Buying used engine-drivien welders

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I'm seriously considering the purchase of an engine driven welder.  What general advice does anyone have to offer?What's reasonable usage on an engine-driven welder?  1000 hours/year?  What would you call severe or hard service?  2000 hours/year?I know my way around an internal combustion engine, but am not familar with the electrical systems in this kind of equipment.  I know the basics; the difference between alternators, generators, transformers, and inverters.  But when shopping used equipment, what should I be on the lookout for in terms of problems with the electrical systems in this type of equipment?  Anything besides the obvious corrosion and frayed wires-type prioblems?I've found half a dozen possible sources, ranging from Ebay, to local rental operations, to Hertz Equipment rent corp.  Anybody have any prior experience with buying used equipment from rental fleets?  If so, was your experience good or bad?  Why?I've pretty well made up my mind that a diesel engine unit is the way to go.  I'm most interested in a diesel because of fuel economy, reliability, longevity, and some vague mention that some petroleum refining operations prefer contractors to use equipment powered with diesel fuel.Because I'm seriously considering pipe welding, I'm looking hard at 'Red' equipment.  Word on the street, and on the internet, is that 'Red' equipment is more robust, and better respected by many current pipeweldering professionals.  (It's just what I've heard, so please don't bite my head off...)If you've been down this road before me, please share any advice you care to.  No sense in re-inventing the wheel if I don't have to...-Dave
Reply:Offshore - Lincoln, Onshore Miller or Lincoln, because of salt water corosion.  JohnSMAW,GMAW,FCAW,GTAW,SAW,PAC/PAW/OFCand Shielding Gases.  There all here. :
Reply:Thanks.  I don't see myself doing much offshore work from where I'm at right now.  I've been looking at used SAE-400s as the upper limit for my budget.  The severe service version is very nice; but hard to find in the used market and usually outside my budget.  I'm also thinking the SAE-400 is over-kill, and that I'll be better off with an SA-250 or 300.I've also looked at trailblazers, pipepros and blue's pro300.  I like the pipepro and the dual power option; but am worried about some of the reports I've heard concerning poor reliability and expensive parts.Seems to me that fans of Lincoln are very enthusiastic.  Those who are fans of Miller equipment are more lukewarm about their equipment.  For what it's worth, I've only used Miller equipment so far in school.  I'm only just beginning to begin to appreciate some of the differences from one machine to another.  What I'm trying to get is an idea of what a fair price is.  I'm not lucky enough to stumble across an sa-250 for $300; as some folks on this forum have.  So I'm trying to gage what's a good real-world price and what's typical for useage/year.  I don't want to spend too much money for a used machine that's been overworked before I bought it.Last edited by A_DAB_will_do; 10-25-2007 at 06:00 PM.
Reply:A rebuilt machine by a good shop, a lot of times is better than a new one and the price is approx 1/2 the price of new.  Just to consider. JohnSMAW,GMAW,FCAW,GTAW,SAW,PAC/PAW/OFCand Shielding Gases.  There all here. :
Reply:Rebuilt machines are already worn in and if done by a respectable shop should function better than new as weldingault pointed out. Just be careful that you might spend a little more in the first year due to electrical circuits dieing if the unit is really old.
Reply:If it is done by a good shop, they will replace all the electrical circuits, when rebuilding the unit.  JohnSMAW,GMAW,FCAW,GTAW,SAW,PAC/PAW/OFCand Shielding Gases.  There all here. :