Just got a new Ranger 10000, any comments/suggestions?

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It called to me at believe it or not, Home Depot.  I know that is probably not the first place you think of for buying welders but it is where I bought my little Lincoln Flux/Mig and they just happened to have a screaming deal on the Ranger.  Long story short, they had a return on the floor with 8.7 hours on it.  I managed to convince the department head to let me have one of the two NIB units they had at the same price as the discounted returned unit.  These bigger machines take up a lot of shelf room and do not really jump off the shelves so I think they were happy to move one.I plan on building a trailer for it for mobile use as a welder and a generator.  I have been getting some nice ideas from the projects forum and look forward to lurking/posting here.
Reply:Hey Chevy!I saw your post and since I am in the market for a Ranger, I was wondering what you paid at Home Depot.  None of the stores in Ohio carry the Ranger.  Since you have had the machine for nearly a month now how is it running?  Did you get the Honda or Kohler motor?  Thanks!Gr8Gunz
Reply:Sorry to be so long replying but I just saw your reply today.  I will tell you what I paid but you may not want to know or believe it, it was $1900 plus tax out the door.  One of three local HDs had a return on the floor with 8.7 hours on it with a white price sticker of $2000.  They also had two NIB units back on the shelf.  They said they got them in for the Hurricanes last year (I am in Florida) as generators.  They appeared to be motivated to move at least one as I do not think they are a big seller for them and are a heavy/bulky/high value item taking up space.  I stood around and whined, poor mouthed, and generally acted pitiful until they got tired of me and sold me a new in box unit for another $100 off.  Have not tried it out yet but am getting close.  Note that they do not come with leads from Lincoln.  Some suppliers add them as a combo deal.  I have seen Ranger 10Ks on Ebay a lot and one fellow listed one and indicated he paid $1800 each for two from a distributer blowing them out.  Considering that info and what I paid I figure that somewhere around $1800 is cost on these things at some point in the supply chain.  Oh, I have the Kohler, my research indictes these are a little cheaper then the Honda version.I will be setting it up as standby for my house and will be back feeding a spare 50 AMP breaker with 8 guage wire (after turning off the main of course).  I may or may not set up a correctly wired 50 AMP breaker up stream for additional protection as I do not know how well, if at all, the back fed breaker protects.Old farm boy type welder/fabricator
Reply:Wow!  You got a helluva deal!At least I know there is some "weasel" room in the price.  I have learned that EVERYTHING is negotiable to some extent.  I am going to drive to Dayton, OH where Weiller Direct is and see if I can negotiate a lower price.  Did you buy an undercarriage or anything for yours?  My shop is about 100 yards from my house and I want to be able to move the machine between the two locations.Gr8Gunz
Reply:I just yesterday completed a undercarriage/cart combo for the Ranger.  I will be posting pics at some point but to get you started here is a description.  I built a rectangular frame two inches wider and three inches longer then the Ranger out of some 3" angleJ channel.  I call it angleJ as one leg of the angle has an additional turn back section resembling a J.  The undercarriage is three inches longer because the engine end hangs over the factory base a little and I wanted to protect it.  The 3" undercarriage sits in a 2"X2" frame that has one very heavy duty 5" swivel wheel under one end and two 14" hard rubber tired cast steel spoked wheels on the other end.  I did the two frame deal as I wanted one really solid undrecarriage and another lighter frame that has the wheels on it that bolts to the heavy frame.  For truck or trailer mounted use I will take the wheeled carriage off and leave it home.  I am not worried about a trailer for the Ranger as I have a couple of smallish trailers I could set it on if need be.  My cart combo rolls real nice on concrete.  I will at some future date be adding a "roll cage" to the undercarriage made out of 1" ID, 1 5/16" OD pipe with lead hooks and a removable tray on top for helmet/rods/gloves/etc.  I think I may also incorporate some hinged/bolted expanded metal sheilding around the engine as it looks mighty exposed to me. I chose to build my own cart because I had all the material including the wheels on hand and I dislike the "wheelbarrow" tires on Lincoln's.  They do sell a version with the solid no-flat style of tires though which I recommend highly if you decide to buy rather then build.  So far I have been lifting and moving the Ranger with a 2-ton engine hoist which works very well.Old farm boy type welder/fabricator
Reply:I am considering building one as well, however I have no raw materials on hand and I will need to wait until I actually bring the machine home and sepnd some time looking at it.I don't know if time and materials to build will work out cheaper than buying a factory undercarriage or not.Gr8Gunz