Lincoln Ranger 9?

Bottom feeder machine tool swapper/trader buddy of mine called me to day from Texas. Said he had a welder for me. He is Mexican, runs machine tools into Mexico. I find him Stuff, he runs it south to machiadoras down there, makes a couple bucks here and there, and he is pretty good about "remembering me at Christmas", finding the odd thingy or bit of Stuff, (something Ive been looking for, and giving it to me free or really really cheap in return for passing machines his way.
He claims to have made what sounds like a 5 way swap and part of the deal(s) was a Lincoln Ranger 9, in what he says is VERY clean condition. Said he started it up and it ran fine. Didnt have any leads, and he knows shit about welding anyways.
Ive got a minty 14" MicroView comparitor, with a 2 axis DRO he wants to swap for the welder. I dont need yet another comparitor, let along a big floor model, so if the welder is ok, will likely swap him for it. I dont have dick in it..so it would be a win win.
Anyone know anything about the Ranger 9 machines? No idea what motor it has in it...probably wont see it til later in the week, when he gets back to California. Thought Id ask opinons..get my ducks in a row so to better skin him out of it <G>
Gunner

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Late model Onan engines are crap. If it isn't a US built Onan, be wary.
-Carl

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:55:33 -0800, Gunner
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Could be damned near anything - they've used Subaru Robin, Honda, Kohler, Onan, Perkins, Deutz...
According to the Owners Manual I found at http://content.lincolnelectric.com/pdfs/products/navigator/im/IM511.pdf it's either an Onan P218 or a Kohler Command CH20S, both air cooled V-twins, electric start, pressure lube.
Meaning you might need to go get a U-1 lawn tractor battery, or a small motorcycle wet battery for it.
--<< Bruce >>--
PS: Lucky SOB... ;-)

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:39:12 -0800, Bruce L. Bergman
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The Onans are expensive to fix, what about the Kohlers?
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Networking, networking networking.....
<G>
Gunner

Gunner wrote:
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Kohler appears to be a real good company. I recently bought a welder with a Kohler engine and they have been great so far.
I would not pass on a good-running Onan, Gunner. Change the oil and air filter and don't abuse it and it will last a long time. I used to have a Miller Legend with an Onan motor and it ran incredibly smoothly and was the best stick welder I ever used. (Wish I still had it!)
Grant

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It probably won't run a long time. Onan offshored their engine production a few years ago and the quality went into the dumper. Things like rods snapping and cranks wearing out very early (less than 500 hrs). Power equipment companies stopped using Onan engines en mass- most switched to Kohler or Briggs Vanguard plants.
-Carl

Carl Byrns wrote:
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Yes, but offshore production issues can be fixed ..
GWE

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At the customer's expense...
-Carl

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:13:40 -0800, Gunner
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Kohlers are expensive as well but not as bad as Onan. On the plus side is that you can often find after market parts for Kohlers.
BTW I've not been able to find you address. It must be in one of the older versions of Agent files.

On 12/18/2007 8:39:15 AM, Bruce L. Bergman wrote:
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Its a -1 machine, so its an older one. Started and ran fine, even with gas thats so skunky it made me want to puke. Wont charge the battery though..no output on the battery lead. A wire got hot sometime in the past, and burned away. It goes to some sort of thingy with 3 terminals on it. Might...might be a diode. Its bolted to the fan shroud. Its a Onan 18 hp engine. Welded just ducky, AC/DC+-. range selector switch is mighty sticky, as is the mode selector switch. Machine was pretty dusty, but only has 1725 hours on the Hobbs meter, which is working. No leads or stinger damnit...but Ive got some spare wire at the house. Its a multi-process machine. Ive got a WP18 torch tig torch I can put on it..and an Esab wire feeder I MAY be able to mode to operate with it. I may even have the proper Lincoln foot pedal. Im going to be home between Christmas and New Years, so will putter with it. Need to figure out what that wire did, and why it wont charge. And get a battery. I fired it up with one of those small portable Jump Start gizmos, with a couple small batteries in it. Pulled the choke, hit start for a few seconds, and RRRRRR off she went.
This is gonna be fun
Gunner

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Voltage regulator/diode.
-Carl

Gunner wrote:
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Ranger 9s are nice machines, Gunner. They are pretty current and sell quickly when they show up around here. I recently refitted a bare gas welder with new leads, and this is how I did it: I first scrounged a bunch of welding lead of random sizes & lengths (mainly by watching local craigslist and also asking guys if they knew of anyone with any old welding lead) which yielded me after some swapping 3 50' pieces of 3/0 and one 90' piece of 4/0. Then I ordered 200' of 1/0 plus some Tweco fittings online, came to about $480. I sold the random leads I scrounged for about $440 IIRC so that made the big bite for new leads a whole lot less painful.
Despite its mintyness, you should of course check that the welder genset is generating, and you can go to a welding supply to see exactly how a Ranger connects to leads (it's probably 1/2" lugs) and come up with some borrowed welding lead to do some test welding BEFORE you do the swap.
A quick online scan shows asking prices for R9s at $1500-2000.
Grant

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:55:33 -0800, Gunner
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Google says:
The Ranger 9 welder is powered by an Onan twin-cylinder engine and is designed for stick, FCAW, MIG and TIG welding applications. As a generator, it can deliver 9 kW of 115 V/230 Va.c. power.