss or you can list is as buyer's liable.
It's likely worth somtething but how much and how much risk is always part of used whether it is cars or gensets!
I might go this way:
clean it as much as practical, take lots of pictures of things like hour met and general condition. Perhaps show it before and after removal?? (part of your risk!)
Post all the info you have and describe it as exactly as possible and then let somebody pick it up local.
There are lots of folks who buy used engines and install them without knowing much more than that ,so why not on gensets which are certainly less trouble to remove and install on faith?
The difference in buying a used generator versus a whole RV used? Just a different setup of risk/reward involved and buying a used generator is likely far less risk!

People buy lots of lottery tickets even though they know they normally get NOTHING!

When I go fishing, I often just lose the bait! But if we don't throw the bait, we never catch the fish!

Upinsmoke · 01-20-2023, 02:50 AM

OP here. First, thanks for all of the suggestions, but it's a no go from here.

I finally got a look at the RV and generator and it wasn't a pretty picture. The RV itself is total junk with the exception of the transmission and rear end. I'm not even sure a salvage yard would touch it.

The generator is an Onan 5.5 and while it may be viable, it's more trouble than it's likely worth and so my cousin is not going to mess with. For fun, I did include several pics of the generator.

Thanks again for the help!

Morich · 01-20-2023, 08:02 AM

Yes, that is a pretty common thing here in Texas where the standards and codes are so low that the RV often just get pushed out in a field and left to rot! They joint the ten junk cars and pickups!
Then ten years later after the thing has totally gone to pot, the new land owners want to solve their problem with giving them away!

It's not that there is no demand from folks who have the time and energy but then they begin to look at what it takes to get the thing towed, where and how to do the work and it goes downhill from there.
At one point, I did that sort of thing, working on Rv and then I found it paid much better to rehab houses, so moved away from the RV. .
For the whole situation houses are much easier to bring back to life and sell much better!
https://beaumont.craigslist.org/zip/...571378629.html